Chapter Two Hundred Two: Rust: The Longest War

So, pairing nicely with the audiobook Ceasar's Last Breath, I listened to another science book on audio, Jonathan Waldman's Rust: The Longest War.  If you're thinking, Surely, not a whole book on RUST???, that's what I was thinking when I picked this up, but, really, it is a whole book on rust, and it was quite interesting.  After all, almost any metal you interact with on a daily basis is subject to rust, and Waldman focuses on several interesting real-life examples of the problems caused by corrosion and various people's efforts to combat corrosion.  Did you know the Statue of Liberty nearly rusted out in the 1980s but was successfully restored?  Did you know that pop-top cans (like soda comes in) will corrode around the opening if stored on their side for a few months?  (Did you know how many people find dead mice in their sealed soda cans???  Please, pour canned drinks into a clear glass before consuming!!!)  Did you know how tricky it is to find and prevent weakening areas in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline before they become actual leaks?  (It's really tricky.)  Did you know that LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow and Star Trek has also acted in movies about corrosion made by the U.S. government?  These are some of the many the fascinating tidbits in Rust, and I especially appreciated the audiobook version because the reader keeps a slight undertone of humorous incredulity in his voice--like he's thinking, Really, I'm reading a whole book about rust?--and this really added to my experience of the text.  If you want solid science writing full of quirky characters and amusing anecdotes and useful information about a super-common element of daily life, definitely check out Rust: The Longest War.