Handmade

By meeting with makers and playing with materials, Anna creates a beautiful picture of what these substances really feel like and what they are capable of. This book will make all your senses tingle. * Roma Agrawal, structural engineer and author *This book is a wonderful journey through the art and science of materials… beautifully crafted and very personal. Highly recommended to anyone who loves ‘stuff’ and is curious enough to want to delve into its inner secrets. * Mark Miodownik, scientist, broadcaster and founder of the Materials Library *Ultimately, Ploszajski succeeds in demonstrating that the act of making something can impart an appreciation for and understanding of the properties of the material from which it is made. * Dorothy Jones-Davis, Science Magazine *Ploszajski is a talented science communicator… and the zany accounts of her fieldwork are lots of fun. This pop science adventure delights. * Publishers Weekly *Luminous, witty, and enormously appealing… Handmade is exactly the sort of hybrid memoir that invites discussion and will likely spark further research. – Colleen Mondor * Booklist *

Anna Ploszajski is an award-winning materials scientist, writer and storyteller. She’s a materials generalist, equally fascinated by metals, plastics, ceramics, glasses and substances from the natural world. A patent holder by the age of 22, Anna has packed a lot into a short space of time – her career has seen her work in labs at NASA in Florida, attempt to break a land-speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and power Glastonbury Festival using hydrogen.

Anna also works as a freelance science communicator, regularly performing live science shows to audiences across the UK and internationally. As a stand-up comedian, Anna brings materials science to life at venues ranging from the local pub to the Edinburgh Fringe, and is on a mission to train scientists and engineers in storytelling skills. A frequent presenter on radio and TV, Anna is the host of her own podcast about materials and making (also called Handmade).