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 the world of these surprising or sinister substances - the droplets, heart beats and ocean waves we all encounter every day. Structured around a plane journey which sees encounters with water, wine, oil and more, Miodownik shows that liquids are agents of death and destruction as well as substances of wonder and fascination, and - just as in Stuff Matters - his unique brand of scientific storytelling brings them and their mysterious properties alive in a captivating new way.

Author Biography

A Financial Times Master of Science and chosen by The Times as one of the 100 most influential scientists in the UK, Mark Miodownik is Professor of Materials and Society at University College London, where he is also Director of the Institute of Making. He is the author of the book Stuff Matters, a New York Times bestseller which won the Royal Society Winton Prize. Mark also was the recipient of the prestigious Michael Faraday Prize for his expertise in science communication. He presents BBC TV programmes on science and engineering such as Everyday Miracles, How It Works, Dara O'Brien's Science Club, and Chefs vs Science and recently made the first BBC documentary to be filmed entirely on smartphones. He writes regularly for the Guardian and Observer.