Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World

by Mark Miodownik

At some point humans made the discovery that would end the Stone Age and open the door to a seemingly unlimited supply of the stuff. They discovered that a certain greenish rock, when put into a very hot fire and surrounded by red-hot embers, turns into a shiny piece of metal. This greenish rock was malachite, and the metal was, of course, copper.

And if dislocations find it difficult to move, then the metal is stronger, since it’s harder for the metal crystals to change shape. Alloy design is thus the art of preventing the movement of dislocations.

crystal of aluminum oxide is colorless if pure but becomes blue when it contains impurities of iron atoms: it is the gemstone called sapphire.

Exactly the same aluminum oxide crystal containing impurities of chromium is the gem called ruby.

By using the sharp high-carbon steel as a wrapper on top of the tough low-carbon steel they achieved what many thought impossible: a sword that could survive impact with other swords and armor while remaining sharp enough to slice a man’s head off. The best of both worlds.

In 1903 Gillette sold 51 razors and 168 blades. The following year, he sold 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades.

Accidentally, by getting the ratios of two alloy ingredients right, carbon and chromium, he had managed to create a very special crystal structure in which the chromium and carbon atoms were both inserted inside the iron crystals. The addition of chromium had not made the steel harder, hence he had rejected the sample, but it had done something much more interesting.

Its lack of hardness allowed the alloy to do other things, though, which only became apparent later in the century—namely, it could be formed into complex shapes, leading eventually to one of the most influential pieces of sculpture, present in almost every house: the kitchen sink.

it has meant that we are one of the first generations who have not had to taste our cutlery. It

Lignin reacts with oxygen in the presence of light to create chromophores

The invention of paper, said to be one of the four great inventions of the Chinese, solved these problems, but it wasn’t until the Romans replaced the scroll with the codex—or, as we call it now, the book—that the material reached its full potential.