The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives

Liquid

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING STUFF MATTERS 
 
Sometimes explosive, often delightful, occasionally poisonous, but always fascinating: the secret lives of liquids, from one of our best-known scientists 
________________ 
 
A series of glasses of transparent liquids is in front of you: but which will quench your thirst and which will kill you? And why? Why does one liquid make us drunk, and another power a jumbo jet? 
 
 From the bestselling author of Stuff Matters comes a fascinating tour of these surprising or sinister substances - the droplets, heartbeats and ocean waves we all encounter every day. 
 
Structured around a plane journey, encountering water, wine, oil and more, Miodownik shows that liquids are agents of death and destruction as well as substances of wonder and fascination. His unique brand of scientific storytelling brings them and their mysterious properties alive in a captivating new way. 
________________ 
 
'A truly delightful read' Jim Al-Khalili, author of Paradox 
 
 'An exhilarating, eye-opening ride' Philip Ball, science writer and author of H2O 
 
'Exciting, anarchic and surprising' Katy Guest, The Guardian 
 
 'A thrilling read, from start to finish' Tim Radford, author of The Consolations of Physics

Miodownik packs this delightful book with so much 'well, I never knew that' information. Not only does he know his stuff but, just as importantly, he knows how to tell a good story. A truly delightful read

It's a little known fact that liquids are the coolest state of matter. And if anyone can spread that message all around him, it's Mark Miodownik. From ink to saliva, coffee to soap, this is an exhilarating, eye-opening ride.

Philip Ball, science writer and author of H2O: A Biography of Water

A brilliantly navigated journey through the scientific marvels of the fluid world, from coffee to kerosene, from tea to tar, from honey to hydrophobia, from peanut butter to perfluorocarbons. A thrilling read, from start to finish

Tim Radford, author of The Consolations of Physics: Why the Wonders of the Universe Can Make You Happy

Miodownik is a materials scientist, but really he is an alchemist; he transforms knowledge of everyday stuff into literary gold. His book on liquids oozes brilliance on every page

Alex Bellos, author of Alex Through the Looking Glass

This book delivers exactly what it promises . . . It's a treat. I lost count of the number of "but why?" questions it answers . . . This is a winning and hugely readable book

Once again, Miodownik has written a book much like the substances it describes: exciting, anarchic and surprising. Like the sea, it covers a lot of ground. And like a perfectly made cup of tea, it is warm, comforting and very refreshing

Miodownik yet again makes the seemingly mundane awe-inspiring. I'll never look at a ballpoint pen the same way again

Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, New York Times-bestselling authors of Soonish

Mark Miodownik flies high again in Liquid. It's a treat to see the world through his eyes as he flows from topic to topic, and under his gaze even the most mundane things-ballpoint pens, ketchup bottles, a cup of tea-sizzle with significance

Sam Kean, New York Times-bestselling author of The Disappearing Spoon and Caesar’s Last Breath

Miodownik's appeal comes not only from his ability to explain the complexities of science and engineering but also from his acute social observations . . . original and entertaining

Miodownik uses a routine transatlantic flight from London to San Francisco - and the liquids that he encounters on the way - as a vehicle for a sparkling exposition of materials in science and engineering. His lively analysis takes in kerosene fuel, wines from the drinks trolley, glues holding the aircraft together, the entertainment system's liquid crystal display, clouds outside the cabin, and much more besides.)

Enthralling . . . A mission to re-acquaint us with the wonders of the fabric that sustains our lives

Insightful, fascinating. The futuristic materials will elicit gasps. Makes even the most everyday substance seem exciting

A Financial Times Master of Science and chosen by The Times as one of the 100 most influential scientists in the UK, Mark Miodownik is Professor of Materials and Society at University College London, where he is also Director of the Institute of Making. He is the author of the book Stuff Matters – a New York Times bestseller which won the Royal Society Winton Prize – and Liquid, which was shortlisted for the same prize. He presents BBC TV and radio programmes on science and engineering such as Everyday Miracles and How It Works.

A series of glasses of transparent liquids is in front of you: but which will quench your thirst and which will kill you? And why? Why does one liquid make us drunk, and another power a jumbo jet? 
 
From the bestselling author of Stuff Matters comes a fascinating tour of the world of these surprising or sinister substances - the droplets, heartbeats and ocean waves we encounter day-to-day. Structured around a plane journey which sees encounters with water, wine, and oil, among others, Miodownik shows that liquids are agents of death and destruction as well as substances of wonder and fascination. Just as in Stuff Matters his unique brand of scientific storytelling brings them and their mysterious properties alive in a captivating new way.

The Strange Stories of the Marvellous Materials that Shape Our Man-made World

Stuff Matters

* * * Winner of the 2014 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books * * * 
 
Stuff Matters by Mark Miodnownik is a unique and inspiring exploration of human creativity. 
 
'Enthralling. A mission to re-acquaint us with the wonders of the fabric that sustains our lives' Guardian 
 
Everything is made of something... 
 
From the everyday objects in our homes to the most extraordinary new materials that will shape our future, Stuff Matters reveals the inner workings of the man-made world, the miracles of craft, design, engineering and ingenuity that surround us every day. 
 
From the tea-cup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, from the ancient technologies of fabrics and ceramic to today's self-healing metals and bionic implants, this is a book to inspire amazement and delight at mankind's creativity. 
 
'A certain sort of madness may be necessary to pull off what he has attempted here, which is a wholesale animation of the inanimate: Miodownik achieves precisely what he sets out to' The Times 
 
'Insightful, fascinating. The futuristic materials will elicit gasps. Makes even the most everyday substance seem exciting' Sunday Times 
 
'Wonderful. Miodownik writes well enough to make even concrete sparkle' Financial Times 
 
'I stayed up all night reading this book' Oliver Sacks 
 
'Expert, deftly written, immensely enjoyable' Observer 
 
Mark Miodownik is Professor of Materials and Society at UCL, scientist-in-residence on Dara O Briain's Science Club (BBC2) and presenter of several documentaries, including The Genius of Invention (BBC2). In 2010, he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, broadcast on BBC4. He is Director of the UCL Institute of Making, which is home to a materials library containing some of the most wondrous matter on earth, and has collaborated to make interactive events with many museums, such as Tate Modern, the Hayward Gallery and Wellcome Collection. In 2014 Stuff Matters won the Royal Society Winton Prize.

A certain sort of madness may be necessary to pull off what he has attempted here, which is a wholesale animation of the inanimate: Miodownik achieves precisely what he sets out to

Insightful, fascinating. The futuristic materials will elicit gasps. Makes even the most everyday substance seem exciting

Expert, deftly written, immensely enjoyable

Wonderful. Miodownik writes well enough to make even concrete sparkle

I stayed up all night reading this book. Miodownik writes with such knowledge, such enthusiasm, such a palpable love for his subject

Superb storytelling . . . fascinating . . . a delightful book on a subject that is relatively rarely written about

This is a hugely enjoyable marriage of science and art

Independent on Sunday, 'Books of the Year'

A unique and inspiring exploration of human creativity from one of the UK's best-known scientists 
 
Everything is made of something... 
 
From the everyday objects in our homes to the most extraordinary new materials that will shape our future, Stuff Matters reveals the inner workings of the man-made world, and the miracles of craft, design, engineering and ingenuity that surround us every day. 
 
From the tea-cup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, from the ancient technologies of fabrics and ceramic to today's self-healing metals and bionic implants, this is a book to inspire amazement and delight at mankind's creativity. 
 
Mark Miodownik is Professor of Materials and Society at UCL, scientist-in-residence on Dara O Briain's Science Club (BBC2) and presenter of several documentaries, including The Genius of Invention (BBC2). In 2010, he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, broadcast on BBC4. He is Director of the UCL Institute of Making, which is home to a materials library containing some of the most wondrous matter on earth, and has collaborated to make interactive events with many museums, such as Tate Modern, the Hayward Gallery and Wellcome Collection. In 2014 Stuff Matters won the Royal Society Winton Prize.

Mark Miodownik

It's not just a gas, it’s a blast. A brilliant, bracing journey though the past, present and future of the invisible stuff you can’t see, but is everywhere.

Hugely enjoyable. From the bouncy castle to poison gas, from The Wizard of Oz to cappuccinos, this book has it all: plenty of belly laughs, but also warnings about the state of our world

With seamless storytelling and scientific flair, Mark unveils the captivating personalities of gases that fizz, pop, numb, smell, warm, and soar, illuminating the extraordinary role they play in our lives

Roger Highfield, Science Director at the Science Museum

Mark Miodownik is an exceptionally talented scientist, writer and communicator, and in this book he brings the invisible world of gas to vivid, visible life

Sophie Scott, author of The Brain: 10 Things You Should Know

The Magnificent and Elusive Elements that Expand Our World

Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It's a Gas, Mark Miodownik masterfully reveals an invisible world through his unique brand of scientific storytelling. 
 
Taking us back to that exhilarating – and often dangerous – moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what they had discovered, Miodownik shows that gases are the formative substances of our modern world, each with its own weird and wonderful personality. 
We see how seventeenth-century laughing gas parties led to the first use of anaesthetics in surgery, how the invention of the air valve in musical instruments gave us bicycles, cars and trainers, and how gases made us masters of the sea (by huge steamships) and skies (via extremely flammable balloons). This delight of a book reveals the immense importance of gases to modern civilisation.

It's a Gas

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

Mark Miodownik

Praise for It's a Gas

A delight

It's not just a gas, it’s a blast. A brilliant, bracing journey though the past, present and future of the invisible stuff you can’t see, but is everywhere.

Hugely enjoyable. From the bouncy castle to poison gas, from The Wizard of Oz to cappuccinos, this book has it all: plenty of belly laughs, but also warnings about the state of our world

A delight

It's not just a gas, it’s a blast. A brilliant, bracing journey though the past, present and future of the invisible stuff you can’t see, but is everywhere.

Hugely enjoyable. From the bouncy castle to poison gas, from The Wizard of Oz to cappuccinos, this book has it all: plenty of belly laughs, but also warnings about the state of our world

A delight

It's not just a gas, it’s a blast. A brilliant, bracing journey though the past, present and future of the invisible stuff you can’t see, but is everywhere.

Hugely enjoyable. From the bouncy castle to poison gas, from The Wizard of Oz to cappuccinos, this book has it all: plenty of belly laughs, but also warnings about the state of our world

Books by Mark Miodownik

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter