Newswise — June 30, 2015 - Warrendale, PA (USA): Looking for a summer reading list of substance? Try the Top Ten Greatest Works of Materials Fiction, revealed by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) in the July 2015 issue of JOM, the organization's member journal. The list is a result of a reader nomination and voting process conducted by JOM to select great fictional works that also celebrate the impact of minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering on the world. The July 2015 JOM article, "A List Beyond Words," details each selection in the top ten, listed below in ascending order:
10. Days of Future Past: Chris Claremont and John ByrnePublished in 1981, this X-men graphic novel paints a bleak portrait of the year 2013, in which cruel repression against humans with mutant superpowers is enforced by the Sentinels. Many of the X-men in this story line have materials-enabled superpowers, including Wolverine, Colossus, and Magneto.
9. The Mysterious Island: Jules VerneFive prisoners of war escape captivity during the American Civil War in a hot air balloon, only to crash on an uncharted island. The brilliant engineer, Cyrus Smith, is the hero of the book as he cleverly deploys the materials available to him to ensure that the group not only survives, but thrives.
8. Contact: Carl SaganAn extraterrestrial civilization from the Vega star system embeds instructions and blueprints in a radio transmission to Earth for a machine designed to transport five people to an unknown location. A significant plot point is the process of extracting erbium from ore for a critical component of the machine.
7. A Song of Ice and Fire (series): George R.R. MartinWarring dynasties try to lay claim to the ultimate seat of power, the Iron Throne—just one of the many references to the practical and symbolic importance of metalworking in the medieval society of Westeros.
6. Atlas Shrugged: Ayn RandIn a dystopian future, Dagny Taggart, vice president of operations for Taggart Transcontinental, sets out to repair her railroad's deteriorating Rio Norte Line. She turns to Hank Rearden and his Rearden Metal, a revolutionary alloy, to save her business, despite government interference and conspiracy against industrial progress.
5. Foundation (trilogy): Isaac AsimovHaving mathematically predicted the downfall of civilization, Hari Seldon establishes two Foundations to preserve humanity's collective knowledge, using access to materials as a means to keep the spark of scientific ingenuity alive.
4. The Iliad: HomerMetal defines many of the key plot points of this touchstone epic poem, set in the latter days of the Trojan War.
3. Cat’s Cradle: Kurt VonnegutFelix Hoenikker, an eccentric scientist, secretly invents ice-nine, a substance with the potential of solidifying all the water on earth. As the story unfolds, it demonstrates how profoundly materials science can change the world and how abuse of that power can have disastrous, unintended consequences.
2. Lord of the Rings (trilogy): J.R.R. TolkienIn the fictional realm of Middle Earth, Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit, embarks on a treacherous quest to destroy the One Ring, an ancient weapon forged by the Dark Lord Sauron to conquer the world. The One Ring is just one example of how magical metal and metalworking in Lord of the Rings play a key role in advancing the action of the story.
1. The Kalevala: Elias LönnrotThe national epic poem of Finland, The Kalevala elevates iron to the same stature as the four classical elements of earth, air, fire, and water as a reflection of its importance to Finnish history and culture.
The quest to identify the Top Ten Greatest Works of Materials Fiction began in September 2014, when JOM readers were asked to nominate works of fiction with strong connections to minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering. The resulting initial list of 62 nominees was then whittled down to a roster of the 25 strongest candidates, as determined by an ad hoc committee appointed by the TMS Board of Directors. Voting on the final top ten by the minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering community opened on February 1 and closed March 20, 2015.
"Compiling any 'greatest of' list is always a challenge. However, I believe that the high level of engagement of JOM readers makes the Top Ten Greatest Works of Materials Fiction very representative of their professional pride and personal interests," said James. J. Robinson, TMS Executive Director. "Some of the works that made the top ten are a little surprising, and like all such lists, I'm sure this one will be open to friendly debate. But, that's part of the fun and another example of how TMS advances and builds a sense of community among the professionals that it serves."
About TMS The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) is a member-driven international professional society dedicated to fostering the exchange of learning and ideas across the entire range of materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production, to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Included among its nearly 13,000 professional and student members are metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, researchers, educators, and administrators from more than 70 countries on six continents. For more information on TMS, visit www.tms.org.
About JOMJOM is a technical journal and the member magazine of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). Through scholarly papers, features, and member news, JOM reports impactful work across the minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering life cycle, from groundbreaking laboratory discoveries, to emerging development and design techniques, to state-of-the-art processing, fabrication, applications, and recycling of metals, ceramics, plastics, composites, and other materials. JOM is published monthly by Springer Science+Business Media, LLC (Springer), in cooperation with TMS. Read more about the types of technical papers accepted by JOM and its manuscript submission process.
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