Heating up a metal or bashing it with rock rearranges its crystalline atomic structure and allows for the creation of new shapes. When metals take on new shapes, it’s because their atoms rearrange themselves within the crystalline form. Crystals are transparent and multifaceted gemstones, but metal also has this same structure. Metals have a crystalline structure, which is why they can be manipulated into different shapes. The Stone Age gave way to the Iron Age and humans learned how to shape metal for their needs. This is because they have their own malleable flow. They were hard to find and difficult to mine at first, but eventually people figured out what made them so valuable: unlike flint or bone, which break when hit with a rock or another object, metals get harder when you hit them. It was during this period when humans began experimenting with steel during the industrial revolution thus, they had no idea how iron and steel was made then.Īt the end of the Stone Age, humans began to use metals. Humans spent thousands of years studying physics and astronomy, but they could not apply that knowledge to metalworkers until much later. SteelĪlthough metallurgy has been around for a long time, it was not understood scientifically until the 20th century. His investigation into the materials invented throughout history helps him explain how inventions shape society. To answer these questions, Miodownik started a project to find the materials that have made human civilization what it is today. How can something so small and thin cut someone so deeply? Why do some things bend while others break? Why do certain materials look and behave the way they do?

Although the incident inspired him to learn more about materials, it also traumatized him. Mark Miodownik was stabbed by a razor when he was 13 years old.

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