The Series
Dr Mark Miodownik takes us on a journey from the microscopic to the massive as he investigates the fascinating properties of the materials all around us, and addresses a very fundamental question: Does size matter?
The 2010 Christmas Lectures explore the properties of different materials, and how they are governed by rules that change as size changes. Lecture one demonstrates the importance of size by investigating the materials science of animals from fleas to elephants. Lecture two takes us into the microscopic world where we discover that a different set of rules make weird and wonderful things possible. In the third and final lecture, we think big, and explore the forces that shape big things.