This text describes how scientists are inventing thousands of materials, ranging from synthetic skin, blood and bone, to substances that repair themselves and adapt to their environment, that swell and flex like muscles, that repel any ink and paint, and that capture and store the energy from the Sun. It shows that this is being accomplished because materials are being designed for particular applications, rather than being discovered in nature or by haphazard experimentation. Linking insights from chemistry, biology and physics, with those from engineering, the book outlines the various areas in which newly-invented materials will transform our lives in the 21st century. The chapters provide vignettes from a broad range of selected areas of materials science and can be read as separate essays. The subjects include: photonic materials; materials for information storage; smart materials; biomaterials; biomedical materials; materials for clean energy; porous materials; diamond and hard materials; polymers; and surfaces and interfaces.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Ball's (Designing the Molecular World, LJ 5/15/94) far-reaching work takes the reader on a long, strange, sometimes tedious, often difficult trip through the arcane world of new materials?the stuff scientists and engineers have created, or are speculating about, for propelling the high-technology boom to new heights. Ball thoroughly explores the use of what he calls advanced materials in the fields of photonics (which, he argues, will entirely replace electronics one day), information storage, biomedicine, and energy, to name a few. Something he calls smart materials will eventually replace whole machines: "[Imagine] a smart valve [that] is no more than a tube through which the fluid passes; when the flow exceeds [some] critical value, the material of the tube expands until it pinches off the flow." There are lots of good photographs and schematics for aiding the sometimes dizzying exposition. Most appropriate for interested readers with a college-level background in chemistry and physics.?Robert C. Ballou, Atlanta
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Let me state up front that Made to Measure ... is an outstanding book. Written for the general reader, it will also greatly appeal to specialists. If you are a solid-state physicist, chemist, materials scientist, engineer, science policy maker, or keen amateur scientist, then sell your shirt to buy it." -- Colin Humphreys, New Scientist
"Philip Ball offers a panorama of 1,001 new materials for the next century.... His survey would make a good textbook for an introductory course in materials science. For the rest of us, the sheer range of examples is impressive." -- Jon Turney, Financial Times
"Philip Ball writes about the very modern science of materials.... [He] is full of fascinating insights, and especially on the photonic side of things he really opens the reader's eyes.... [His] book is the first to be entirely devoted to this field. That task has been very well accomplished, and the book is warmly recommended." -- Robert W. Cahn, European Journal of Physics
If you buy no other science book this year, I suggest you buy this one. -- New Scientist, Colin Humphreys
"Philip Ball offers a panorama of 1,001 new materials for the next century.... His survey would make a good textbook for an introductory course in materials science. For the rest of us, the sheer range of examples is impressive." -- Jon Turney, Financial Times
"Philip Ball writes about the very modern science of materials.... [He] is full of fascinating insights, and especially on the photonic side of things he really opens the reader's eyes.... [His] book is the first to be entirely devoted to this field. That task has been very well accomplished, and the book is warmly recommended." -- Robert W. Cahn, European Journal of Physics
If you buy no other science book this year, I suggest you buy this one. -- New Scientist, Colin Humphreys
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent overview of vast topic-materials for 21st century,
By A Customer
This review is from: Made to Measure (Hardcover)
This is a very delightful book. The author is excellent at covering technical details in a charming recounting of the evolutiion of ideas and his depth of knowledge is impressive. This was a labor of love and it shows in all the details. There are many pictures and graphics that compliment the text and these help to keep the reader pushing for more. It is a comprehensive yet story-like overview.Makes you feel well informed enough to consider designing smarter materials yourself........
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Made to enjoy,
By "mipsv" (Boston) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century (Paperback)
This is a well done book.Its not a technical book (but good pointers) yet not non-technical popular-mechanics type work. This book describes what science is pretty much all about! Its easy to get bogged down in your own world of work so a book such as this helps get your eyes open to the possibilities of the opportunites that come from hard, hard work. :) This book talks about whats going on at the molecular level of things (my version is 1997). For the non-specialist this book is just great though I suppose if you work in micro-optics or semi/super conductors you might find that research is moving on a bit. things discussed: there is also a rather extensive bibliography so you can look for more info with Google.com(r) or other site.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic overview!,
By Emily Ma (Vancouver, British Columbia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century (Paperback)
Philip Ball argues for the increasing importance of materials in the future and does so eloquently and clearly. He invites the layman into the complexities of material science and sparks great interest in this field without burdening the audience with superfluous technical detail. This is a must-read for those curious about the future of engineering as a whole!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The next revolution in information technology will dispense with the transistor and use light, not electricity, to carry information. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
readout head, photorefractive behavior, surface excess energy, photoexcited charge carriers, nonlinear optical behavior, bacteriorhodopsin molecules, diamond synthesis, readout beam, magnetized region, hyperbranched polymers, electrorheological fluids, demagnetizing fields, write beam, photonic materials, diamond films, one molecule thick, carbon nitride, rechargeable lithium batteries, perpendicular recording, photorefractive materials, artificial blood vessels Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Jersey, United States, Bell Laboratories, New York, Santa Barbara, General Electric, Harvard University, George Whitesides, San Jose, University of California, Robert Langer, United Solar, Don Eigler, Geoffrey Ozin, Stephen Mann, University of Arizona, University of Illinois, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Cambridge University, General Motors, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, San Diego, University of Michigan, University of Washington New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The next revolution in information technology will dispense with the transistor and use light, not electricity, to carry information. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
readout head, photorefractive behavior, surface excess energy, photoexcited charge carriers, nonlinear optical behavior, bacteriorhodopsin molecules, diamond synthesis, readout beam, magnetized region, hyperbranched polymers, electrorheological fluids, demagnetizing fields, write beam, photonic materials, diamond films, one molecule thick, carbon nitride, rechargeable lithium batteries, perpendicular recording, photorefractive materials, artificial blood vessels Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Jersey, United States, Bell Laboratories, New York, Santa Barbara, General Electric, Harvard University, George Whitesides, San Jose, University of California, Robert Langer, United Solar, Don Eigler, Geoffrey Ozin, Stephen Mann, University of Arizona, University of Illinois, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Cambridge University, General Motors, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, San Diego, University of Michigan, University of Washington New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 40
books:
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27
books
cite this book:
See all 27 books citing this book
- Inorganic Materials, 2nd Edition by Duncan W. Bruce in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Physical Chemistry: 18 by Annual Review in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Biomaterials Science, Second Edition: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine by Buddy D. Ratner in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Encyclopedia of Advanced Materials by David Bloor in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Material World by Rodney Cotterill in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 40 books this book cites
- Materials Matter: Toward a Sustainable Materials Policy (Urban and Industrial Environments) by Ken Geiser in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Green Plastics: An Introduction to the New Science of Biodegradable Plastics. by E. S. Stevens in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Inorganic Materials Chemistry Desk Reference, Second Edition by D. Sangeeta on page 21, and page 124
- The Giant Leap: Mankind Heads for the Stars by Adrian Berry in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Properties of Materials by Mary Anne White on page 7, and page 313
See all 27 books citing this book
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