phillip ball on materials science

Philip Ball in an interview with Jennifer Leonard (for the book Massive Change): “It’s about moving away from the classical idea of materials – inert stuff that serves a structural role – toward the more contemporary notion of materials. More and more, materials are active and respond to stimuli in their environment. Materials can light up when an electric current is passed through them; materials can swell and contract in response to changes in temperature or acidity. Increasingly, there’s a blurring of boundaries between what is a material and what is a machine.” Read the full interview.