Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik is a fantastically entertaining introduction to the strange inner life of materials by one of the The Times 100 most influential scientists in the UK & scientist in residence on Dara O Briain's Science Club. Insightful fascinating. The futuristic materials will elicit gasps. Makes even the most everyday substance seem exciting". (Sunday Times). " Expert deftly written immensely enjoyable". (Observer). " Enthralling...a mission to re-acquaint us with the wonders of the fabric that sustains our lives". (Guardian). "A certain sort of madness may be necessary to pull of what he has attempted here which is a wholesale animation of the inanimate: Miodownik achieves precisely what he sets out to". (The Times). " Wonderful. Miodownik writes well enough to make even concrete sparkle". (Financial Times). Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? How come concrete pours? Why does a paperclip bend? Why does any material look & behave the way it does? From the towering skyscrapers of our cities to the most ordinary objects in our homes Stuff Matters tells enthralling stories that explain the science & history of materials we take entirely for granted while introducing some of humankind's most ingenious & improbable inventions. From the tea-cup to the jet engine the silicon chip to the paper clip the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants world-leading materials scientist Mark Miodownik reveals the miracles of engineering & ingenuity that permeate every aspect of our lives. Along the way he introduces materials that can heal themselves implants that become living bone the explosive that made the movie business materials that might one day save the world
- & others that already have. " Utterly captivating. Every piece of 'stuff' we take for granted in our daily lives has a rich story to tell. A real delight". (Jim Al-Khalili author of Paradox). " The Master of Materials strikes again. Professor Miodownik has a gift for exciting us with his unique combination of the science & the sensuality of the stuff that the world around is made from". (Thomas Heatherwick designer of the Olympic Flame). " Written with such informed & infectious zeal.. . Stuff Matters doesn't just reveal the hidden & amazing structures behind much of what our world is made from it tells the hidden & fascinating stories too". (Quentin Cooper BBC Radio 4). " Stuff Matters has reminded me that historians can spend too much time looking at what people have said & written & not enough on the materials with which we have built modern society. I now understand why epochs in human history are defined by the stuff we have used". (Dan Snow). " An ode to material science. Miodownik delves into the molecules & history of metal paper concrete & chocolate finding poetry & beauty in the details. It's also about the ingenuity of humankind the unique ability of humans to understand the materials around us & to manipulate them". (Alice Roberts). Mark Miodownik recently appeared in The Times' inaugural list of the 100 most influential scientists in the UK. He is Professor of Materials & Society at UCL & presenter of several BBC television documentaries including How it Works & The Genius of Invention as well as appearing as scientist-in-residence on Dara O Briain's Science Club. In 2010 he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. He is Director of the UCL Institute of Making which is home to a materials library containing some of the most wondrous matter on earth & has collaborated to make interactive events with many museums such as Tate Modern the Hayward Gallery & Wellcome Collection."
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Kyle has always been afraid of things especially dying. But when he gets on the train that is taking him & his class on a school trip he has no idea how close to Death he is going to come. Death enters the train & Kyle moves with him past his friends who are frozen in time in life-or-death situations. Kyle finds that he can pick up on their deepest darkest fears
- real things that have happened to them or may happen in the future & sometimes their surreal nightmares too. Kyle realises that he isnt the only one who has buried fears & more importantly he now burns with the desire to live & to live without fear. But will Death release him?
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In STUFF THAT SCARES YOUR PANTS OFF! Glenn Murphy shows us that it is OK to be scared & that there are very good reasons why we are able to feel fear. He looks closely at our most common fears including natural disasters predators spiders disease needles dentists crashes darkness speaking in public heights ghosts & monsters to show us how much of that fear is perhaps unnecessary. The result is a fun carefully pitched popular-science title that mixes great true-life stories with the psychology of fear the statistical probabilities of things happening & a lot of reassurance. ...

The Hutton Report in 2004 created todays BBC. It cost the corporation its Chairman & Director General & ushered in an age of self-doubt & caution. It was also the end of the most extraordinary experiment in news management Britain has ever seen the decade of Alastair Campbell
- the Blair courtier who delivered new Labours mission to create the truth. But Lord Hutton condemned the BBC & its journalism without hearing a single word from the man who put the sexed-up dossier story on air
- Today editor Kevin Marsh. Had he done so his conclusions would have been very different. Now outside the BBC Marsh can tell for the first time the inside story of Andrew Gilligans infamous 0607 broadcast on the Today programme. He explains how he was certain the story was true but also how Gilligans flawed reporting fatally damaged the BBCs case. & he tells of his growing disillusion with the British medias ability & appetite for holding power to account
- or even telling the truth. This is an important book for anyone who wants to understand the toe-to-toe confrontations between Tony Blairs government & the BBC & the fight to keep BBC journalism independent in the face of unprecedented government pressure.


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The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) teaches hand embroidery to the highest standard & is well respected all over the world. It not only upholds the traditions of English embroidery that go back many hundreds of years but is constantly taking embroidery forwards in new & innovative ways. This series of Essential Stitch Guides has been produced in close collaboration with the RSN with the aim of providing a set of definitive works on traditional embroidery techniques. All of the authors were chosen by the RSN & all are graduate apprentices of the Royal School. In Stumpwork Kate Sinton brings together all of the major techniques & stitches associated with stumpwork embroidery to produce a stunning book that reflects both her expertise as an embroiderer & her artistic talent. For both expert advice & innovation this book is second to none. ...

In a world in crisis children are the future. Part of the cure. Not now. Children are deadly. Marked one to ten. Fiona is a TEN. She just doesn't know it yet.. . She doesn't know her true strength. Fiona doesn't remember going to sleep. But she has woken to find her entire world has changed
- her house is abandoned & broken & her neighbourhood is barren & dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right wrist that she doesn't remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. & she's right. When the honeybee population collapsed a worldwide pandemic occurred & the government tried to bio-engineer a cure. But instead the vaccination turned people into ferocious deadly beasts. They have been branded as a warning to unvaccinated survivors. Key people needed to rebuild society are protected inside a fortress-like wall. Fiona has awakened branded alone & on the wrong side of the wall.. .
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In Rosewood Pennsylvania four stunningly beautiful girls are haunted by a very ugly past. Spencer Aria Hanna & Emily want nothing more than to forget Alison Di Laurentis their former best friend who tried to ruin their lives. But someone refuses to let her memory die. A is still out there lurking in the shadows & digging up the pretty little liars' newest secrets. Emily's reconnecting with an old flame one baby step at a time. But is she headed toward true love or another bundle of heartache? Spencer's learning about the highs & lows of campus life on a trip to Princeton. Aria's seeing a whole new side to Noel's dad
- & it could drive a wedge between her & Noel. & for better or worse Hanna's getting in touch with her inner A. Secret by secret lie by lie the girls get tangled in A's dangerous web. A knows about everything from their tiniest transgressions to the awful incident in Jamaica. Soon A will have enough ammunition to pull the trigger & end the pretty little liars once & for all...
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A fun interactive activity book based around the popular theme of magic to engage & motivate young learners. This book helps children to practise their spelling skills reinforcing what has been taught at school. The books combine fun magical characters & fantastic illustrations with National Curriculum- focused activities. * Motivating activities based on the KS2 National Curriculum * Step-by-step learning introduced by fun characters *
Includes: gold stickers to reward achievement
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A fun interactive activity book based around the popular theme of magic to engage & motivate young learners. This book helps children to practise their spelling skills reinforcing what has been taught at school. The books combine fun magical characters & fantastic illustrations with National Curriculum- focused activities. * Motivating activities based on the KS2 National Curriculum * Step-by-step learning introduced by fun characters *
Includes: gold stickers to reward achievement
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John Murphys sock creations have been featured in such publications as the Washington Post & Readymade magazine. Crafters with a sense of humor a taste for the weird wacky & way-out & a hunger for the outrageous will find themselves captured by this wildly creative menagerie of sock monsters. Possessed of irresistible charm these creatures offer all the inspiration anyone needs to transform cast-off socks into wickedly funny toys. Theres Claude with his perplexed expression & tiny tail that stands at full attention. Jordans always on the prowl; hes got three eyes so nothing escapes him. & theres something really odd about Estelle. Maybe its her silly conical head balanced precariously on four tiny feet--or perhaps its just that shes always sticking out her bright red tongue. Great instructions & charming illustrations make it easy to bring these unique personalities to life. A Selection of the Crafters Choice Book Club."" ...