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It's a Gas
The Magnificent and Elusive Elements that Expand Our World
Brief Description
The secret life of gases from the author of the best-selling, prize-winning Stuff Matters. Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It's...
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Description
The secret life of gases from the author of the best-selling, prize-winning Stuff Matters.
Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It's a Gas, Mark Miodownik masterfully reveals an invisible world through his unique brand of scientific storytelling.
Taking us back to that exhilarating—and often dangerous—moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what they had discovered, Miodownik shows that gases are the formative substances of our modern world, each with its own weird and wonderful personality.
We see how seventeenth-century laughing gas parties led to the first use of anaesthetics in surgery, how the invention of the air valve in musical instruments gave us bicycles, cars and trainers, and how gases made us masters of the sea (by huge steamships) and skies (via extremely flammable balloons). This delight of a book reveals the immense importance of gases to modern civilisation.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780241985595
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 27 February 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 18.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 213g
Pages: 304
About the Author
A Financial Times Master of Science and chosen by The Times as one of the 100 most influential scientists in the UK, 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 the book Stuff Matters - a New York Times bestseller which won the Royal Society Winton Prize - and Liquid, which was shortlisted for the same prize. He presents BBC TV and radio programmes on science and engineering such as Everyday Miracles and How It Works.
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Stuff Matters
Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik takes readers on a fascinating journey into the world of materials science. This captivating book delves into the everyday objects that populate our lives, unveiling the hidden structures and profound stories behind everything from your morning cup of tea to the skyscrapers touching the sky. With humour and enthusiasm, Miodownik reveals how seemingly mundane materials...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Liquid
Sometimes explosive, often delightful, occasionally poisonous, but always fascinating — the secret lives of liquids, from one of our best-known scientists. A series of glasses of transparent liquids is in front of you — but which will quench your thirst and which will kill you? And why? Why does one liquid make us drunk, and another power a jumbo jet?...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
It's a Gas
The secret life of gases - the strange, elusive and fascinating substances that shape our world, from the author of the best-selling, prize-winning Stuff Matters. Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It's a Gas, Mark...HardbackSold Out
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