The Local and Global Discussion Group of the Weston Library will meet at 1:15 pm on
Tuesday, June 2 in the library’s Community Room, to discuss the book
Material World: The SixRaw Material That Shape Modern Civilization
by prize-winning author and journalist Ed Conway.
The presenters will be John Hart and Susan Wagner.
PARTICIPANTS DO NOT NEED
TO READ THE BOOK BEFOREHAND!!
The fiber-optic cables that weave the World Wide Web, the copper veins of our electric
grids, the silicon chips and lithium batteries that power our phones and cars: though it can feel
like we now live in a weightless world of information, Conway contends that our lives are still
very much rooted in the material.
In fact, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than all of human history before 1950.
For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials, from sand to wood to metal.
And in Material World, Conway embarks on an epic journey across continents, cultures, and
epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on earth – and to celebrate the humans and
human networks, the miraculous processes and the little-known companies, that combine to turn
raw materials into things of wonder.
“As we fret and argue about climate change, economic development, and geopolitical
tensions, this book is a timely reminder of our reliance on physical stuff, and it offers a
challenging, practical perspective on these debates,” says Bloomberg.
The meeting, which will be in person and via Zoom, is open to all who wish to discuss
the issues in civil discourse with a wide variety of participants.
The Zoom link is
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81849707570.
Questions? Comments?
Contact Susan Wagner at susanwgnr@gmail.com or 508-314-5341