The Alchemy of Us

In the bestselling tradition of Stuff Matters and The Disappearing Spoon, this is a clever and engaging look at materials, the innovations they made possible, and how these technologies changed us. The Alchemy of Us was a finalist for the 41st Los Angeles Times Book Award in Science and Technology and was selected as one of the Best Summer Science Books of 2020 by Science Friday.

A "timely, informative, and fascinating" study of 8 inventions — and how they shaped our world — with "totally compelling" insights on little-known inventors throughout history (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction).

In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions and reveals how they shaped the human experience:

• Clocks
• Steel rails
• Copper communication cables
• Photographic film
• Light bulbs
• Hard disks
• Scientific labware
• Silicon chips

Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hot-headed undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer. She describes how our pursuit of precision in timepieces changed how we sleep; how the railroad helped commercialise Christmas; how the necessary brevity of the telegram influenced Hemingway's writing style; and how a young chemist exposed the use of Polaroid's cameras to create passbooks to track black citizens in apartheid South Africa. These fascinating and inspiring stories offer new perspectives on our relationships with technologies.

Ramirez shows not only how materials were shaped by inventors but also how those materials shaped culture, chronicling each invention and its consequences — intended and unintended. Filling in the gaps left by other books about technology, Ramirez showcases little-known inventors — particularly people of colour and women — who had a significant impact but whose accomplishments have been hidden by mythmaking, bias, and convention. Doing so, she shows us the power of telling inclusive stories about technology. She also illustrates that innovation is universal — whether it's splicing beats with two turntables and a microphone or splicing genes with two test tubes and CRISPR.