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The Substance of Civilization
- Materials and Human History from the Stone Age to the Age of Silicon
- Narrated by: John Haag
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
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Editorial reviews
The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age: there's a reason epochs were named after these substances. Their use powered the rise (and fall) of civilizations - as it turns out, substances are at the very core of human history. The typically unacknowledged story of substances and their power to shape the destiny of nations is engagingly told in Cornell professor of materials science and engineering Stephen L. Sass' The Substance of Civilization: Materials and Human History From the Stone Age to the Age of Silicon. Performed personably by voice actor John Haag, this audiobook combines academic knowledge with skilled storytelling to produce a highly entertaining look at the science of materials.
Publisher's Summary
The story of human civilization can be read most deeply in the materials we have found or created, used or abused. They have dictated how we build, eat, communicate, wage war, create art, travel, and worship. Some, such as stone, iron, and bronze, lend their names to the ages. Others, such as gold, silver, and diamond, contributed to the rise and fall of great empires. How would history have unfolded without glass, paper, steel, cement, or gunpowder?
The impulse to master the properties of our material world and to invent new substances has remained unchanged from the dawn of time; it has guided and shaped the course of history. Sass shows us how substances and civilizations have evolved together. In antiquity, iron was considered more precious than gold. The celluloid used in movie film had its origins in the search for a substitute for ivory billiard balls. The same clay used in the pottery of antiquity has its uses in today’s computer chips.
Moving from the Stone Age to the Age of Silicon, from the days of prehistoric survival to the cutting edge of nanotechnology, this fascinating and accessible book connects the worlds of minerals and molecules to the sweep of human history, and shows what materials will dominate the century ahead.
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What listeners say about The Substance of Civilization
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Daniel
- 08-02-2022
Great listening for anyone curious about the world
Well read by the author who was a pioneer in identifying the atomic structures of metals in the 1960s and long time professor at Cornell University.
Covers all the materials that have shaped the most succesful Civilisations throughout history starting with Stone, Wood & Clay than progressing on to the firing of Bricks and mining Tin & Copper to begin the Bronze age, Ceramics, Gemstones, Gold & Silver workmanship and trade, the creation of Glass from Silicate sand & the Iron age both beging around 1000bc through to the industrial revolution and the age of modern Steel, the periodic table of elements, 20th century Science and covering the age of Silicon based electronics towards the end being the only complexing chapters in what is otherwise an easy to follow though highly informative listen.
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- Sarah Green
- 24-08-2023
History makes everything more interesting
Pronunciation of some words is off, 'buy-two-men' for bitumen was funny at first but distracting when we arrived at a dedicated bitumen section. That I'm annoyed about being distracted from learning about bitumen is probably a testament to how interesting the author made material science. Even if you have no interest in such things, if you like history, you'll like this book.
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