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With every step you take, air molecules cling to you and slow you down; the effect is harder to ignore in water. When you hit the road, whether powered by pedal or engine, you rely on grip to keep you safe. The Post-it note and glue in your desk drawer. The non-stick pan on your stove. The fingerprints linked to your identity. The rumbling of the Earth deep beneath your feet, and the ice that transforms waterways each winter. All of these things are controlled by tiny forces that operate on and between surfaces, with friction playing the leading role.
In Sticky, Laurie Winkless explores how friction shapes both the manufactured and natural worlds, and describes how our understanding of surface science has given us an ability to manipulate stickiness, down to the level of a single atom. But this apparent success doesn't tell the whole story. Each time humanity has pushed the boundaries of science and engineering, we've discovered that friction still has a few surprises up its sleeve.
So do we really understand this force? Can we say with certainty that we know how a gecko climbs, what's behind our sense of touch, or why golf balls, boats and aircraft move as they do? Join Laurie as she seeks out the answers from experts scattered across the globe, uncovering a stack of scientific mysteries along the way.
Finalist for the 2023 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 11, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781472950819
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781472950819
- File size: 2697 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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December 1, 2021
What comes into your mind when you hear the word "sticky" (or, for that matter, "slippery")? Maybe it's obvious to you what the word means, but, as physicist Winkless explains in this rather surprisingly delightful book, "sticky" has no agreed-upon scientific definition, nor does it even have an agreed-upon everyday definition. Now, maybe you're thinking "so what," but if you are, you should stop. Because stickiness is actually really important. The science of stickiness, the interactions of surfaces, friction, lubrication, and related matters (it's called surface science) could be key to understanding how the ancient Egyptians moved incredibly large and heavy objects. It explains how the gecko can climb up vertical surfaces. In fact, when you dig deep enough, stickiness explains huge chunks of the natural world and human history. Winkless, the author of Science and the City (2016), is a fine writer; she boils complex scientific ideas down to their essence and explains them in clear, simple prose. Like the best popular-science writers, she takes something that might seem dull or esoteric and makes it exciting.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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