Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

A bold new story of human progress, told through six materials that built our world and will transform our future. For fans of Tim Marshall, Lewis Dartnell, Jared Diamond and Yuval Harari. **Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award** *Longlisted for the Wainwright Conservation Writing Prize* Picked as a Book of the Year by THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST and NEW STATESMAN A BBC RADIO 4 Book of the Week '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 _____________ 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.

About the Author :
Ed Conway is a writer and broadcaster. He is the Economics and Data Editor of Sky News and a regular columnist for The Times and Sunday Times. He has written two critically acclaimed and bestselling books and has won numerous awards for his journalism. He lives in London.

Review :
An eye-opening celebration of human ingenuity Lively, rich and exciting ... full of surprises. Underlines that to understand global geopolitics, you need to understand natural resources and geology Fascinating . . . A revelation A compelling narrative of the human story Brilliant Fascinating, fun, and vitally important. A wonderful exploration of the world we've built yet somehow manage to ignore Revealing and empowering Expansive, erudite, and edifying. A stunning insight into the materials that shaped our history and built the modern world [An] enlightening account... he throws new light on how the world works... Not a sentence jars in Material World A vivid guide to the “material world” on which we all, often unconsciously, rely – and essential background reading to understand securonomics '[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 Goes straight on the 'must-read' list ... Conway is one of the most adroit commentators on economics and business of our time A stunning book that will transform the way you think about economics and life. Brilliantly written [A] masterful exploration of the materials that underpin civilisation . . . The biography of an element or material is now a familiar format . . . but what distinguishes Material World is his access . . . This is not a remote, academic analysis: he has been to the salt mines beneath the North Sea, the mineral railway of the Atacama Desert, the Chilean town being swallowed by the world's demand for copper Endlessly fascinating 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 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 One of the most interesting books I have read in a really, really long time. It's absolutely brilliant [...] buy it, right now Ed Conway is a great thinker... Material World is an engrossing study of the basic substances on which we all depend. Anyone who cares about the resources which built our world and where mankind is heading must read this vital book A masterful exploration of how materials shape our world more than ever - economically, geopolitically and environmentally A highly engaging and important look at the key materials powering our modern world, and how we feed our insatiable appetite for them Fascinating and forensic in equal measure... reveals the web of mining and manufacturing that underpins the lives of everyone on the planet Lucid... fascinating Lively and impeccably written - a welcome addition to the way-the-world-works literature Compelling - and alarming Rich in revelations . . . [Conway’s] analogies bring the scientific processes to life . . . Offers a fascinating lens on the intricacies of the modern supply chain, the underappreciated science behind everyday objects, and the ways that subtle - and not so subtle - changes in governmental policies shift the role of these materials in the global economy Eye-opening . . . packed with many surprising facts and statistics about our material world . . . Conway takes us on a memorable journey through the science, history, geology and economics of our material world. His enthusiasm for this crucial subject makes this a wonderfully readable guide to the substances and technologies that are essential for modern life