Audiobooks by Mark Miodownik

It's a Gas: The Magnificent and Elusive Elements that Expand Our World

Brought to you by Penguin. 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? Gases illuminate the gap between the known and unknown worlds. It is their vivid intangibility, and yet their powerful role in our lives, which make them so fascinating. Taking us back to that exhilarating -- and often dangerous -- moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what it was they'd discovered, we see gases as the formative substances of our modern world. From how nitrous oxide and chloroform get into our bloodstream and affect our neural pathways to the gases that make plants grow and flowers smell through to the carbon-fuelled climate crisis, Mark Miodownik masterfully reveals this invisible world through his unique brand of scientific storytelling. With Miodownik as our guide, it transpires that each of these weird and wonderful substances has its own personality, giving a human angle to this fact-filled delight of a book. 'A witty, smart writer who has a great talent' Bill Gates ©2023 Mark Miodownik (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Mark Miodownik (Author), Daniel Weyman, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

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

Sometimes explosive, often delicious, occasionally poisonous, but always interesting: the New York Times best-selling author of Stuff Matters show us the secret lives of liquids: the shadow counterpart of our solid 'stuff.' We all know that without water we couldn't survive, and that sometimes a cup of coffee or a glass of wine feels just as vital. But do we really understand how much we rely on liquids, or the destructive power they hold? Set over the course of a flight from London to San Francisco, Liquid Rules offers readers a fascinating tour of these formless substances, told through the language of molecules, droplets, heartbeats, and ocean waves. Throughout the trip, we encounter fluids within the plane-from a seemingly ordinary cup of tea to a liquid crystal display screen-and without, in the volcanoes of Iceland, the frozen expanse of Greenland, and the marvelous California coastline. We come to see liquids as substances of wonder and fascination, and to understand their potential for death and destruction. Just as in Stuff Matters, Mark Miodownik's unique brand of scientific storytelling brings liquids and their mysterious properties to life in a captivating new way.

Mark Miodownik (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

Audiobook

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

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Liquid by Mark Miodownik. 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? Sometimes dangerous, often delightful, and always fascinating, discover the secret lives of liquids, from one of our best-known scientists. From the bestselling author of Stuff Matters comes a fascinating tour of the world of these surprising or sinister substances - the droplets, heartbeats and ocean waves we encounter day-to-day. Structured around a plane journey which sees encounters with water, wine, and oil, among others, Miodownik shows that liquids are agents of death and destruction as well as substances of wonder and fascination. Just as in Stuff Matters his unique brand of scientific storytelling brings them and their mysterious properties alive in a captivating new way, revealing why liquids flow up a tree but down a hill, why oil is sticky, how waves can travel so far, why things dry, how liquids can be crystals, the future of liquid self-healing roads, and how to make the perfect cup of tea. In Liquid Miodownik unlocks the mysterious properties of the slippery, dark, explosive, delicious, and poisonous liquids that Airport Security are rightly worried about and that we have come to rely on.

Mark Miodownik (Author), Daniel Weyman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stuff Matters: The Strange Stories of the Marvellous Materials that Shape Our Man-made World

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik, read by Daniel Weyman. A unique and inspiring exploration of human creativity from one of the UK's best-known scientists Everything is made of something... From the everyday objects in our homes to the most extraordinary new materials that will shape our future, Stuff Matters reveals the inner workings of the man-made world, and the miracles of craft, design, engineering and ingenuity that surround us every day. From the tea-cup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, from the ancient technologies of fabrics and ceramic to today's self-healing metals and bionic implants, this is a book to inspire amazement and delight at mankind's creativity.

Mark Miodownik (Author), Daniel Weyman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-made World

Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does a paper clip bend? These are the sorts of questions that Mark Miodownik is constantly asking himself. A globally renowned materials scientist, Miodownik has spent his life exploring objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world. From the teacup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants, our lives are overflowing with materials. Full of enthralling tales of the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives, Stuff Matters will make you see stuff in a whole new way.

Mark Miodownik (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

Audiobook