How Things Are Made

“In this lively book, Minshall, the head of Cambridge University’s Institute for Manufacturing, assumes the role of an excitable engineer as he illuminates the intricacies of mass production. Alighting on a range of scenarios, from brownie-baking to bicycle assembly, he delineates the web of processes by which commercial goods are produced, including natural-resource management, logistics, and consumer-data gathering.” - New Yorker

”[HOW THINGS ARE MADE] is anything but a dry tome for engineers. [Minshall] writes with a light touch… . Readers who have never passed through a factory gate–including high-school and college students thinking about their future careers–are likely to find this book an entertaining introduction to a sector of the economy they know only from the headlines. And those who believe the world is moving toward a postindustrial economy will encounter an energetic argument to the contrary.”

“If you remember being hypnotized by segments on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street that showed how everyday items like crayons and tubas are manufactured in factories, this is the book for you. Minshall explains how a wide variety of everyday items are sourced, shaped and shipped around the world.” - The Seattle Times ​​​​​​​

“An expert and highly enthusiastic tour around the business of making things. Far from a ‘post-industrial’ world, we live in one that is more manufactured than ever before, as Minshall demonstrates in case studies from bakeries to aircraft makers. As well as revealing the inner makings of the world in front of you, the book also looks at the cost of it all in terms of our increasingly vulnerable economic systems and damaged environment.” - Frederick Studemann, Financial Times

“Illuminating… . Readers interested in the hidden workings of the world will be well pleased with Minshall’s explorations.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Entertaining… . The complicated hidden backstories of ordinary items fascinate… . This will satisfy anyone who’s ever wondered where their favorite products come from.” - Publishers Weekly

“A timely reminder of the importance of making things and the need to restore the link between maker and consumer…An entertaining and well-observed prescription for how to reverse the hollowing out of global industries.” - Financial Times

“Charming, cheeky, and laugh-out-loud funny are not adjectives commonly applied to a book on manufacturing - but Cambridge professor Tim Minshall somehow achieved all three. Tim’s joyous, self-deprecating, and marvelously original book on manufacturing uses stories of quotidian objects like toilet paper to bring the importance of manufacturing to life. How Things Are Made makes a serious subject accessible and fun. If Douglas Adams had decided to write about factories, I suspect it would have sounded a lot like this.” - Dr. Elliott Grant, engineer and entrepreneur, former General Manager of X, Google’s “Moonshot Factory,” and founder of mineral.ai

“How Things Are Made provides clear examples, discussions, and descriptions of the importance of manufacturing, and how, in an effort to optimize it, we have come very close to rendering our supply chains completely dysfunctional. The lessons learned are wonderfully articulated and provide some excellent insights for experts and novices alike. It is a great read, and absolutely entertaining as well.” - Professor Thomas R. Kurfess, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Georgia Institute of Technology

“A fascinating and informative book, telling you all the things you didn’t know you wanted to know about manufacturing. And, just as importantly, how you can do your bit to create a more sustainable future for the planet. Whatever your background, you will find eye-opening, entertaining, and enlightening anecdotes to make the world of manufacturing feel real and close to home.” - Professor Dame Athene Donald DBE FRS, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge

“From pulp to paper, from pizza to pills, we see only the surface of the complex manufacturing systems that sustain us. In this illuminating book, Minshall draws back the curtain to reveal the deep connections between seemingly disparate processes that show how our modern lives rely on layers of manufacturing innovation that we take for granted. This is a book that will trigger societal reflection, raising questions about the sustainability and future of production. For anyone who’s looking to understand how our material world comes into being–and where it might be heading–this tour of these hidden landscapes is a must-read.” - Professor Neil Lawrence, DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge and author of The Atomic Human

“Reading this book is like being given a personal tour of the world’s factories by a real-life Willy Wonka. Brimming with insight, curiosity and wit, Minshall is a masterful storyteller of the manufactured world; I’ll never look at a brownie in the same way again.” - Dr. Anna Ploszajski, materials scientist, storyteller, and author of Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making

Tim Minshall is an engineering academic at the University of Cambridge. He holds the Dr. John C. Taylor Professorship of Innovation, heads the Institute for Manufacturing, and is a Fellow of Churchill College.

An award-winning professor, Minshall researches and writes about manufacturing, innovation, and skills, and regularly delivers talks on these subjects both nationally and internationally. He also leads outreach programs designed to raise awareness of manufacturing among primary and secondary schoolchildren and their teachers.

Prior to his academic career, Minshall worked in the UK and Japan as a language teacher, a program manager supporting tech start-ups, and a freelance writer.

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