Summary
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.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this informative, casual narrative, Miodownik (Stuff Matters), a science professor at University College London, gives a guided tour of the strange, wondrous liquids that flow through everyday life. He compresses myriad science lessons into one transatlantic flight on the theory that "there is no better way to illustrate the power and delight we gain from controlling liquids than by taking a look at those involved in the flight of an airplane and the experience of the passengers onboard." From beverage cart and lavatory to sky and tarmac, he finds stories waiting in every conceivable corner. Tea, for instance, started its existence as an assortment of "shoots on a seemingly unremarkable evergreen shrub" which modern-day humans' ancestors didn't notice for millennia. Wine is a vessel for the "dissolved ethanol you're about to consume." Overhead air conditioning exists thanks to "some of the most dangerous liquids on the planet." Even the humble ink needed to fill out a customs form is a marvel, because flowing and solidifying in the right order, and consistently and fast, "is much trickier than it looks." This popular science work straightforwardly and clearly explains "the mysterious properties of liquids and how we have come to rely on them" in a novel, engaging manner. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Miodownik (Materials and Society/Univ. College London; Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape Our Man-Made World, 2014) follows up his prizewinning debut with an equally focused tour of liquids, "the alter ego of dependable solid stuff."Liquids, writes the author in his loquacious introduction, are "anarchic" and "have a knack for destroying things." When not properly contained, "they are always on the move, seeping, corroding, dripping and escaping our control." To shape his meditation on liquids, Miodownik presents something of a contained laboratory by setting his entire thesis within the bounds of his nonstop flight from London to San Francisco. (He does make some digressions and asides along the way.) The author begins with the explosive properties of his airplane's fuel before moving on to the intoxicating properties of the plane's cocktail offerings and an account of his near-death experience in the frigid waters of a popular swimming hole in Dublin. Frightened fliers may take comfort from the chapter titled "Sticky," in which Miodownik explores the nigh-unbreakable resins that hold many of the plane's parts together. "Fantastic" is a bit of a stretch for the chapter that examines the liquid crystals that enable the author to watch Spider-Man, with a detour to ponder The Picture of Dorian Gray. The chapters on body fluids, tea, and soap are mostly by-the-numbers, but the author's enthusiasm and wry humor even make these relatively banal substances entertaining. His stories and semilectures are also punctuated by illustrations, photographs, and some of the molecular formulas of the liquids he analyzes. We even get a few history lessonse.g., how chemist Thomas Midgley poisoned himself by accident in inventing the freon liquid that would later prove so handy in air conditioners; and the odd tale of Lszl Biro, told via Miodownik's need of a pen. The author closes with a chapter on liquids and sustainability.Another cleverly told and engagingly accessible study of the stuff around us. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* We inhabit a fluid-filled planet. Oceans cover more than 70-percent of Earth's surface, and a layer of molten metal 1,000 miles thick surrounds its core. Liquids saturate and influence every aspect of life. Even an average adult body is about 60-percent water by weight. Materials science researcher Miodownik (Stuff Matters, 2014) muses on the mystery and majesty of the liquid form of matter during a 5,000-mile airplane flight. Liquids flow, take the shapes of their containers, and possess restless structures of molecules too energetic to stay put very long. Liquids can be beneficial or destructive but are seemingly always on the move, seeping, corroding, dripping, and escaping our control. Mindful of his airplane experience and surroundings, Miodownik concentrates his discussion on kerosene (aviation fuel), glue, liquid coolant, beverages (alcohol, coffee, tea), soap, ink, liquid crystals, bodily fluids (saliva, tears), oceans, and clouds. He notes the diverse applications of alcohol as an antiseptic, fuel, and psychoactive drug. He marvels at mercury (a liquid metal at room temperature), which has delighted and poisoned humanity for thousands of years. Explanations of physical phenomena (surface tension, viscosity) are accompanied by explorations of sticky tape, nitroglycerin, and quicksand. A wonderfully informative and revealing romance with liquids.--Tony Miksanek Copyright 2018 Booklist
Choice Review
Miodownik, a materials and society professor at University College London, has written an engaging and informative work of popular science. Miodownik previously wrote a bestselling book about materials science, Stuff Matters (CH, Dec'14, 52-1948), to which this book serves as an excellent complement. Miodownik first takes us on an airplane flight from London to San Francisco--a surprisingly fruitful context for looking at fluids, as Miodownik identifies and describes, at both macroscopic and microscopic levels, the myriad encounters one has with liquids inside and outside the plane. Chapter titles indicate the range of his discussions: "Explosive," "Intoxicating," "Deep," "Sticky," "Fantastic," "Visceral," "Refreshing," and so on. While the narrative approach is casual, the book's scholarly apparatus will enhance its appeal to serious readers as well as dabblers. There are many in-text illustrations and chemical formulas, for example, and the further reading section lists a dozen enlightening works (including Moby-Dick). The index is thorough. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Harold Goldwhite, emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles
Library Journal Review
Miodownik writes an engaging companion to his previous book, Stuff Matters, painting a picture of our relationship with liquids ("a form of matter in which molecules swim around") via a narrative cleverly structured around a transatlantic flight. The volume includes many hands-on examples, not surprising coming from the director of the Institute of Making (Univ. Coll. London). Some of these are funny as well as instructive, such as when inadvertently drooling on his seat mate while sleeping on a flight leads to a discussion of bodily fluids. The one-word chapter titles concisely describe many of the characteristics of liquids: explosive, sticky, refreshing, fantastic, and sustainable. Each chapter discusses the chemistry (with many illustrations of chemical structures), as well as the physics, biology, history, and social impact of different types of liquids, from kerosene to mucus. Along the way, Miodownik dispels common myths relating to liquids and introduces overlooked scientists such as student Alfred Nobel's professor, Ascanio Sobrero, who first synthesized nitroglycerin. VERDICT This imminently readable book straddles both science and social science and should be enjoyable to readers of high school age through adult.-Sara R. Tompson, Lawrence, KS © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
