Jennifer R. Vail at the Harvard Science Center

Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, and the Harvard Library welcome Jennifer R. Vail—founder of DuPont’s first tribology research lab and a member of the senior leadership team at TA Instruments—for a discussion of her new book, Friction: A Biography, a surprising history of the fascinating science of friction. This event will take place at the Harvard Science Center, Hall D, located at 1 Oxford St, Cambridge. Following the presentation will be a book signing.

There are two ticket options available for this event.

Free General Admission Ticket: Includes admission for one.
Book-Included Ticket: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of Friction.

Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event.

From the first spark of fire to the frontiers of energy, medicine, and space, a pioneering account of the invisible force that connects it all.
Friction, the force that resists motion, is synonymous with difficulty and complication. If you’ve ever replaced tires worn smooth by the road or reached for a can of WD-40 to fix a creaking door hinge, then you know the headache this force can cause.
In this book, Jennifer Vail reveals beneath the difficulty and complication a force as enigmatic and intriguing as it is central to the human story. She traces how, from the moment we first harnessed the power of fire to the Industrial Revolution and beyond, the quest to manipulate friction has driven innovation, culture, and even our own evolution. Today, as scientists study friction in the most unexpected of places, they’re learning why some viruses lie dormant for years while others devastate our cells immediately; where elusive dark matter might be found; and how the climate crisis ought finally be addressed. And yet, for all they’ve learned, scientists still haven’t cracked the greatest mystery of all: how to bridge the distinct laws that govern friction at its largest and smallest scales.
Connecting the discoveries of historical luminaries like Newton, da Vinci, and the Wright brothers to the latest breakthroughs in engineering, Friction is a captivating biography of this unsung hero of the physical world.

Jennifer R. Vail is the founder of DuPont’s first tribology research lab and a member of the senior leadership team at TA Instruments, a manufacturer of tools used for analyzing the physical properties of materials. Her TED Talk, “The Science of Friction,” has been viewed more than two million times.

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.

The Harvard Science Book Talks series is a collaboration between the Harvard University Division of Science, the Harvard Library, and Harvard Book Store. The series features talks by the authors of recently published books on a variety of science-related topics and is open to both the Harvard community and to the general public. Typically, lectures are followed by a book signing with the author.

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