Ed Conway follows six raw materials — sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium — from the ground to the modern world.
What this book is about
Material World is a tour of the physical stuff civilisation actually runs on. Conway visits mines, plants, and supply chains to show how invisible commodities become glass, chips, fertiliser, wiring, fuel, and batteries. The argument is simple: we talk as if the economy were digital; it is still rocks, heat, and logistics.
Our take
A reporter’s book, not a textbook. Best chapters are the site visits — you remember the scale. Good companion to Chip War or energy writing. Skip if you wanted a climate polemic; Conway is more “look at the plumbing” than “here is the manifesto.”
Who should read this
- Readers of supply-chain, energy, and industrial history
- People in tech who have never stood in a mine
- Anyone pairing this with Chip War or similar geopolitics of stuff
- Curious non-specialists who like big reporting
About the author
Ed Conway is economics and data editor at Sky News and a writer on the real economy. Material World is his account of the materials underneath money, politics, and gadgets.
