Dust is everywhere, a perennial presence in the corners of culture. Dust can be deathly (domestic dust is mostly desiccated human skin), deadly (poisonous dust is the product of industry and war) or beautiful (the dusty matte surface of make-up, a light dusting applied by the confectioner, glittering motes caught in a sunbeam). In British English, "dust" is another name for dirt, or matter in the wrong place, implying that it can be moved from one...