You are surrounded by stickiness. 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 some of the ways that
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.
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Review This Product
Mon, 15 May 2023 | Review
by: Tanya K.
Despite the title "Sticky", this is a book less about gooey things that stick together and more about surfaces - "those places where one material meets another". The official term for this is "tribology" - the science and engineering study of interacting surfaces in relative motion, including friction, corrosion/wear, and lubrication. This field makes use of an interdisciplinary approach including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, materials science, and engineering.
With a combination of (sometimes meandering) interviews, personal anecdotes and research, Winkless discusses all things friction:- including gecko's feet, the design of sport balls, Teflon, the accidental invention of superglue, human touch and braille, swimsuit design, how tyres "stick" to the road, earthquakes, sound barriers and air friction, ice, gauge blocks (never heard of these before), sticky notes and how paint sticks to the wall (among other things), as well as the still unsolved mysteries and gaps in our knowledge of friction. Personally, I didn't care much for her examples including baseball and F1 racing (sports don't interest me one little bit) and had trouble keeping focused on these chapters. I found the chapters on human touch and earthquakes (making use of New Zealand's geography as an example), particularly interesting. Winkless is enthusiastic about her subject and manages to include a bit of everything. An interesting book.
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