Stuff Matters: Exploring The Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World Quotes
"Embarrassment overcame any sort of common sense."
"We may like to think of ourselves as civilized, but that civilization is in large part bestowed by material wealth."
"The mystique that surrounded steelmaking engendered various myths."
"We love some materials despite their flaws, and loathe others even if they are more practical."
"In a world where we are keen to dispose of waste instantly and conveniently, this material has really come through for us."
"Books on shelves and on tables are a kind of internal marketing exercise, reminding us who we are and who we want to be."
"We are physical beings so it perhaps makes sense for us to identify and express our values using physical objects."
"The invention of paper, said to be one of the four great inventions of the Chinese, solved these problems."
"It is often used in architecture and art precisely because its bright surface appears uncorrodable."
"The digital revolution has changed the landscape considerably."
"There is nothing that quite grips the stomach while simultaneously making your heart skip than a letter from your beloved arriving by post."
"The composite nature of a brick building is part of its appeal."
"Concrete is fundamentally different from this building material, because it starts off as a liquid."
"With concrete, if you can build the mold, you can create the structure."
"The existence of concrete feeds the ambition of engineers."
"Once the Romans had invented it, they realized that it would allow them to build the infrastructure of their empire."
"In ordinary circumstances, exposed to the elements, the steel that is used to reinforce concrete is prone to rusting."
"This self-healing concrete is now being developed for use in real engineering structures."
"Concrete is essentially a simulacrum of stone: it is derived from it and is similar in appearance, composition, and properties."
"Chocolate is designed to transform into a liquid as soon as it hits your mouth."
"We offer a handsome fortune of ten thousand dollars to any inventor who can create a replacement material for ivory."
"In fact, that’s really why I brought you here, because you have to see this to believe it."
"This is the key to it all, and it was under my nose all the time!"
"Nitrocellulose . . . I have heard of that . . . yes, but isn’t that an explosive?!"
"Perhaps it’s slightly explosive, highly flammable certainly. But I am very careful."
"It’s not ivory! Ha! I fooled you. It’s a new material made from this same cellulose nitrate."
"How big is the market for ivory? Big. Very big."
"To the beach! Precisely! To do that, we need to make the camera smaller and lighter."
"So how long have I got? Three days, under normal circumstances."
"So it’s true! Well, if I marry, I want to marry for love, Bill."
"Graphene is the thinnest, strongest, and stiffest material in the world."
"Graphene... can carry more electricity, faster and with less resistance, than any other material."
"Diamonds may not be the hardest, strongest material anymore... but they still represent those qualities to most people."
"They [ceramics] resist scratching better than any other material, too."
"It [plaster] will cocoon a broken leg for weeks."
"This [plaster] was the price I had to pay, my mum said, for being rebuilt like the Six Million Dollar Man."
"In order to create these materials—in order to satisfy our need for things like shelter and clothes, our desire for chocolate and the cinema—we have had to master the complexity of their inner structure."
"A living material... can detect that such a stress is occurring and adopt a course of action in response."
"Materials are, in fact, composed of many different entities that combine to form the whole, and these different entities reveal themselves at different scales."
"As a result of our greater understanding of matter, the distinction between living and non-living materials is likely to become blurred."
"Materials are a reflection of who we are, a multi-scale expression of our human needs and desires."
"The rediscovery and refinement of concrete was a key technological advance of the Industrial Revolution."
"Rust can be a major issue in concrete structures, especially those containing steel."
"The history of materials mirrors the history of civilization."
"Every material has its own unique story of scientific intrigue, cultural significance, and human ingenuity."
"Materials science is a field of study that integrates knowledge from physics, chemistry, and engineering."
"The transformation of soft iron into hard steel revolutionized the world."
"Understanding the atomic structure of materials can unlock their potential in unprecedented ways."
"Materials are the uncelebrated enablers of our high-tech, high-touch world."
"Concrete has been the foundation of human construction since Roman times."
"Innovation in material science can lead to revolutionary changes in technology and society."