{"product_id":"boom-bust-boom-a-story-about-copper-the-metal-that-runs-the-world-paperback","title":"Boom, Bust, Boom: A Story about Copper, the Metal That Runs the World - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBill Carter\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis informative and thought-provoking account of civilization's complete dependence on copper, and what extracting it from the earth really means for people, nature, and the global economy is \"the best sort of journalism: beautifully written, rich in detail, and impossible to ignore\" (Sebastian Junger).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCopper is a miraculous and contradictory metal, essential to nearly every human enterprise. For most of recorded history, this remarkably pliable and sturdy substance has proven invaluable: not only did the ancient Romans build their empire on mining copper but Christopher Columbus protected his ships from rot by lining their hulls with it. Today, this metal can be found in every house, car, airplane, cell phone, computer, and home appliance around the world, including in all the new, so-called green technologies. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet the history of copper extraction and our present relationship with the metal are fraught with profound difficulties. Copper mining causes irrevocable damage to the Earth, releasing arsenic, cyanide, sulfuric acid, and other deadly pollutants into the air and water. And the mines themselves have significant effects on the economies and wellbeing of the communities where they are located. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNow\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e Carter delivers a blazing and fact-rich narrative that helps us understand the paradoxical relationship we have with a substance whose necessity to civilization costs the environment and the people who mine it dearly. Starting in his own backyard in the old mining town of Bisbee, Arizona--where he discovers that the dirt in his garden contains double the acceptable level of arsenic--he follows the story of copper to the controversial Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia; to the \"ring\" at the London Metal Exchange, where a select group of traders buy and sell enormous amounts of the metal; and to an Alaskan salmon run threatened by mining. Part social history, part mining-town exploration, and part environmental investigation, this is a work of first-rate journalism that fascinates on every level.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBill Carter is the author of \u003ci\u003eRed Summer: The Danger, Madness, and Exaltation of Salmon Fishing in a Remote Alaskan Village\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eBoom, Bust, Boom: A Story About Copper, the Metal that Runs the World;\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFools Rush In: A True Story of Love, War, and Redemption. \u003c\/i\u003eHe is also the director of \u003ci\u003eMiss Sarajevo\u003c\/i\u003e, an award-winning documentary produced by Bono. He has written for \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMen's Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications. He lives with his family in southern Arizona.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.85 x 8.43 x 5.54 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 31, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51767649698080,"sku":"9781439136584","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/eede1f79fd11410272bf52fc2d0cded6.webp?v=1780314346","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/boom-bust-boom-a-story-about-copper-the-metal-that-runs-the-world-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}