How do you tell the story of people through materials?

Let's look at how we have been at a dance with these materials.

We shape them, but they in turn shape us.

And so that's what put me on the path

to look at these various different stories,

where materials have shaped us in unexpected ways.

It's Thursday, January 4th, but it's also Science Friday.

I'm SciFi producer Charles Burgquist. In the book, The Alchemy of Us,

Material Scientist at Lisa Ramirez,

writes about the stuff around us. But she also

writes about how people and social movements have affected the way inventions have been

created, used, and proliferated around the world.

She spoke with Cyfri experiences manager,

Diana Plasker, earlier this year,

in an event recorded for the Cyfri Book Club.

Here's Diana.

Welcome to the Science Brain Live Dream, Anisa.

I'm so delighted to be here and I'm joining you from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Which is such a cool place, by the way, just like the big regal doors behind you kind of give off a little bit about the state of the space.

What is it like doing research there for the last few weeks? This place is a palace. If you're a

book nerd like myself, it's heaven. The space is amazing. The hallways are

gilded. The ceilings are domed. I mean, it's really a cathedral for books. I recommend that if anybody is interested in books, to come and visit and to take a lap because you're just going to be amazed by what we created in the 19th century

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