i'd be remiss not to mention the author (Ainissa Ramirez's) wonderful book, "The Alchemy of Us," (https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Us-Humans-Transformed-Another/d

i'd be remiss not to mention the author (Ainissa Ramirez's) wonderful book, "The Alchemy of Us," (https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Us-Humans-Transformed-Another/dp/0262043807 https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Us-Humans-Transformed-Another...) which explores how materials — and the innovations they made possible — shaped the human experience. She's a materials scientist and, as you'll see if you read the polywater piece, a terrific science writer. Full disclosure: i work for the MIT Press. but i'll also disclose this: books and authors like Ainissa are rare; i'm not a publicist or a sales person. This is just one of my favorite books that we've published in recent years. Oh, and if you want more stories like the polywater one, check out this segment with her on Science Friday ("How An Undertaker Helped Develop Computers, And Other Untold Stories"): https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/alchemy-of-us-book/ https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/alchemy-of-us-book/.