If you loved

Books like Stuff Matters

A joyful, eye-opening tour through the hidden miracles of the everyday objects we touch, use, and ignore. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Stuff Matters.

illuminating
wonder-filled
intellectually stimulating
cozy

01
The Disappearing Spoon
Sam Kean
A delightfully quirky romp through the periodic table that reveals the eccentricities, obsessions, and scandals behind the building blocks of our universe.
Shares:
- wonder-filled
- intellectually stimulating
- enthusiastic
- conversational
02
Napoleon's Buttons
Penny LeCouteur and Jay Burreson
A fascinating, perspective-shifting journey that reveals the invisible chemical scaffolding holding up human history.
Shares:
- illuminating
- accessible
03
The Magic of Reality
Richard Dawkins
A visually stunning and intellectually exhilarating journey that replaces the magic of myth with the far more spectacular magic of scientific truth.
Shares:
- illuminating
- enthusiastic
- accessible
04
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson
A delightfully witty, bite-sized tour of the cosmos that makes the mind-boggling scale of science feel like a fun conversation with a very smart friend.
Shares:
- wonder-filled
- enthusiastic
- wry
- accessible
05
How we got to now
Steven Johnson
A thrilling intellectual treasure hunt that reveals the invisible threads connecting a glass of clean water to the invention of the microchip.
Shares:
- intellectually stimulating
- enthusiastic
- accessible
- human ingenuity
06
Soonish
Kelly Weinersmith
A hilarious, comic-studded joyride through the weird, wild, and highly improbable technologies of tomorrow.
Shares:
- wry
- human ingenuity
07
Atoms Under the Floorboards
Chris Woodford
A delightful, eye-opening tour through the hidden physics governing the ordinary objects in your home.
Shares:
- illuminating
- wonder-filled
- cozy
- enthusiastic
08
What If?
Randall Munroe
A delightful exercise in taking the most ridiculous questions imaginable and answering them with rigorous, cheerfully apocalyptic science.
Shares:
- enthusiastic
- wry
- inquisitive
09
The Secret of Scent
Luca Turin · 2006
A witty and passionate deep-dive into the contentious scientific mysteries behind the world's most evocative sense.
Shares:
- intellectually stimulating
- accessible
10
Grunt
Mary Roach
A witty, eye-opening exploration of the messy, unglamorous science of keeping human beings alive in the most extreme conditions imaginable.
Shares:
- wry
11
Periodic Tales
Hugh Aldersey-Williams
A globe-trotting, history-hopping cabinet of curiosities that reveals the hidden personalities of the universe's building blocks.
Shares:
- enthusiastic
- inquisitive
12
Thing Explainer
Randall Munroe
A delightfully constrained, blueprint-filled journey that strips away jargon to reveal the simple mechanics of the world.
Shares:
- wry
- inquisitive
- accessible

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