Thousands of prices just dropped across Thryft
Our price drop is now live! Find lowered prices on thousands of one-of-a-kind finds across Thryft
Free delivery on all orders above $30
Get 10% off all year round! Join Thryft Club
Get 10% off all year round and $10 off your next order! Join Thryft Club

Your cart

Your cart is empty

Check out these collections!

Bestselling Fiction
Bestselling Nonfiction
Bestselling Books for Children
Vintage and Rare Books
Vinyl Records
Women's Clothing
Men's Clothing

Find more of what you love

Get thoughtful picks from Thryft’s ever-changing collection of pre-loved books, vinyl and CDs—plus occasional sales and events.

By signing up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Thryft. You can unsubscribe at any time.

This item is sold out

Get an email when a matching copy is available again.

Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

Ed Conway

Which copies would you like?
Condition and budgetAny condition · No price limit

Excludes delivery. This filters future availability alerts; it is not a price-drop alert.

We check inventory once a day. We’ll email you once when we find a matching copy. Copies aren’t reserved. This does not sign you up for marketing emails.

Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

by Ed Conway
Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future
Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

A globe-spanning tour of civilization's hidden building blocks

If you like big-picture nonfiction that suddenly makes everyday life feel astonishing, this is a great pick. Readers will probably love how it turns sand, salt, copper and lithium into the real protagonists of human progress, linking mines, chips, medicine and geopolitics in one sweeping story. It feels smart and urgent without losing its sense of wonder, especially if you're curious about how the modern world is physically made.

  • Financial Times Business Book of the Year Nominee for Shortlist (2023)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

by Ed Conway
Condition guide

Book Condition Guide

Books in Like New Condition

This book may contain very minor cosmetic defects, but it is in pristine condition. There should be no yellowing, no foxing, no water damage, and no annotations of any kind on the cover and the pages. For paperbacks, there should not be any crease marks on the spine. This book is good as new — lucky you!

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Very Good Condition

This book has been used, but it is still in a clean condition. There should be no foxing or annotations of any kind on the inner pages, but a sparse amount may be present on the cover, title pages, or outside edges of the book. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be light crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Good Condition

We do our best to ensure the quality of our books, but there is no escaping the wear and tear that comes with time. Slight foxing and some annotations may be present on the pages and the cover. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be several crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Well Read Condition

This is a well-read book, which means that the previous owner probably really enjoyed it! The cover and pages may include moderate foxing and annotations, but the text is not obscured and still readable. Moderate cosmetic defects and minor water damage may be present on the edges of the book. For paperbacks, there may be multiple crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

 

Find out more about our process here.

ISBN: 9780753559161
Author: Ed Conway
Publisher: WH Allen
Date of Publication: 2023-06-15
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Politics, Science, Business, Economics, History
Related Topics: Technology, History, Nature, Chemistry, World History, Politics, Finance, Asia
Goodreads rating: 4.5
(rated by 9786 readers)

Description

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 the ground up.
 

A globe-spanning tour of civilization's hidden building blocks

If you like big-picture nonfiction that suddenly makes everyday life feel astonishing, this is a great pick. Readers will probably love how it turns sand, salt, copper and lithium into the real protagonists of human progress, linking mines, chips, medicine and geopolitics in one sweeping story. It feels smart and urgent without losing its sense of wonder, especially if you're curious about how the modern world is physically made.

  • Financial Times Business Book of the Year Nominee for Shortlist (2023)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

You might enjoy this if…

View book details