Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization Hardcover – Deckle Edge, November 7, 2023

Material World is a well written account of the material needs of the modern economy and where such material needs are ultimately sourced from. This book reads like an entertaining version of a Vaclev Smil book and really should be included in more reading lists especially as there have been so many subsidy filled initiatives to re-orient supply chains on national security based agendas. The book goes through 6 materials that the author sees as being instrumental in human progress, some currently so and others more historically so. It is both entertaining and informative and most importantly contextualizes the material demand of modern society and how that continues to increase irrespective of green initiatives.Material World starts with the most important substance for the modern electronic world, sand. In particular the author discusses the silicon needs of the planet and their origin in sand. Topics like reclaimed land is also briefly discussed and ultimately both geo engineering using sand as well as conversion of sand to raw silicon both show how critical sand is for the functioning world. The author discusses the scarcity of high quality silicon needed for silicon wafers, the security protocols associated with the best mines and the challenges of diversifying the supply chains when there are no substitutes for certain narrow supplies. Similar in style to Chip Wars, Material World describes through the authors personal journalism the ecosystems supporting the silicon/sand industry.The author moves on to salt and its historic importance. Given the variety of critical use cases of sand in more ancient times, the value of sand has been significant for much of human history. There are claims that the salt trade catalyzed Western technological progress and surplus value from trading in salt was a foundation of some of Western Civilization. The writing is a bit dramatic but nonetheless the value of salt has been and remains undeniable though the ability to synthesize salt has changed the mining intensity of it over the last 100 years.The author moves on to Iron and steel and the particular steps that took a difficult to engineer material into one that is the most depended upon metal for large scale construction. The author highlights the Bessemer process and how the blast furnace and coking coal changed the process of inefficient steel production which was deforesting England to one which vastly increased output and decreases costs. The author discusses grades of steel and their use cases and how there are still things to be studied for this metal today despite it being so abundantly available to us.Copper is among the most needed metals for the electronic age for its conductive properties. The author journeys to Chile to visit copper mines and describes the consequence of the mining to the towns. It is both a story and a lesson about copper mining. Copper densities are in decline from available mines, the author discusses how there are new explorations focused on copper on the sea bed but the realistic cost of extraction makes this totally uneconomical. Thus we learn the copper needs of the economy will continue to grow with EV and electrification but we are faced with dwindling abundance. There is little doubt of the ability to ultimately mine more copper as it is abundant but the costs are not declining and the waste output per ton of copper extraction continue to grow.The author moves on to oil and goes through the story of Saudi as well as fracking. Oils relevance remains extremely high despite talk of peak oil and EV renaissance. The Oil industry remains critical to the world economy and Oil remains a commodity very regionally dependent. The author discusses a little but about refining but a broad view of the history of Oil, its current areas of critical use and the supply side of the commodity with the major fields like Ghawar in structural decline.Lastly the author discusses Lithium the newer material of critical importance. The author discusses the history of battery chemistry and Lithium's role in the growing EV ecosystem. The mining of Lithium represents an open problem and the author discusses a variety of extraction techniques as well as the story of Panasonic and Tesla. The author also discusses Cobalt and its use in battery chemistry as well as how this is sourced from Congo with little substitute highlighting our dependencies on fragile states. Thus the author weaves together a picture of the materials we need for our new energy goals and how there is a complex supply chain and political risks in delivering on the goals.Material World was one of the more enjoyable books I have read recently and it is both story telling as well as fact delivering. One better understands the bottom up mining politics, top down supply chain frictions and overall demand dynamics determining the capital intensity now going into procuring more material goods. The author highlights how in sum it is hard to see us reaching our lower carbon goals given the low hanging fruit of resource extraction is behind us and the author discusses thoughts about trying to be more realistic of dealing with competing goals. Recycling needs to be increased given the inability to find from the ground all that we need at the cost that we need but the somber view is a needed perspective given this is a topic that is not discussed enough.

Ed Conway writes wonderfully, which is fantastic because it enables the reader to enjoy this extremely important subject from beginning to end. In addition to the writing, his careful, personal, research, including visiting the sites described in the book, makes the journey of discovery into the intricacies of the material world both fact-based and emotionally appealing.Most important, to me, is to help people to appreciate the role of market economics in facilitating the remarkable achievements of the recent four centuries. These scientists, engineers, industrialists, and financiers that made it all possible didn't do what they did because they loved us and wanted to 'gift' us with concrete, steel, and semiconductors. They did it because of the incentives and connectedness provided by the market economy. Ed correctly highlights that a key risk going forward is that people may fail to appreciate the importance of these incentives, provided by the capitalist system. There is a risk that they may, with good intentions and genuine concern for the well-being of their fellow human and of nature herself, turn off the engine of this technological progress and return us to the rather miserable, polluted, underfed world of pre capitalism.Ed delivers his content in an optimistic, open-minded, tone throughout the book. He is able to understand and highlight the challenges ahead of us, while inspiring us to remain optimistic that humanity will rise to the challenge. I loved and appreciated every page. Thank you Ed Conway!

Very interesting tour through the things that make our world work, and the history of important discoveries.But a major problem with the book is that Conway is way too credulous, naive even, about the green transition. He basically makes all the points about why things like wind turbines, solar panels, and giant batteries can't work, but still seems to believe in it. He actually seems to believe that electric vehicles will save the world. He is doing readers a disservice, IMO, by pushing this agenda. If you look at what is actually currently happening with BEV sales, it ain't good!

One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Reads like a fiction book following the six most critical materials around the globe, quite some journeys involved. This book gives great insight into how those materials are minded, cleaned, processed, until you eventually end up with a usable product based on those materials. It truly contains a wealth of fascinating and eye-opening information.

This is a tour of the essential materials that make the civilized world function. It also explains the interdependence of nations and corporations to keep materials flowing. This is a good read for those who are concerned about the health of the planet and the direction we are going.

This is a phenomenal book that everyone should read to understand the past, the present & the future of the earth.

This book dives deep into the respective past, present, and possible futures of 6 incredibly valuable materials. Not just of the materials, but what they have meant for humanity by way of economics and geo-politics. Extremely fascinating and written well enough to make 3 chapters on sand captivating. Very enjoyable read!