Miodownik devotes a chapter each to ten such materials, discussing their scientific qualities alongside quirky facts and anecdotes about their impacts on human history.

[7] Over the course of the book, Miodownik covers a number of materials that have been around for a long time (steel, paper, glass, porcelain), some introduced last century (concrete, plastics, carbon fiber), and a few relatively new inventions (graphene, aerogels).

[7] While much of the book relates the history of the selected materials, Miodownik also devotes time to many of their futures, including the development of a type of concrete that is infused with bacteria meant to self-repair cracks as they occur.

[10] The material is extremely expensive to make, however, and outside of occasional specific applications for NASA (it was a key component of that agency's Stardust mission), practical uses have been difficult to find.

[9] Stuff Matters was a New York Times best seller and won the 2014 Royal Society Prize for Science Books as well as the 2015 National Academies Communication Award.

[2] The Wall Street Journal called it a "thrilling account of the modern material world",[3] while The Independent was impressed with the "learned, elegant discourse" Miodownik conducts in each chapter.

[11] The reviewer for the Financial Times enjoyed the book but was critical of the occasional error, as when Miodownik mistakenly identifies the Greek word for chocolate as being much older than it is.

[4] The reviewer for Entertainment Weekly wrote that Miodownik occasionally lapsed into technical speak in a book meant for a broader audience, but that the author's clear enthusiasm for his subject outweighed any such negative aspects.