Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
    Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
    Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
    Ebook331 pages4 hours

    Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives

    By Mark Miodownik

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Sometimes explosive, often delicious, occasionally poisonous, and always fascinating: the New York Times bestselling author of Stuff Matters offers an "entertaining discussion of the various ways our lives are enriched by fluids” (The Wall Street Journal). We know that we need water to survive, and that, for some of us, a cup of coffee or a glass of wine can feel just as vital. But do we really understand how much we rely on liquids, or their destructive power? Set on one of the author's transatlantic flights, Liquid Rules offers readers a tour of these formless substances, told through the language of molecules, droplets, heartbeats, and ocean waves. We encounter fluids within the plane—from hand soap to liquid crystal display screens—and without: in the volcanoes of Iceland, the frozen expanse of Greenland, and the marvelous California coastline. We come to see liquids with wonder and fascination, and to understand their potential for death and destruction. Just as in his bestselling, award-winning Stuff Matters, Mark Miodownik’s unique brand of scientific storytelling brings his subject to life in ways that will inform and amuse science buffs and lay readers alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateFeb 19, 2019
    ISBN9780544850200
    Author

    Mark Miodownik

    Mark Miodownik is professor of materials and society at University College London, where he is also director of the Institute of Making. He is the author of Stuff Matters, a New York Times bestseller which won the National Academy of Sciences Communication Award for Books and the Royal Society Winton Prize, and Liquid Rules, a finalist for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize. Mark is a frequent guest on podcasts and NPR, hosts regular shows on the BBC, and was chosen by the Times as one of the one hundred most influential scientists in the UK.

    Related to Liquid Rules

    Related ebooks

    Chemistry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Hard Science Of Espresso

      May 8, 2022

      The Hard Science Of Espresso
      1 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Mar 4, 2024

      Security confiscated the bracelet I’d slipped into my wallet but not the thin black sweater I wore as I walked out of Macy’s. The sweater still had its price tag and was so soft it soothed whoever was whispering “more, more” in my ears adorned with s

      4 min read

    • Article

      Biden Declares Cold War on China

      Oct 27, 2022

      The new US National Defense Strategy, released this morning, appears to treat China as an enemy of the United States. The aim of the strategy is to avoid war with China by making constant credible threats to use US military force, including nuclear w

      3 min read

    • Article

      A New Mac|life App!

      May 23, 2023

      A New Mac|life App!
      1 min read

    • Article

      Ethics Or Welfare?

      Apr 16, 2020

      ONE potential downside to developments in medicine is that it can blur the ethics line. Are we getting to a point where vets are doing too much? “A vet’s intention should always be to enhance welfare and keep in mind that euthanasia is an option when

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Right Ending

      Oct 21, 2021

      The Right Ending
      3 min read

    • Article

      Europe: Inflation Is Settling In

      Mar 10, 2023

      Core inflation in the euro area hit a record high of 5.6% in February, its third monthly rise in a row. Core inflation strips out volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices. Annual headline inflation fell slightly to 8.5%, but is still more th

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Lasting Power Of Simple Virtues

      Oct 29, 2020

      THERE IS THE RIDDLE OF THE Sphinx, and still more mysterious, conservatism. Marxism, socialism, liberalism — and more — are relatively easy to navigate; they boast founding texts, clearly identifiable moments of inception, obvious principles and a ca

      3 min read

    • Article

      40 Tips And Tricks When Purchasing, Storing And Serving Wine

      Feb 28, 2021

      OCCASIONALLY I see some sadly neglected wine in bottle shops, restaurants and in people’s homes. Bottles that have oxidised due to mishandling, or simply left too long. So here are some guidelines, tips and tricks that might help to save these gems.

      4 min read

    • Article

      ALCOHOL-is It Good Or BAD?

      Sep 1, 2019

      ALCOHOL-is It Good Or BAD?
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘Strategic Empathy’: H.R. McMaster On Foreign Policy And China

      Sep 22, 2020

      H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, discusses new book “Battlegrounds” and U.S.-China policy with the Monitor.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Secretive ‘Gold Rush’ For Deep-sea Mining Dominated By Handful Of Firms

      Dec 9, 2020

      Private mining firms and arms companies are exerting a hidden and unhealthy influence on the fate of the deep-sea bed, according to a new report highlighting the threats facing the world’s biggest intact ecosystem. An investigation by Greenpeace foun

      4 min read

    • Article

      Super VTFET Chip Could Improve Your Phone’s Battery Life By A Week

      May 18, 2022

      TECHNOLOGY All smartphone users know the effect of battery-depletion fear – when heavy use of apps consumes so much power that you worry the phone may run out of juice before you’re able to recharge it, so that you’ll lose contact with the outside wo

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Liquid Rules

    3.5/5

    71 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      This book is full of scientific information about the liquids we encounter in our everyday lives. We learn about substances such as tea, coffee, peanut butter, ocean waves, blood, saliva, ink, jet fuel, glues, alcohol, clouds, LCD screens, liquid soap, and much more. The author structures the chapters around a trip by air from London to San Francisco, where he takes the normal routines of flight and relates them to various fluids. It is a nifty device. If you have ever wondered how candles or ball point pens work, this book supplies the answers. It occasionally ventures into some complex chemistry, but generally is a book of straight-forward popular science. I enjoyed learning these fun facts.
    • 5/5
      A delightfully accessible book about physical science that aims to teach you something even if this is not your usual jam. Through the connecting theme of a transatlantic flight, the author reviews how different types of liquids behave, how they help shape our world and enable our lives. This would be a suitable title for a high school level science course, even including enough bodily function humor to keep students entertained.
    • 5/5
      Science and fun!
    • 2/5
      Trivia about liquids forced into a strange format of a fake story about the author flying in a passanger plane. The story format is meant to bring humour into this but is at best tiresome.
    • 4/5
      The amount of stuff we consume these days is staggering, but there are some things that we use day in day out that barely get our attention, the water that comes out of the tap that goes into the kettle to make your coffee. The liquid soap that you use to wash your hands, the ink that stays in the pen until you scribble on a notepad, the glass of something cold that helps you relax at the end of a busy week. All of these are liquids and they all lubricate our lives in one way or another.

      But, if someone was to place three glasses full of clear liquids in front of you, which could you drink that is essential to life, which would power an aircraft and which would kill you if you knocked it over?

      Mark Miodownik is best placed to explain all of these things being a materials engineer and Professor of Materials and Society at UCL and in this highly entertaining journey from London to San Francisco on a plane he describes and enlightens us about all the liquids that we use in the modern world. Beginning as he passes through security, and why we can't take more than 100ml of fluids on board now, on to the pre-dinner drinks, the oceans that he is flying over and what liquids hold the plane he is on together.

      The film he watches after diner allows him to explain liquid crystals and the way that most modern TV's work before he nods off and wakes up dribbling on the passenger alongside him. From a discussion on body fluids, he moves swiftly onto the delights of coffee and tea and why they don't taste quite the same over the Atlantic. A wash and brush up and then onto the history of inks, musings about clouds and liquids that sometimes think that they are solids, liquids that can flow uphill and new modern technologies like self-healing roads.

      I thought that was a great companion volume to Stuff Matters and another very well written book by Miodownik. He has used a fair amount of artistic license to ensure that the narrative flows and to give him plenty of subjects to discuss as he travels from the UK to the United States. I do like the way that he talks about science in an engaging manner and the whole book is stuffed full of facts and interesting anecdotes, but there is only so much you can do from the viewpoint of an airline seat and he does veer a little off course occasionally. Well worth reading. 4.5 stars
    • 4/5
      An engaging discussion of liquid organic and inorganic compounds in a well-researched format by a materials scientist. The author writes concise and easily-grasped overviews. Although this is a 'popular-science' approach to the topic, it was well-done without perverting the facts to suit a non-science audience.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book on audio! It's funny, intelligent, insightful, intriguing. Tied together by our narrator's cross continental airplane ride, he takes us into the chemistry behind all sorts of liquids: coffee and tea, oceans, ink and pens, soap, tar (yes, it's a liquid!), glue and sticky pads, clouds, and much, much more. I was amused and I learned so much. Can't wait to find another of his books and download it. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      Miodownik uses the amusing conceit of a long London-to-San Francisco airline flight as an avenue to explore a dozen types of liquids (defined as anything “that flows and assumes the shape of its container”) that he encounters on the flight, including: explosives; alcohol; water; adhesives; paints and liquid crystals; bodily fluids; tea and coffee; cleaning agents; coolants; inks; clouds; and our molten planet.He’s very fun, a really good-natured guide (and often outright funny) who recounts the histories of materials and lightly describes the science behind their uses and harms, and he manages to find jumping-off points that segue into even more topics. The first chapter, on crude oil, fascinated me the most, and I also learned a lot about waves and adhesives and tea and… honestly, every chapter offered new delights about these very familiar materials.(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)

    Book preview

    Liquid Rules - Mark Miodownik

     qebook_preview_excerpt.html|۶Fik-XeKGUzʖzLI>HPyO/wD&#̃I ;"1Mal8Vχ6UnfG=26T_^xms3ùonڶҥc]Oƪ=!lyNq요48.V)qRM:ywۧx ;npћM0cnx~6}Sw.^Uuû4 |}3,y~$i4dX:}B <,z/" h6z٤a9Hܧ4< hbm]qt,5ua)ݽ'*MjzAnМR9ƾJ'xږa f.-`AJ?q_}yZ!/S;J>ymt¾qPZn6QDGjzt?B]A0,^j' i!9`^vm֥ m\ z8Skpua34\8+xMB)Rk:XXow4d fBL/U.ޙRJeELhSBQlGd@ d^!H8~@4.i 6ISv%E;]&m,c`5kRgi'vCh݅q;`كW8o7Kh|:Oؚ4*h6N6!jH?w[܆/8g7>@f:r 0/QGyt4_\Jl2ĦvDFLZq=cH0s7L-(^l0T}g@XSml9s h&PNcؒm&2cܡȉ%Ys<2і^z>u2B;j ~kf|f05]) @f 9Z3Cz' =Kʫ7ܣ#Kh>z8m;-\^8Z+gZA~=J kC#]hӰzB[@[#cch8gO(57i ?(E9Л!z.ʬ^5ha{b3^ $. 0(7tTW/$-byhξ'w#h04@\84id9': 3l.;iWx)}+}RG@.GL{ƪ6' |NOܦ) ę<tތ=?3YK'wp&mIH e[g |_!@Ӛ+FE€üʷ+N$fpptc)&t N-AFQͻJ˲!䇐 ;hG@3Yiޚ#[җ﫿7 C@!\3H?I̼esa:; |;ήk1bB$clynZ/+7t=&d>l?@# mqOD۴d%QE2C-|L[}5v['(t gy&P#B`Z.F]V,b< ? T}HW6 !1˒kTCHp=T p=+#Bl'XoØI<% bkC>@9 ðn޳qmttF%B'Cde d:h.:QL۝Tq)`ShltA:J {&AN_1cS4YXm ?izlyRE-= 7N@= UVK,6: ݶ#е9Ɯh6i?" I<1b6&TK  <ӋmUPB>Cw{=! $ mnj:F7͘YA&, mXgpr| ` A6,IPQ1''?˛a[9$m' {&j4vHHzYvfǃ3yUEYY8fG !=Ip օu( ~ƻrX%1jխolNI%\YaNq@ڔHoScɖ5=941*5&X`h Qѡ99'?[jBMKO ';-EaA4J^'! toA=7,Te839 }&v{墧xE*4pi+ӽэK.Ȭ۳n7˩$o/5xE' "ܴ̒c42egLi!J6#bZ|b.Bq PKQ~ۊD'(Fr~/yL/H-Oe$kVI s >=+}7daPa$T QāP!DU `vGf-] }bv?ʤnhIG!ӐYZii X#:jӓ@'䋊p[4S!RҏX0^Ѩ.}-9ٜTWzPP0yphOV4+@L(" φFMYRqy0m# 1}OBkjo 'CXknjb%qڷ=3q33ur:e*Aw,<(%^ i*0Hc˚X ZB> 4YqJV.ZfM.)hĜW/4 ,Jua23#h~MCT ;iGYVwa/!6sR{[0NW!uBo3PXΡRs#>Vu (X!5<].sC1Cl˘k PJF|WљF h_aųƒO ߹Y`Y@$\Tc&MrOdZ B`F*1aЪ}%MqEN{".f&Ri]P6KjA ` `SqK6fڕXaʯs"KD& !L'ncOW_ V 'B=MM %DKq*GҥKwo'֕ɈhOFjM᤟|K5D"6]r=6 G ǿZ 10L8fDjzh9"= 4g{v7n26':DkLǢ\6@)}7XV^Ґam+-}r<5WhZY "<2lavcݱF$k@φBKP%^6F(3=l_.uB&d!ҡC83\< %3 [-ukbUDzOsB6[ B.Nh?]B =r:#x) ǡz+u`}{oU4(TSuѿ•EަD8H!DW-u8 P7G:[nS F|;.Ih@>i8exbl487fe~4z @miNs=sRfh!Rͱžٜ-d&\%5 UGKsl^ytj.D_=ΈU?2 r,uX:uVVMՒJ v؞^cS3U 䔦Q]h*7!.zMw93*b$EX th\+'^Tn[Yj34!Yw^-m FW-!q= 똆fegnYgJR>:>:Fݾ5nPQlcG1k_}Ɋgf$^_:k}:Yk37ն̢y#2-\$/`6 +ͱk-QY jd- nk/{C18ۇ5Ҧg iSXzƖ_a /[:H֣3D#c:dJ!ʎ9sYmÊⰹB7:F+J4>>Q~eտY:DI,;G:^^AÒܲw+=p30DoRWo/Wp?5^0oˬ[)' ": 67+jEHv5.i'gmՆ$ ll$) e{(]M+%\0f͛S\2<RM{-lչ9 :4N>wtlAYH̹[,j.ϖHF cJVCp8`McszM-.| k%YV7j `櫊S TU1 ( t^99f}$wHQR2§m(}ڝw>BsuZ]= j6ɋy~k&&%gni- 4(,I6;-1`^p,ރNr3 p־.70ՓJ6ԯ2Ə".oxVGP14Lhkͪʩ "M2fMmVE>鎐on(iz?YxIZs:dQ ;yXxK/<&z2TcfEף_6,gtEڅ:8>\-odjGursϿpSe$1DɌ:r VIVB]q5މ/ϫ˧>{[} %PWv&or$6Mtr }Y ۻ/y!P'jZYХ z@Y!`OZGa|-N} ~U8 9b)1tάVG}tsuJ졿F̘|*Yvd {6=eVƻG$tU~y+?iw7j !9NP6/iձ_Mana-)zf;G-Zܶd M˚{W{N/hiޙt+* {/>Y{[`7 p:UJ1nj{FU4 rRk ["--ϗfFr{1)?zoSfa&;tSphEM\x^W^ 'j ˽j2MZtivjp OLM\}ͤcdy;W2fՌEqL |l˖XỴS>G6w٨YYt|D`FW(+L)LfYwZf;N2Be#f!=:F'@ug!:EcaFlց@'bU-%xO!W,@K~C8VZIt쥶skzrq4m tC{5boFy`KOtb$oA]2?Ec e7|%d|}tN,w|^{FDцi̸1lqkq]\2js!So0y7wK^L#\ˣrXSgrx`@kl)ܮzFٺYyAzڎdFiz\i:ksX;5YN!X5_YF[ Ĉm!X_k@\?r%4 '{`k7:*@<)UtSZ4jlDͤ/J~bmҰL1 VyWZ~sۃ[aK@Iaunza0oYZoNM.| .'/~ѫ}Zɣ hn.7ۤ"D2`) 0u_2'La#d}%݅72 Mw<'@"0*/W[SUS3Cnm^Rgx *gIvDZ']!Kݏ[S+W>/?#̤&VmX1U., 'g cJMLX'wS*JA M^sp=CwYwꬩu!򐾆59؈!vD;;X Oe&oެʳ˿% N{.< 3TpW2{Θ z~Oz?5U+/#a s6Tܶ庅tH"7ED]* ʐ'kB!|!<"I>G?흚 Tn(2[4݂Y w3tV8 8Eo}y\vf KV+sz |\N 2rX$p?͔3 L`ozz>G{oޡewAQ"t$~y.s$l^.ZNd>>НMi@pLT!1=7BIx<>ݢpV&]@-y:Ѥ\cr$B -8t8ðD={1nJJ1m< !XKCpGy6hUxۺa UنmZ /NNPt84ɐ+u-[`rۊ\Kv .Ǘk}- +7E]piZ"1}$wa%>`{:W~w@c$B YX}LqyZaI8*a|]{6ƫםar3+A_va漏Vo TTൺ̚C_?|GE ۺ[3 R!- Vʹ>nX9OK=k΍ bٳ_S#JG[`ǚ3PbWv&ޢVfcxfx!y}J+A8j.~ӑ Nvur8ëRge2x {t38#)zy;ӫVR^ߪܩôzuVG 9)ȳ#kEӦvpFR^f\
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1