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

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.