Fifty minerals that changed the course of history features the metals, alloys, rocks, and organic minerals and gemstones that humans have used as the building blocks of civilization. From flint and obsidian to bronze and iron, it explores the roots of industry and trade; it marvels at the extraordinary works of art produced in gold, silver, ivory, and jade by the great classical civilizations of the Old and New Worlds. Moving to modern times, it charts the industrialization of societies with fossil fuels, the production of steel and aluminum, and the harnessing of nuclear energy from uranium and plutonium.
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