From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization

Ed Conway,

Edmund Conway

Start date: July 1, 2024

Finish date: July 31, 2024

Discussion: Book Club 2024

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Book Club 2024

November 2024 - Under Alien Skies
By Betsy , co-mod · 14 posts · 59 views

last updated Jan 31, 2025 03:54PM

December 2024 - Otherlands
By Betsy , co-mod · 7 posts · 63 views

last updated Jan 15, 2025 02:47PM

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What Members Thought

Feb 07, 2024 CatReader rated it really liked it

Shelves: cc

A fascinating, cross-disciplinary look at how six raw earth materials (sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium) have been mined, refined, extracted, utilized, and exploited over the course of human history. Conway traveled extensively while researching this book, and he incorporates historical research alongside modern research on the deleterious environmental and socioeconomic impacts of many current extraction and mining practices.

Further reading:
The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2024 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: a-jack-in-the-box-pop-surprise, non-fiction, twisted-me-peculiar, academic-notations, favorites, history, science

‘Material World: the Six Raw Materials that Shape Modern Civilization’ by Ed Conway is a must read! I ask, no demand! that GR readers add this book to their TBR lists! While a case can be made it is a book of infodumps, Conway’s writing makes the science and history about the science of making things extremely interesting, not dull. There is a lot of non-fiction information to digest in this book, but it is important. The high-tech products which are required for work by farmers, manufacturers, ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Sep 20, 2024 Holli rated it it was amazing

4.5
I learned a lot and it was way more interesting than I imagined it could be!

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 14, 2024 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, rws-2024-fall

Conway does a masterful job layering information, making connections and moving the reader forward to an understanding of the importance of these materials, where they come from and how they are used. I like his historical information-from ten of thousands years ago to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We cannot understand where we are if we don’t know how we got here.

1 like · Like · see review