Material World (a Substantial Story Of Our Past And Future)

By (author) Conway Ed
Description

''A compelling narrative of the human story'' TIM MARSHALL, author of Prisoners of Geography

''Lively, rich and exciting... full of surprises'' PETER FRANKOPAN, author of The Silk Roads
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Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium. They built our world, and they will transform our future.

These are the six most crucial substances in human history. They took us from the Dark Ages to the present day. They power our computers and phones, build our homes and offices, and create life-saving medicines. But most of us take them completely for granted.

In Material World, Ed Conway travels the globe - from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe, to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan, to the eerie green pools where lithium originates - to uncover a secret world we rarely see. Revealing the true marvel of these substances, he follows the mind-boggling journeys, miraculous processes and little-known companies that turn the raw materials we all need into products of astonishing complexity.

As we wrestle with climate change, energy crises and the threat of new global conflict, Conway shows why these substances matter more than ever before, and how the hidden battle to control them will shape our geopolitical future. This is the story of civilisation - our ambitions and glory, innovations and appetites - from a new perspective: literally from the ground up.

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A compelling narrative of the human story
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Brilliant
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Lively, rich and exciting ... full of surprises. Underlines that to understand global geopolitics, you need to understand natural resources and geology
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Expansive, erudite, and edifying. A stunning insight into the materials that shaped our history and built the modern world
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[An] enlightening account... he throws new light on how the world works... Not a sentence jars in Material World
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Fascinating, fun, and vitally important. A wonderful exploration of the world we''ve built yet somehow manage to ignore
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A stunning book that will transform the way you think about economics and life. Brilliantly written
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Endlessly fascinating
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Conway''s gripping explanation of a world you didn''t know needed explaining deserves this highest of accolades: Material World, once read, leaves us baffled that nobody ever thought of writing it before
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Goes straight on the ''must-read'' list ... Conway is one of the most adroit commentators on economics and business of our time
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In Material World, Ed Conway uncovers the hidden history of the materials that structure our world. Full of colourful characters and fascinating connections, Material World shows how the seemingly simplest materials - from sand to salt to iron - require unbelievably complex refining and processing before arriving at their final form. Absorbing storytelling... Fascinating and insightful
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''[Conway''s] book deconstructs the modern world for us to see inside ... As we fret and argue about how to tackle climate change, economic development and geopolitical tensions, this book is a timely reminder of our reliance on physical stuff, and offers a challenging, practical perspective on these debates ... Enlightening
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One of the most interesting books I have read in a really, really long time. It''s absolutely brilliant [...] buy it, right now
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Ed Con