Winner of the 2014 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books

Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does any material look and behave the way it does?

These are the sorts of questions that renowned materials scientist Mark Miodownik constantly asks himself. Miodownik studies objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world.

In Stuff Matters, Miodownik explores the materials he encounters in a typical morning, from the steel in his razor to the foam in his sneakers. Full of enthralling tales of the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives, Stuff Matters will make you see stuff in a whole new way.

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

'A certain sort of madness may be necessary to pull of 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

'Expert, deftly written, immensely enjoyable.' Observer