Episode 1: The History of Steel

Hello and welcome to the inaugural episode of the Materialism Podcast: an exploration of the past, present, and future of materials science and engineering.

This episode deals with the most ubiquitous and important engineering material of all time: steel. The story of steel is fascinating and ties into the history of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of capitalism, and so much more. It would be hard to think of another material that did more to change society.

If you enjoyed the information we covered in today’s podcast and want to learn even more because we really just scratched the surface please check out our show notes or maybe take a look at some of the reference materials we used such as the book “Stuff Matters” by Mark Miodownik or “The Substance of Civilization” by Stephen L. Sass. If you have questions please send us emails as materialism.podcast@gmail.com and make sure to subscribe to the show on itunes, spotify, google play or wherever you find your podcasts. Finally, check out our instagram page @materialism.podcast and connect with us to let us know what new material you’d like to hear about next. Special thanks to Kolobyte who created the music for our podcast. He makes a ton of really cool synthwave music which you can check out at kolobyte.bandcamp.com

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Om Podcasten

In this podcast, Taylor and Andrew investigate the past, present, and future of materials science and engineering. Topic areas ranging from cutting edge materials technology, the history of different materials, the commercialization of new materials, and exciting advances in processing and characterization are all covered in detail. Our episodes include things like the unlikely discovery of superglue or teflon, the fascinating backstories about modern biomaterials like dialysis filters, and updates on new technologies including wearable electronics, next generation batteries, and nanomaterials. In short, we hope to help listeners understand the critical role that materials have played in society and even glimpse into what the future may hold for new materials.