This is a book about 10 objects. You may not have seen them before, but they’ve already changed the way you live. Anchored by a different object, each chapter is also a larger study in radical change: how we communicate, what we eat, the way we spend our money.

Equal parts art and journalism, Objects is itself a beautiful object filled with global reporting by the Quartz staff, original photography and illustration by award-winning artists, contributions from business visionaries like Bill Gates, data visualization, and interactive features. (It’s also the first Quartz product you can wrap and give as a gift.)

Chapter topics include the active pixel sensor and how smartphone cameras have changed human communication; modafinil and the global preoccupation with brain hacking our way to success; and bitcoin and the underlying technology that is shifting the centers of power.

For five years, Quartz has pushed the boundaries of digital publishing, but some stories deserve to be told in a more permanent format. As with any new Quartz product, this is an experiment for us, and so we’ve only printed a limited number of copies. We recommend ordering your copy while it’s still available.

We can’t wait to hear what you think!
All of us at Quartz