The JOM Top Ten Greatest Works of Materials Fiction
JOM is pleased to announce the Top Ten Greatest Works of Materials Fiction, as voted by the minerals, metals, and materials community from a slate of candidates nominated by JOM readers. A quick look at the Top Ten is presented on this page. To read reviews of each selection, authored by JOM readers, turn to the July 2015 JOM article, "A List Beyond Words." For a listing of the 25 final candidates and original 62 nominees, visit the archived JOM Fiction Countdown home page at the link provided below. Thanks to everyone who participated and made the JOM Materials Fiction Countdown a success!

The Kalevala
by Elias Lönnrot 		Description: As the national epic poem of Finland, The Kalevala compiles Finnish folk stories, poetry, and myth handed down through the ages by oral tradition.

Materials Connections: While earth, air, fire and water are the four classical elements, The Kalevala elevates iron to the same stature as a reflection of its importance to Finnish history and culture. Rune IX is devoted to telling the Origin of Iron, describing in detail the raw materials needed for iron making, the process itself, potential problems or challenges in making iron, and three different types of possible products ("dark and ductile iron" or malleable steel; "iron lighter-colored" or hardenable steel, and "red and brittle iron" or white cast iron). In addition, a pivotal, recurring element throughout the work is the Sampo, a magical artifact forged by the blacksmith god Seppo Ilmarinen, the Eternal Hammerer.

Additional Information

- Rune IX

- Rune X

- Additional Details


Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
by J.R.R. Tolkien 		Description: In 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.

Materials Connections: Much of the metal and metalworking in Lord of the Rings yields magical properties, with many of these artifacts playing a key role in advancing the action of the story. Mithril, mined by Dwarves in the mountains of Moria and fashioned into armor, is described as being light, but harder than tempered steel. Swords and knives forged by Elves glow blue in the presence of Orcs, a race of evil, humanoid creatures, while other blades have been enchanted to inflict wounds on the soul as well as the body. The One Ring itself is made of a mystical material that can only be destroyed in the flames of Mount Doom in Mordor, where it was forged.

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Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut 		Description: Felix Hoenikker, an eccentric scientist, secretly invents ice-nine, a substance with the potential of solidifying all the water on earth. Upon his death, his children divide the ice-nine among themselves and use it for their own gain.

Materials Connections: The original purpose of ice-nine was relatively benign—to solidify mud in swamps so that soldiers would be able to march through them more easily. 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.

Additional Information


The Iliad
by Homer 		Description: Set in the latter days of the Trojan War, this touchstone epic poem presents the tragic consequences of pride, rage, and uncontrolled grief through the story of Achilles, the greatest warrior in the Greek army.

Materials Connections: Armor is much more than a protective covering in the Illiad, with many key plot points turning on the suitability of the armor to the soldier wearing it. This is especially true of the divine armor and shield forged by the god Hephaestus for Achilles that enable him to defeat and slay Hector outside the gates of Troy. Numerous descriptions of "cruel bronze" weaponry are also featured throughout, as well passages devoted to describing how those weapons are made.

Additional Information


Foundation (trilogy)
by Isaac Asimov 		Description: In a set of collected works that encompass a thousand-year galactic struggle, the reader follows the efforts of Hari Seldon who uses the fictional science of psychohistory to mathematically predict the downfall of civilization and a subsequent dark age of 30,000 years. Hoping to cut short this approaching epoch of barbarism, Seldon works to create the Foundation of artisans and engineers as a means of preserving and expanding on humanity’s collective knowledge.

Materials Connections: As with any advanced society, materials play an important role in the development of the Foundation. Examples of this can be found in such devices as individual atomic shields and a transmuter that turns iron into gold.

Additional Information

#1

The Kalevala
by Elias Lönnrot

Materials Connections
#2

Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
by J.R.R. Tolkien

Materials Connections
#3

Cat’s Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut

Materials Connections
#4

The Iliad
by Homer

Materials Connections
#5

Foundation (trilogy)
by Isaac Asimov

Materials Connections
 

Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand 		Description: In a dystopian future, Dagny Taggert, vice president of operations for Taggart Transcontinental, sets out to repair her railroad’s deteriorating Rio Norte Line to provide service to Colorado, the last great industrial center in the world. She turns to Hank Rearden and his Rearden Metal, a revolutionary, experimental alloy to save her business, despite government interference and conspiracy against industrial progress.

Materials Connections: Hank Rearden, a brilliant metallurgist and engineer, is a hero for trying to stand up to attempts to control production of his metal. In general, Atlas Shrugged explores the potential impact of minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering on the economy and social order.

Additional Information


Contact
by Carl Sagan 		Description: An 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

Materials Connections: A critical component of the machine is an erbium dowel. Making the machine operational requires two tons of erbium at 96 percent purity. Contact was published in 1985, well before the more recent advances in rare earth element production. Two tons of erbium, at the time, exceeded the annual global supply. For this reason, a significant plot point in the book is the process of extracting erbium from ore, following the detailed instructions transmitted by the extraterrestrials.

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Mysterious Island
by Jules Verne 		Description: Five prisoners of war escape captivity during the American Civil War in a hot air balloon, only to crash on an uncharted island. Fortunately, one member of the party is an engineer who is largely responsible for their survival. They are also aided by a reclusive Captain Nemo who now lives on the island following his adventures in the Verne novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Materials Connections: The brilliant engineer, Cyrus Smith, is the hero of the book as he cleverly deploys the materials available to him to make pottery, bricks, nitroglycerin, iron, a simple electric telegraph, and a seaworthy ship, among other things.

Additional Information


Days of Future Past
by Chris Claremont and John Byrne 		Description: Published in 1981, this graphic novel paints a bleak portrait of the year 2013, in which cruel repression against humans with mutant superpowers is enforced by technologically advanced robots called Sentinels. A nuclear strike is being planned on North America to prevent the Sentinels from conquering the world. The few mutant heroes known as X-Men who have survived the Sentinel invasion send the consciousness of one of their own—Kitty Pryde—back in time to avert the incident that sparked the anti-mutant hysteria in the first place and potentially change the future.

Materials Connections: Many of the X-Men in this storyline have materials-enabled superpowers. They include Wolverine (near-indestructible adamantium infused in his skeleton), Colossus (ability to turn his flesh into steel at will), and Magneto (power over magnetic fields that enables him to manipulate metals and other magnetic materials).

Additional Information


Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire series)
by George R.R. Martin 		Description: A dizzying array of characters gives life to the medieval land of Westeros as warring dynasties try to lay claim to the ultimate seat of power, the Iron Throne.

Materials Connections: One of the gods worshiped by much of Westeros is the Smith, who represents creation, craftsmanship, and strength. This is indicative of the practical and symbolic importance of metalworking in Westeros society, with the lost art of forging Valyrian steel (very reminiscent of Damascus steel) considered the apex achievement in this regard. The maesters, the order of scholars and scientists that advise Westeros nobility, indicate their proficiency in various fields with links of different metals corresponding to specific courses of study added to a chain around their necks. Obsidian is fashioned into a weapon to kill a supernatural enemy, and the characteristics of swords, helms, and shields are used to define the characters who wield them. And then, of course, there’s that Iron Throne.

Additional Information

- Valyrian Steel

- Maester's Chains

- General Description

#6

Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand

Materials Connections
#7

Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire series)
by George R.R. Martin

Materials Connections
#8

Contact
by Carl Sagan

Materials Connections
#9

Mysterious Island
by Jules Verne

Materials Connections
#10

Days of Future Past
by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Materials Connections

The Iron Giant
by Ted Hughes 		Description: In this children’s book written by a British poet laureate, a mysterious being constructed entirely of metal appears out of nowhere in the English countryside, ingesting farm equipment and scrap metal to sustain himself. He eventually becomes an accepted member of the community and ultimately saves the world. The book was originally released in the United Kingdom in 1968 as The Iron Man.

Materials Connections: Aside from the idea that the main character is made out of (and eats) metal, the key material moment in the story occurs when the metal giant wagers that he can withstand the heat of burning petroleum longer than an invading alien can endure the heat of the sun. They then duel to their respective melting points.

Additional Information


The Magic Engineer
by L.E. Modesitt Jr. 		Description: An installment in Modesitt’s Saga of Recluse series, The Magic Engineer follows the story of Dorin, a young magician who has been exiled for his interest in using forbidden knowledge to invent dangerous machines.

Materials Connections: Dorin is a blacksmith with healing powers and a passion for pursuing scientific knowledge, even when it violates the rules. He generally infuses his iron working with magical qualities as he designs and builds his machines and weapons.

Additional Information


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