The Wonder of Stuff
1. 
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
by:
Mark Miodownik
4.11 avg rating — 20,492 ratings 2. 
The New Science of Strong Materials: Or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor
by:
J.E. Gordon
4.15 avg rating — 525 ratings 3. 
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by:
Jared Diamond
4.04 avg rating — 445,011 ratings 4. 
Liquid: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
by:
Mark Miodownik
4.10 avg rating — 4,070 ratings 
6. 
6. 
Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects
by:
Edward Posnett
3.61 avg rating — 576 ratings 9. 
Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think (Exponential Technology Series) 4.05 avg rating — 11,574 ratings
12. 
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
by:
Randy O. Frost
3.92 avg rating — 6,941 ratings 
12. 
The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch
by:
Lewis Dartnell
3.76 avg rating — 3,526 ratings 12. 
The Way Things Work: Newly Revised Edition: The Ultimate Guide to How Things Work
by:
David Macaulay
4.53 avg rating — 479 ratings 17. 
Why Were They Built?: Six Man-Made Wonders of the World
by:
Scott Hayden
3.56 avg rating — 9 ratings 
17. 
Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture
by:
Mario Salvadori
3.95 avg rating — 847 ratings 17. 
The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day
by:
James Kakalios
3.34 avg rating — 1,076 ratings 
21. 
21. 
The New York Times Circuits: How Electronic Things Work
by:
Henry Fountain
3.57 avg rating — 7 ratings 
25. 
29. 
The Language of Things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects
by:
Deyan Sudjic
3.61 avg rating — 1,153 ratings 
29. 
Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages
by:
Frances Gies
3.88 avg rating — 925 ratings 29. 
On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand-Year History (ALA Notable Books for Adults) 3.93 avg rating — 379 ratings
33. 
33. 
Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection
by:
Toby Faber
3.88 avg rating — 638 ratings 33. 
36. 
The Gutenberg Revolution: How Printing Changed The Course of History
by:
John Man
3.69 avg rating — 391 ratings 36. 
Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States
by:
Henry Glassie
3.65 avg rating — 48 ratings 38. 
Nothing: Surprising Insights Everywhere from Zero to Oblivion
by:
Jeremy Webb
3.77 avg rating — 1,013 ratings 38. 
Objects and Others: Essays on Museums and Material Culture (Volume 3) (History of Anthropology) 3.65 avg rating — 20 ratings
43. 
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
by:
Dan Koeppel
3.81 avg rating — 5,278 ratings 43. 
Grasping Things: Folk Material Culture and Mass Society in America
by:
Simon J. Bronner
3.57 avg rating — 14 ratings 45. 
Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological & Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World
by:
Adrienne Mayor
3.86 avg rating — 1,108 ratings 47. 
48. 
49. 
Ceramics, Glassware, and Beads (Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500-1800 - Volume 1) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
50. 
Canvas of Clay: Seven Centuries of Hopi Ceramic Art
by:
Edwin L. Wade
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating 51. 
Pottery of the Southwest: Ancient Art and Modern Traditions (Shire Library USA, 640)
by:
Carol Hayes
3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings 52. 
Early Pottery in the Southeast: Tradition and Innovation in Cooking Technology 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
53. 
Early Pottery: Technology, Function, Style, and Interaction in the Lower Southeast
by:
Rebecca Saunders
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings 54. 
Stability and Change in Guale Indian Pottery, A.D. 1300-1702
by:
Rebecca Saunders
4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings 55. 
Beauty From the Earth: Pueblo Indian Pottery from the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
by:
J.J. Brody
4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings 56. 
The Transformation of Athens: Painted Pottery and the Creation of Classical Greece
by:
Robin Osborne
4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings 57. 
61. 
Brothers in Clay: The Story of Georgia Folk Pottery
by:
John A. Burrison
4.06 avg rating — 17 ratings 62. 
From Mud to Jug: The Folk Potters and Pottery of Northeast Georgia
by:
John A. Burrison
4.17 avg rating — 12 ratings 63. 
Shamans, Gods, and Mythic Beasts: Colombian Gold and Ceramics in Antiquity
by:
Armand J. Labbe
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating 64. 
Creole Clay: Heritage Ceramics in the Contemporary Caribbean
by:
Patricia J. Fay
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings 65. 
66. 
From Santa Elena to St. Augustine: Indigenous Ceramic Variability (A.D. 1400-1700) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
68. 
Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World 3.82 avg rating — 841 ratings
71. 
Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre-Civil War Innovations of C.F. Martin and His Contemporaries
by:
James Westbrook
4.36 avg rating — 22 ratings 72. 
The Gibson Les Paul: The Illustrated History of the Guitar That Changed Rock
by:
Dave Hunter
4.22 avg rating — 36 ratings 73. 
Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 248 ratings
74. 
The Road Taken: The History and Future of America's Infrastructure
by:
Henry Petroski
3.44 avg rating — 522 ratings 75. 
The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are
by:
Henry Petroski
3.53 avg rating — 1,359 ratings 76. 
80. 
The Marvelous Thing That Came from a Spring: The Accidental Invention of the Toy That Swept the Nation
by:
Gilbert Ford
4.05 avg rating — 502 ratings 81. 
The Way Toys Work: The Science Behind the Magic 8 Ball, Etch A Sketch, Boomerang, and More
by:
Ed Sobey
3.71 avg rating — 21 ratings 82. 
Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry 3.85 avg rating — 2,252 ratings
83. 
Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing
by:
Anthony Casillo
4.16 avg rating — 68 ratings