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_Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World_ by Mark Miodownik
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It was "first published June 6th 2013". The illustration here of the diamonds on the planet is very impressive... brings the point home: http://www.space.com/18011-super-eart...
Here's the audible.com page where you can listen to a sample: http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_h...
I may have a better appreciation than most for modern materials since I build & repair a lot of things. Just in my lifetime, I've seen some incredible advances & pre 1800s is plain incredible. The abilities of plastics, fasteners, & finishes now compared to what we had when I first started remodeling back in the mid 1970s blow me away.Take screws as an example. They weren't used until the early 1800s after the invention of a lathe that could mass produce them. Handy as they were, they were all slot head & the steel was iffy until later in the century. In the early 1900s, some other heads were developed, but it wasn't until the 1970s or 80s that they really came into their modern usage with screwguns, coatings, & different types of metal.
The drywall screw was my earliest acquaintance with modern versatility. They can be used on all kinds of materials, even self-drill & tap in metal. They're readily available in all kinds of lengths & sizes. I have a 5 gallon bucket with trays & dividers that holds over 2 dozen. Those are just the most common ones I use. I have dozens of others on hand & use them frequently.
Jim wrote: "I may have a better appreciation than most for modern materials since I build & repair a lot of things. Just in my lifetime, I've seen some incredible advances & pre 1800s is plain incredible. The ..."Interesting, Jim. I didn't realize all that.
How about Zippers? When i was being fitted for the movie, "Kansas City," my dress(supposedly from the 1930's) was a long line of hooks and eyes to get into it properly.
Nina wrote: "How about Zippers? When i was being fitted for the movie, "Kansas City," my dress(supposedly from the 1930's) was a long line of hooks and eyes to get into it properly."Nina, I looked up "zippers" at Wiki. I didn't realize there was so much to learn about zippers! LOL One of the facts was: "The zipper beat the button in 1937 ... after French fashion designers raved over zippers in men's trousers."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipper
As a guy, I'm less impressed with zippers, although they do represent an intricate marriage of materials & manufacturing techniques. When I lived in Colorado in the early 70s, the Levis sold there were 'original' & had buttons instead of a zipper for the fly. I found them quite easy to deal with in short order. I can't say I preferred them, but I certainly didn't mind them. I prefer buttons on coats. Not only can I undo bottom buttons which makes squatting while working or riding easier, but they don't break & ruin a favored article of clothing. Most of my coats are over a decade (2?) old. I tend to find a coat I like & wear it until it wears out. That takes a while & zippers rarely last as long as the rest. Replacing zippers is a pain. I'm not that good at sewing & coats are generally too thick for my machine.
Manufacturing techniques, supporting technology, & markets are hard to separate from materials & their worth to us. The best grow together. I was reading an article about cast iron a while ago that made this point very clear. The Chinese had & used it thousands of years ago, but it never really caught on. It popped up in a variety of places over the centuries, but it wasn't until the 17th or 18th century that it really took off & then it quickly became extremely important. It's ability to be cast & machined was one of the cornerstones of the Industrial Revolution.I think the article I read was discussing the industrialization of woodworking. IIRC, a process for it was patented in France around 1650 or 1675, but it was in England around 50 years later when another guy filed a patent for pretty much the same thing that it really came into its own. It was good for train parts, coal stoves, & factory machines. All sorts of other every day items suddenly became much less expensive & pervasive.
In woodworking, treadle-powered woodworking tools became available in mass quantities. This allowed many attain speed & accuracy in woodworking. Bigger machines used water or steam power & this led to mass production to meet the needs of the rising middle class as well as the fall of the individual craftsman & guilds. Luddites were a reaction to this in the early 1800s.
Cast iron had its faults. It was heavy & brittle. It wasn't very adaptable after its manufacture. It's very hard to rework, so created a specific, single function item that was discarded when it broke unlike steel which is often re-purposed. When the Bessemer process worked out the kinks in steel, cast iron lost its supremacy, but it was one of the really important & pivotal materials in our history.
I wish I remembered where I read the above as it's been a while & I don't recall it as well as I like. It made so much sense how it was a confluence of many forces that led to cast iron suddenly being the go-to material. I don't think it was in How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World, but this book makes a similar point about glass. I reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Another interesting book about the rise & fall of a material is Sheep: The Remarkable Story Of The Humble Animal That Built The Modern World. I reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What about bread? Who started making it? Who named it?
Wow, lots of info on zippers, I agree. And yes, too, a garment is worthless if the zipper breaks and isn't replaced. Also, i never realized the convenience of a zipper until as I said I was fitted into a 1930's dress and had to use hooks and eyes up and down the dress from the arm pits to below the waist. Getting in and out of the dress took quite a bit of time.
Nina wrote: "What about bread? Who started making it? Who named it?"I'd guess it was one of the earliest creations along with beer. I don't know anything about it, though. Probably depends on how you define it. Wheat was one of the earliest domesticated crops (8000-10,000 BC?) but I don't know when grinding & baking it came about. I think I read somewhere that early wheat wouldn't rise with yeast until a few thousand years ago. There was some protein or something lacking in early wheat.
Nina wrote: "Wow, lots of info on zippers, I agree. And yes, too, a garment is worthless if the zipper breaks and isn't replaced. Also, i never realized the convenience of a zipper until as I said I was fitted ..."That many hooks does sound like a pain. Glad I'm a guy. So long as I can avoid tuxedos, my wardrobe is very simple. I don't think I've even put on a tie in over a decade. I appreciate that. I used to have to wear one to school & work every day. I can't count how many I ruined. The stupid things were constantly getting loose & flopping where they didn't belong.
You sound like my husband years ago, Jim. He also didn't like ties and was happy when he retired and could work for himself as a computer consultant and it didn't matter what clothes he wore.
Jim wrote: "As a guy, I'm less impressed with zippers, although they do represent an intricate marriage of materials & manufacturing techniques. When I lived in Colorado in the early 70s, the Levis sold there ..."I agree about the buttons vs zippers. Zippers can be a pain in the neck... especially getting them started on a heavy quilt coat.
I don't think we own a dress jacket that my husband could fit into at this point! Ties? What are ties? :)Speaking of trends, I wish they would go back to men who are clean-shaven and neat looking. I hate scruffy beards!
I loved the crew cut on men!
I'm thankful for wash & wear and perma-pressed clothing.
I agree about permanent press. I was given a couple of linen shirts. Very nice, but they became work shirts around the farm because no one wanted to iron them each time they were washed. I think I'm the only one that irons anything any more & then it's usually some sewing project.;)
Imagine all the time spent ironing years ago! Such drudgery. But now we're just as busy as ever. Too much time spent on the Internet!
I was nineteen before I ever ironed and then when I was living in CA and had nothing to wear except an unironed blouse my aunt told me it was time I learned to iron as she wasn't going to do it for me. That was the beginning and I did make up for lost time because at one time I ironed five oxford cloth starched shirts a week for my husband and ten white uniform blouses for my two parochial school daughters and ten shirts for their brothers all in one week. Actually I prefer my internet time to those days.
LOL! I'll bet you do, Nina. I've never minded ironing too much, but it was always just one more chore that I had to make time for. I'd put it above dusting & vacuuming, lower than washing & folding clothes.
Jim wrote: "LOL! I'll bet you do, Nina. I've never minded ironing too much, but it was always just one more chore that I had to make time for. I'd put it above dusting & vacuuming, lower than washing & folding..."Hmmm, I never thought about rating my preferences for different kinds of housekeeping. I can't think of one that I'd prefer above the other. They are all equally awful!
However, I'd say that dusting is the worst job! I do enjoy thinking of ways to shortcut housekeeping chores, usually by thinking of ways to be more efficient and to be more organized. I like putting things away and having a place for things. However, most of my things are usually in a transition stage... waiting to be put away someplace. This can lead to a lot of clutter, especially because I like knick-knacks and tchatchkes. So my shelves are all full! LOL
Joy H. wrote: "Hmmm, I never thought about rating my preferences for different kinds of housekeeping..."We tend to split such chores up by whoever has the time & energy, so I do think about what I'd prefer to do. If I do X, I can get out of doing Y. Doesn't always work. Marg gets picky about some things, so I just let her do it. That keeps her from getting too picky too often.
;)
Jim wrote: "Joy H. wrote: "We tend to split such chores up by whoever has the time & energy ... Marg gets picky about some things, so I just let her do it. That keeps her from getting too picky too often. ;) "LOL - That's a good strategy, Jim. Have you heard of "cheerful incompetence"? That's when the husband cheerfully does a chore but botches it up so badly that he's never asked to do anything again!
Jim wrote: "Oh, you mean it's a known ploy? ;)"Oh, yes! And well used. :)
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World (other topics)Sheep: The Remarkable Story of the Humble Animal that Built the Modern World (other topics)
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World (other topics)
I came across this book while browsing Goodreads deals.
DESCRIPTION: A New York Times bestseller which entertainingly studies everyday materials, from steel razor blades to graphite pencils—readers are bound to see “stuff” in a whole new way. Globally-renowned materials scientist Mark Miodownik offers a collection of marvelous scientific breakthroughs in the material world, including: the creation of European porcelain, a planet made entirely of diamonds, and Graphene, the thinnest, strongest, stiffest material in existence—only a single atom thick.
SEE:
http://www.space.com/18011-super-eart...
http://www.space.com/11544-densest-al...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55_Canc...
"55 Cancri e (abbreviated 55 Cnc e), also named Janssen, is an exoplanet closely orbiting its Sun-like host star 55 Cancri A."
"An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun."