Material world : a substantial story of our past and future /
by Conway, Ed.
Material type:
BookPublisher: London : WH Allen, 2024Description: viii, 501 pages ; 20 cm.ISBN: 9780753559178 (pbk.) :; 075355917X (pbk.) :.Classification number: 338.209 CONSubject(s): Mines and mineral resources -- History | Mines and mineral resources -- Environmental aspects | Natural resources -- Management | Industry | Industry | Popular economics | Economic history | Industry & industrial studies | Impact of science & technology on society | History of scienceSummary: Sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium. The struggle for these tiny, magical materials have demolished civilisations and fed our greed and our ingenuity for thousands of years. But the story is not over. We are often told we now live in a weightless world of information but in fact we dug more stuff out of the Earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. And it's getting worse. To make one bar of gold, we now have to dig 5000 tons of earth. For every tonne of fossil fuels, we extract six tonnes of other materials - from sand to stone to wood to metal. Even as we pare back our consumption of fossil fuels we have redoubled our consumption of everything else. Why? Because these ingredients build everything. They power our computers and phones, build our homes and offices, print our books and packaging.
| Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book - Adult Paperback | Formby Library | Adult Non-Fiction | 338.209 CON (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 003123583X |
Browsing Formby Library shelves, Collection: Adult Non-Fiction Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| 338.0409 TRU Trump : | 338.064 MCC Bourgeois equality : | 338.0941 MAR How Britain worked | 338.209 CON Material world : a substantial story of our past and future / | 338.2094 COY The riches beneath our feet: | 338.2724 HUD The shadow of the mine : coal and the end of industrial Britain / | 338.2728 STE Drowning in oil: |
Originally published: 2023.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium. The struggle for these tiny, magical materials have demolished civilisations and fed our greed and our ingenuity for thousands of years. But the story is not over. We are often told we now live in a weightless world of information but in fact we dug more stuff out of the Earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. And it's getting worse. To make one bar of gold, we now have to dig 5000 tons of earth. For every tonne of fossil fuels, we extract six tonnes of other materials - from sand to stone to wood to metal. Even as we pare back our consumption of fossil fuels we have redoubled our consumption of everything else. Why? Because these ingredients build everything. They power our computers and phones, build our homes and offices, print our books and packaging.
There are no comments on this title.