I want to know stuff about stuff
January 8, 2012 9:27 PM Subscribe
Are there any good (as in well-written and entertaining) popular (as in written for total non-scientists) books about materials science?
Polymers! Ceramics! Adhesives and what, exactly, they are! That kind of thing! Whenever I read articles about materials and how they work, how they are made, I get all excited. And then I always feel like I want to know the bigger story -- more about the chemistry and physics behind the research, and also more about how the field of materials science (if it is, truly, a single field) functions, and how it fits into the histories of scientific discovery and industrial politics.
I'm pretty much the liberal artsiest person imaginable -- not scientifically illiterate, totally, but pretty much lacking any academic background in the fundamentals. I'm good at getting up to speed, though, if things are presented in a clear and compelling way.
So: this book I want -- a James Gleick-y "Stuff and What People Have Been Doing With It For the Last Few Hundred Years" --does it exist?
Polymers! Ceramics! Adhesives and what, exactly, they are! That kind of thing! Whenever I read articles about materials and how they work, how they are made, I get all excited. And then I always feel like I want to know the bigger story -- more about the chemistry and physics behind the research, and also more about how the field of materials science (if it is, truly, a single field) functions, and how it fits into the histories of scientific discovery and industrial politics.
I'm pretty much the liberal artsiest person imaginable -- not scientifically illiterate, totally, but pretty much lacking any academic background in the fundamentals. I'm good at getting up to speed, though, if things are presented in a clear and compelling way.
So: this book I want -- a James Gleick-y "Stuff and What People Have Been Doing With It For the Last Few Hundred Years" --does it exist?
Best answer: Probably the best-known and most widely read popular treatment is The New Science of Strong Materials, or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor by J. E. Gordon, though it's somewhat outdated now. More recently science-fiction writer Wil McCarthy discussed some of the history of materials and how they work in Hacking Matter [2.3 MB pdf link], but he's mainly talking about materials at their molecular and even smaller levels.
posted by cgc373 at 9:47 PM on January 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cgc373 at 9:47 PM on January 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Stephen Sass's The Substance of Civilization pretty much does this. He's more of a metals guy (bronze to iron to steel), but he does spend some time on glass, polymers. The non-metals-oriented chapters are a little weaker, technically, but I found it a pleasant read and don't recall anything cringe-worthy in it.
posted by janell at 10:18 PM on January 8, 2012
posted by janell at 10:18 PM on January 8, 2012
Also (not a book, but definitely worth it): the 4-part NOVA series called "Making Stuff."
posted by janell at 10:20 PM on January 8, 2012
posted by janell at 10:20 PM on January 8, 2012
Best answer: Made to Measure, by Phillip Ball, is a very good read and a popular book for Materials Science for non-scientist courses. It's less history-focused, but it's a nice look at current(ish) directions in Materials Science and what the field is about. It's well-written, and I recommend it highly. IAAMSP, but IANYMSP.
posted by JMOZ at 4:21 AM on January 9, 2012
posted by JMOZ at 4:21 AM on January 9, 2012
Do NOT watch that NOVA series expecting to come away well-informed. I watched it expecting the recent (10-20 years) information-free NOVA junk and it was actually worse than that.
I actually came in here to suggest the J.E. Gordon book. He doesn't discuss polymers or ceramics much, but he does talk a lot about the basics of materials that you'll need to understand the details of these newer things. Like stress, strain, strength, etc. It sounds dull but he's a very engaging writer. He makes things actually accessible, rather than dumbing them down.
He's actually got more than one book and they, along with a couple of Mario Salvadori's books are some of the best material/structural engineering books out there. (This is the kind of book I'm looking for when I want books on engineering that are packed with real information but aren't boring. I'm looking at you, Henry Petroski.)
posted by DU at 5:57 AM on January 9, 2012
I actually came in here to suggest the J.E. Gordon book. He doesn't discuss polymers or ceramics much, but he does talk a lot about the basics of materials that you'll need to understand the details of these newer things. Like stress, strain, strength, etc. It sounds dull but he's a very engaging writer. He makes things actually accessible, rather than dumbing them down.
He's actually got more than one book and they, along with a couple of Mario Salvadori's books are some of the best material/structural engineering books out there. (This is the kind of book I'm looking for when I want books on engineering that are packed with real information but aren't boring. I'm looking at you, Henry Petroski.)
posted by DU at 5:57 AM on January 9, 2012
Napoleon's Buttons is written by a chemist but has a number of materials chemistry or straight-up materials science chapters. (The title comes from what is more of a pure materials problem.)
I'm 90% sure that The Substance of Civilization was the one that I read right before I went into grad school in a materials science program, and it made me feel great about that choice. It's a cool book.
I haven't read it yet, only perused it for a friend to check for alarmist dreck, but "Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea" looked sensible. And speaking of alarmist dreck, avoid stuff by Eric Drexler, or stuff that talks highly of him.
The "Best Science Writing" series occasionally has materials bits in it, but I'd skim at the library first because it's usually 90% biology and ecology.
"The Disappearing Spoon" is in my to-be-read pile--again slightly more on the chemistry end but from flipping through it I know it touches on a fair amount of materials as well.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:18 AM on January 9, 2012
I'm 90% sure that The Substance of Civilization was the one that I read right before I went into grad school in a materials science program, and it made me feel great about that choice. It's a cool book.
I haven't read it yet, only perused it for a friend to check for alarmist dreck, but "Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea" looked sensible. And speaking of alarmist dreck, avoid stuff by Eric Drexler, or stuff that talks highly of him.
The "Best Science Writing" series occasionally has materials bits in it, but I'd skim at the library first because it's usually 90% biology and ecology.
"The Disappearing Spoon" is in my to-be-read pile--again slightly more on the chemistry end but from flipping through it I know it touches on a fair amount of materials as well.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:18 AM on January 9, 2012
Response by poster: Great recommendations so far -- exactly the kinds of things I was looking for!
posted by neroli at 7:22 AM on January 9, 2012
posted by neroli at 7:22 AM on January 9, 2012
Gordon is a great place to start. His Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down is equally accessible and a great follow on.
posted by bonehead at 8:43 AM on January 9, 2012
posted by bonehead at 8:43 AM on January 9, 2012
The Disappearing Spoon was good, but is definitely more chemistry than Materials Science. I tried to watching Making Stuff, and despite being a materials scientist, I couldn't get through it. That is, however, because I find David Pogue so very smarmy.
posted by JMOZ at 12:40 PM on January 9, 2012
posted by JMOZ at 12:40 PM on January 9, 2012
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posted by Maisie at 9:37 PM on January 8, 2012