An eye-opening adventure deep inside the everyday materials that surround us, from concrete and steel to denim and chocolate, packed with surprising stories and fascinating science.

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING STUFF MATTERS 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? From the bestselling author of Stuff Matters comes a fascinating tour of these surprising or sinister substances - the droplets, heartbeats and ocean waves we all encounter every day. Structured around a plane journey, encountering water, wine, oil and more, Mark Miodownik shows that liquids are agents of death and destruction as well as substances of wonder and fascination. His unique brand of scientific storytelling brings them and their mysterious properties alive in a captivating new way. ________________ 'A truly delightful read' Jim Al-Khalili, author of Paradox 'An exhilarating, eye-opening ride' Philip Ball, science writer and author of H2O 'Exciting, anarchic and surprising' Katy Guest, The Guardian 'A thrilling read, from start to finish' Tim Radford, author of The Consolations of Physics

Branding expert Tim Manners says that marketers should give up the flashy practices and group- think of the last 50 years - the demographics- driven strategies, fashion-obsessed images and old-fashioned advertising - and focus on what today's consumers care about. Manners argues that some once-powerful companies are in trouble because they've lost their relevance. Drawing on scores of examples including Tesco and Virgin Megastores and interviews with many of the world's top marketers, Manners defines the key principles of relevant brands.

More than a decluttering guide, this book “speaks to the heart and soul of the minimalist lifestyle . . . a must-have manual for serenity in the modern world!” (Anne Sage, author of Sage Living). For anyone looking to declutter, organize, and simplify, author Erin Boyle shares practical guidance and personal insights on small-space living and conscious consumption. At once pragmatic and philosophical, Simple Matters is an essential manual for anyone who wants to bring more purpose and sustainability to their daily lives. Boyle demonstrates how the benefits of “living small” are accessible to us all—whether we’re renting a tiny apartment or purchasing a three-story house. Filled with personal essays, projects, and helpful advice on how to be inventive and resourceful in a tight space, Simple Matters shows that living simply is about making do with less and ending up with more: more free time, more time with loved ones, more savings, and more things of beauty.

In Vibrant Matter the political theorist Jane Bennett, renowned for her work on nature, ethics, and affect, shifts her focus from the human experience of things to things themselves. Bennett argues that political theory needs to do a better job of recognizing the active participation of nonhuman forces in events. Toward that end, she theorizes a “vital materiality” that runs through and across bodies, both human and nonhuman. Bennett explores how political analyses of public events might change were we to acknowledge that agency always emerges as the effect of ad hoc configurations of human and nonhuman forces. She suggests that recognizing that agency is distributed this way, and is not solely the province of humans, might spur the cultivation of a more responsible, ecologically sound politics: a politics less devoted to blaming and condemning individuals than to discerning the web of forces affecting situations and events. Bennett examines the political and theoretical implications of vital materialism through extended discussions of commonplace things and physical phenomena including stem cells, fish oils, electricity, metal, and trash. She reflects on the vital power of material formations such as landfills, which generate lively streams of chemicals, and omega-3 fatty acids, which can transform brain chemistry and mood. Along the way, she engages with the concepts and claims of Spinoza, Nietzsche, Thoreau, Darwin, Adorno, and Deleuze, disclosing a long history of thinking about vibrant matter in Western philosophy, including attempts by Kant, Bergson, and the embryologist Hans Driesch to name the “vital force” inherent in material forms. Bennett concludes by sketching the contours of a “green materialist” ecophilosophy.

Much more than a history of the material sciences, Stuff brims with interviews with cutting-edge experts in the field, many of whom are building new materials literally atom by atom, and describes such astounding achievements as artificial diamonds created from peanut butter and how nanotechnologists are building new-age, state-of-the-art machines no thicker than a few hundred atoms.

Presents straight talk about friendships, parents, sexuality, teen relationships, media influences, and values to empower girls to build confidence, understand their bodies, and envision their potential.