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The World in a Grain

The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization

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The World in a Grain

By: Vince Beiser
Narrated by: Will Damron
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About this listen

 A finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

The gripping story of the most important overlooked commodity in the world--sand--and the crucial role it plays in our lives.

After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other--even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from 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 your iPhone, sand shelters us, empowers us, engages us, and inspires us. It's the ingredient that makes possible our cities, our science, our lives--and our future.

And, incredibly, we're running out of it.

The World in a Grain is the compelling true story of the hugely important and diminishing natural resource that grows more essential every day, and of the people who mine it, sell it, build with it--and sometimes, even kill for it. It's also a provocative examination of the serious human and environmental costs incurred by our dependence on sand, which has received little public attention. Not all sand is created equal: Some of the easiest sand to get to is the least useful. Award-winning journalist Vince Beiser delves deep into this world, taking readers on a journey across the globe, from the United States to remote corners of India, China, and Dubai to explain why sand is so crucial to modern life. Along the way, readers encounter world-changing innovators, island-building entrepreneurs, desert fighters, and murderous sand pirates. The result is an entertaining and eye-opening work, one that is both unexpected and involving, rippling with fascinating detail and filled with surprising characters. Economics Engineering Environment Environmental Economics Natural Resources Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Middle East China
All stars
Most relevant
The book was interesting and well researched, but didn’t labour the point about the many impacts on running out of sand.

More important and interesting than I first thought

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Really interesting book read really well. I have thought about sand and its importance and ultimately its impact.

Super interesting

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I was hooked from the get go, I listened to this book on a long bus trip interstate and was so interested I couldn’t fall asleep. Towards the end it became a little drawn out but then last chapters really made me think and re-think.

Easygoing and interesting

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from mega rich Qatar to Indian slums, from mundane piles to Ultra pure silicon, this book presents a pretty convincing argument as to why the world is built on sand. while sometimes bogged in minutia, it's nevertheless really interesting.

Super interesting history of the most mundane

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I felt that the author was trying to convince me of sand place in our world in the same way a high school student would write a persuasive essay.
I did enjoy the stories of the author's personal experiences and wish there was more of this women throughout the book.

Factual but little personality

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.