Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The world in a grain : the story of sand and how it transformed civilization / Vince Beiser.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Riverhead Books, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Description: 294 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780399576423
  • 0399576428
Subject(s):
Contents:
The most important solid substance on Earth -- Part I. How sand built the twentieth century's industrialized world -- The skeleton of cities -- Paved with good intentions -- The thing that lets us see everything -- Part II. How sand is building the twenty-first century's globalized, digitized world -- High tech, high purity -- Fracking facilitator -- Miami Beach-less -- Man-made lands -- Desert war -- Concrete conquers the city -- Beyond sand.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 620.191 B423 Available 33111009228400
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Except for water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other - more than oil, more than natural gas. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, exists because of sand. From Egypt's pyramids to the Hubble telescope, from the world's tallest skyscraper to the sidewalk below it, from Chartres' stained-glass windows to Chihuly sculptures to your iPhone, sand shelters us, empowers us, engages us, and inspires us. And we're running out of it.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-284) and index.

The most important solid substance on Earth -- Part I. How sand built the twentieth century's industrialized world -- The skeleton of cities -- Paved with good intentions -- The thing that lets us see everything -- Part II. How sand is building the twenty-first century's globalized, digitized world -- High tech, high purity -- Fracking facilitator -- Miami Beach-less -- Man-made lands -- Desert war -- Concrete conquers the city -- Beyond sand.

Powered by Koha