Ebook The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization, by Vince Beiser
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The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization, by Vince Beiser
Ebook The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization, by Vince Beiser
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Review
“[An] impassioned and alarming report on sand.... In Beiser's artful telling, the planet is caught up in a vicious, sand-fueled cycle.” —Washington Post “Beiser peppers research with first-person interviews in an engaging and nuanced introduction to the ways sand has shaped the world.... stunning.” —NPR “Beiser’s eye-opening study clarifies the science and the huge role of sand in heavy and high-tech industry. Perhaps most compelling is his exposé of sand mining, which obliterates islands, destroys coral reefs and marine biodiversity, and threatens livelihoods. A powerful lens on an under-reported environmental crisis.” —Nature “Whether in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, or India, [Beiser] exhibits a flare for detailing the human drama through prose.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “I thought I knew the basics of sustainability, but this lucid, eye-opening book made me feel like a dolt in the best possible aha-moment way: I'd simply never registered how much of the contemporary world—our concrete and glass buildings and asphalt roads and silicone-based digital devices and so much more—is entirely, voraciously sand-dependent. And the looming global sand crisis: who knew?” —Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History “A fresh history of 'the most important solid substance on Earth, the literal foundation of modern civilization.' Books on a single, familiar topic (salt, cod, etc.) have an eager audience, and readers will find this an entirely satisfying addition to the genre.” —Kirkus Reviews “The book is at its urgent best in chapters on the black market in sand and the sand mafias that brutally exercise control over resources... Breezily written and with insights on every page, this is an eye-opening look at a resource too often taken for granted.” —Publishers Weekly “A rich study of one of the world's most abundant natural resources: sand. With a balance of statistics, science, history, on-the-scene reporting and some healthy environmental skepticism, The World in a Grain highlights the ways this ubiquitous global commodity has been essential to human development and advancement.” —Shelf Awareness “The World in a Grain is nothing less than one of the best reporters working today unpacking the literal foundations of civilization. Everything we are, everywhere we live, is built on or out of sand, and Vince Beiser tells the best story of where that sand comes from, who moves it, and what they build from it. It's a whole new way of seeing the world.” —Adam Rogers, author of Proof: The Science of Booze “Modern life, as Vince Beiser compellingly explains, is literally made of sand. Yet we have been so profligate with this seemingly inexhaustible resource that for many uses in many parts of the world we are running out. The World in a Grain is a chronicle of innovation and greed and heedless waste—in brief, the story of civilization.” —David Owen, author of Where the Water Goes “A riveting, wonderfully written investigation into the many kinds of castles the world has built out of sand. You'll find something new, and something fascinating, on every page. Perhaps even in every paragraph.” —Nicholas Thompson, author of The Hawk and the Dove “Sand shortage? Black market in sand? Secret sand heists? Who knew? I certainly didn’t before reading this lively and eye-opening book about a material I’d always assumed almost infinite. Vince Beiser shows, with great skill, that this key component of our fragile, over-consuming planet we need to better understand, conserve and protect.” —Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost and Bury the Chains
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About the Author
Vince Beiser is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Wired, Harper's, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone, among other publications. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, he lives in Los Angeles.
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Product details
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Books; First Edition edition (August 7, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780399576423
ISBN-13: 978-0399576423
ASIN: 0399576428
Product Dimensions:
6.2 x 1 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.8 out of 5 stars
42 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#52,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
First of all -- who even thought about sand??? What an unexpected and yet essential thing to dig into (sorry). Second, the book is not only fascinating - covering sand as used in concrete, glass, technology, beach reclamation, exploring the environmental, social, economic, political impacts of this under-appreciated resource -- it's also a surprisingly fun read. The writing is engaging and crisp, and fun little interstitial factoids (how many grains of sand ARE there?) provide a nice counter-point to the well-researched longer chapters. Sand mafias? Who knew?? It's full of insightful, well analyzed, and unexpected ways we depend on what turns out to be a limited resource. Read this book and you'll be the hit of every cocktail and dinner party. You'll also find yourself thinking more about how little things matter, and more deeply about how we live in the world. I sped through it -- reading it feels like talking to your favorite interesting friend who always has great stories to tell.
Vince Beiser's fascinating new book, The World in a Grain, is about one of the world's most important substances......SAND.Beiser provides us with a both revealing and at the same time a very concerning summary of the world's every day usages of sand and the alarming depletion this non-regenerating material. A virtual textbook, the extensive research he has done in pursuit of the uses and sources of the various types of sand available throughout the world is evidenced by the manner in which he lays out his detailed findings in very easy to follow and understanding way.Beiser also sounds the alarm on two counts: the first being the very rapid acceleration of the use of sand by countries that before the 21st Century never used sand in any significant quantities and secondly, the deterioration of concrete structures due to aging which, he points out, is not an eternal product. These aged structures will sooner or later have to be demolished and/or will fail on their own requiring replacement which will add to the burden of the diminishing supply of sand.Although Beiser doesn't foresee an immediate shortage of sand he finishes his book with a waning that sand is just one element of a much larger problem of the world, that being over-consumption. H e advises hat we all must learn to live more moderately with less, share with the world and attempt to develop alternative ways of construction and technology that requires less usage of SAND. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the many uses of sand and the long term forecast of it's potential for extinction.
I know some of you are hoping that this topic just goes away,are trying not to scream that you can't stand to buy one more book about one more natural catastrophe and are wondering if its enough to read the reviews and pretend to keep up with your friends when they talk about it.This isn't that book. Beiser is a helluva storyteller, so the inventors, builders, risk takers and criminals who have brought us on our blissful trip to our sand-based built environment all spring to life. Glass, for instance: Beiser reflects on (sorry) it in Galileo's telescope , in the short but vital history of beer bottles and in your cell phone -and in any chip embedded in your worldly goods.What's more, the crisis stage is fairly recent, the US market is not the culprit and there are many solutions... You CAN handle this knowledge, have fun acquiring it and take action. Even though it's Really Important.
Driving around today, all I could think about was sand. Under the car, in the buildings, in the overpass, everywhere. And everything requires a specific kind of sand. This book is amazing. So well written and informative that you want everyone to read it. I confess, I mostly read murder mysteries. This was a departure and I expected it to be boring. Boy was I wrong. Knowing what I know about sand now, when I drive under an overpass, or go on a bridge I wonder if the contractor used the right sand. This is a real murder mystery. Wars have broken out, and people die because of the demand for sand. And many more will die as a result of just using the wrong damn sand. Who knew? Read this book. It is enlightening and freaking scary. And extremely well done. Kudos to the author.
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