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Material world : the six raw materials that shape modern civilization  Cover Image Book Book

Material world : the six raw materials that shape modern civilization / Ed Conway.

Conway, Ed, 1979- (author.).

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780593534342
  • ISBN: 0593534344
  • Physical Description: pages cm
  • Edition: First United States edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary, etc.:
"The story of civilization from an entirely new vantage point-the six raw materials that have shaped and will continue to shape humanity's destiny. Sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium: The struggle for these fundamental materials has created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and our greed for thousands of years. It is a story that is far from finished. Though we are told we now live in a weightless world of information, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. And it's getting exponentially worse. To make one bar of gold, we now have to dig 5,000 tons of earth. For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials-from sand to stone to wood to metal. Even as we pare back our consumption of fossil fuels we continue to redouble our consumption of everything else. Why? Because these ingredients are the basis for everything. They power our phones and electric cars, build our homes and offices, enable the printing of our books, and supply our packaging. Our modern world would not exist without them, and the hidden battle to control them will shape our future. This is an epic journey across continents, cultures and epochs that captures the astonishing extent to which humanity's prosperity is intertwined with what we extract from the earth and adapt to our needs and desires. It is a story of our past and future, from the ground up"-- Provided by publisher.
Subject: Raw materials.
Mines and mineral resources.

Available copies

  • 13 of 15 copies available at Bibliomation. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Morris Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 15 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Morris Public Library 333.7 CON (Text) 33460156885698 Adult New Nonfiction Available -


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