Stuff Matters Book Review Mark Miodownik is a professor at the University of London and the director of the Institute of Making his interest in materials science began at an early age as the result of a traumatic event. In the book Stuff Matters written by Miodownik, he explains how his interest in materials science began, and how “stuff” has changed civilizations throughout history. Stuff Matters is an interesting and enlightening non-fiction book describing how common materials such as steel, concrete, paper and glass have influenced civilization. Miodownik describes in detail how natural elements were manipulated by man to create man-made materials at the same minuscule scale that take place naturally. Materials science has provided the knowledge required for …show more content…
It draws the attention of the readers using different techniques and personal experiences of the author. A single photograph of Miodownik having tea on a rooftop garden is used at the start of each new chapter and provides evidence of the importance of the material that will be presented in that chapter. When writing the chapter about plastic Miodownik incorporates a screenplay that he wrote as a means to explain the importance of plastic to the cinema. The use of this screenplay is amusing and engaging for the reader, which helps to relive some of the exhausting details behind the material properties of plastic. Stuff Matters is a book that helps readers to connect the importance of material science and the technology behind the “stuff” that modern civilization has embraced over time. The book provides valuable insight on why the discoveries are relative to our existence. Many of which were required for survival, functional or practical and materials whose only the function was to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Modern civilization continues to reap the benefits of the advancement in material science and the discoveries that shape our
Allen, Brenda J. "Difference and Other Important Matters." Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2004. 1-22. Print.
Medieval religious art was made primarily to send a message to the laypeople and therefor artists and patrons had a keen idea of the audience they were reaching with each piece. Interior art was meant to educate captive audiences who were already in a religious setting; primarily this exposure would only take place during the mass on Sundays. Exterior art is able to educate and send a message to anyone passing by the cathedral and no longer had a limited exposure time.
The need to store things led to the development of containers, first among them bags of fiber or leather, woven baskets and pottery. But clay lends itself to many other purposes: bricks, statuettes, funerary offerings, toys and games etc. Pottery, the molding of form out of a formless mass and its becoming imperishable through firing, is the most miraculous kind of creation.
In the presented essay I will compare the style of work of selected artists in the montage of the film. I will try to point out some general regularities and features of Soviet cinema. At the same time I will try to capture especially what is common in their systems and similar or conversely what differ. For my analysis, I will draw on the feature films of the Soviet avantgarde, namely these are the movies - The Battleship Potemkin (S. Eisenstein, 1925), Mother (V. Pudovkin, 1926) and The Man with a movie camera (D. Vertov, 1929).
Keep it Simple Science. Production of Materials. Port Macquarie: Keep it Simple Science, 2005. 24-27. Print
Metallurgy, a process by which ancient civilizations expanded and grew. From art to war, from infrastructure to trade. Specific kinds of metals and their products were part of the driving force that shaped the ancient world. Metallurgy in the ancient world includes the process of hybridizing metals and creating alloys which in turn allowed their culture to further develop through the bronze age. Through metallurgy the ancient world was shaped and became what we know it as today.
In 1789, French chemist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-93) separated 33 substances he considered elements -including light (now know not to exist as an element) and a liquid called ‘Caloric’ (now known not to exist) (Chemical Heritage Foundation, n.d.)- into metals, non-metals and ‘earths’ (Linstead, 2012, p. 115-116).
In today’s world, technology is transforming conventional methods of every facet of human life; from the way that we grow our crops, to the way that we communicate with one another. Technology has opened our minds to new ideas and even to new places, such as space exploration. Simply put, technology means applying science toward an objective and the outcome is advancement in modes of construction.
Since the first sign of the human civilization until now, human had invented many great inventions to support their daily lives. The invention of the human become more modern and complex day by day, at the time period before Common Era, human used cave as houses, and manipulated rocks to be their weapons to hunt, thus, at that time, rock was one of the very important thing to the human civilization. Human, then, knew how to create fire and use it to cook food. As time moved on, human finally reach the agricultural era, which they found out how to grow crop and harvest them for food or trading purpose. Nearest to the present, the world experienced the industrial era, which brings the living conditions of the civilization to a whole
There is no doubt that the accomplishments made through technology are astonishing. Technology has made amazing impacts on everything from science in space to medical science to the devices we use every day that make our lives easier. People are living longer and better than ever before, but we can’t forget how to live without it. “Just because technology is there and makes something easier doesn’t mean we should rely on it so much that we can’t think for ourselves,” (Levinson).
Metals are currently in high demand by society. A high percentage of common everyday items you use and see utilises a form of metal. That wooden table in a common kitchen that looks like it is made completely of wood. Metals are still used in that "completely wooden table" as the screws used to hold it together are made of metals. Many commonly used metals such as iron, aluminium, and/or copper are all found from ores. An ore is a mixture in the form of a rock that is mined. For example, bauxite is an ore that contains a high percentage of pure aluminium. That pure aluminium is then extracted, refined, and crafted in to many everyday items such as cars, foil, and ladders. Chemists are continuously researching an innovative approach to extract and refine pure metals from ores while using fewer amounts of energy. Society's requirement of metals is increasing by the year as science and technology advances.
Through the years, the process of turning raw materials into useful materials is a tradition that hasn’t changed over hundreds of years. The general process of turning metal to blades, silicon to magic mirrors or computers and ceramics to pottery or circuits. If we examine the past we can learn much about our future because all technological advancements need is to look to our ancient ancestors and examine how they dealt with the problems of their time.
For thousands of years, humans have been creating, designing, and using tools. In the beginning, these tools were simplistic but effective, and made with natural materials such as wood, bone, and stone. From these materials, many different tools, such as hammers, axes, cooking utensils, and many more. For my tool assignment, I decided to make a simple mortar and pestle out of stone. The reason for picking a mortar and pestle is because it is a kitchen apparatus that I have always admired, using my mother's whenever given the chance throughout my childhood.
Nowadays, engineering has been reduced to something less than simple. It’s still a hard and long process, but it has been made a lot more efficient. Smaller and smaller innovations and inventions are being made. Small, paper thin, portable microscopes, water wheels, and devices that can display yo...