Highlights the amount of effort necessary to decarbonise our economy. Cannot just stop oil without huge efforts. Mining companies are often pilloried by environmentalists but we cannot make the energy transition without mining for dramatically larger amounts of copper, cobalt, lithium etc etc. In the end we cannot make the transition without engineers, scientists and mining companies. A refreshingly honest and practical book which should be read by all environmentalists

Just finished this hugely insightful book, which highlights so many unexpected dependencies within the complex system on which modern life is founded. Remarkable that it keeps on working as it does.

One of those books which completely changes how you see the world. Conway is an informed and entertaining guide on a global tour of the substances that really make the world tick.

This is a really important book. You will see the world with new eyes. Every page is truly a mine of information, sometimes shocking, sometimes awe-inducing. I wish everyone could experience this book; it is a reminder of how we shape our planet and how our planet shapes us. This is a desert island book for me. I will be sure to examine the sand and the salt with extreme gratitude...

This is an excellent overview of the materials we have used to shape our society, their history and the potential future challenges involved in extracting them. Conway has made what could easily be a rather dry and obtuse subject exciting and accessible, with small lashings of humour and a readable structure. Each of the 6 materials (sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium) is given its own segment, and the varied sources and uses we have found are endlessly fascinating. While most of us take these minerals for granted, they play a definitive role in our interconnected global world, and this work will have you looking afresh at everything from your smartphone to the vegetables you eat. Conway has travelled across the globe from the Atacama desert to Wesseling in order to examine the often-colourful discoveries of these substances, their present-day roles in our infrastructure and what the future may hold in an age of increasing focus on the drive to cut emissions and reduce damage to the natural world. My favourite section was probably on the discovery of electricity, while the parts dealing with the environmental destruction caused by mining give the book an emotional punch and timely relevance. Covering everything from history and geopolitics to science and climate change, Material World represents the perfect primer for anyone wishing to learn more about an often-overlooked subject, delivered in enthralling style and boiled down to easily digestible nuggets of intriguing information. My only real problem is that I had the Madonna song stuck in my head whenever I was reading it...