Making the Modern World
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If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Did you know that our entire modern way of life rests on just four specific materials—and most of us have no idea what they are?
- Have you ever wondered why our total material consumption continues to skyrocket even though our technology is becoming smaller and more efficient?
- Are you curious about the real secret to balancing our massive demand for materials with the urgent need for a more sustainable future?
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Key Takeaways from Making the Modern World
- Discover how human historical eras are defined by their dominant materials, progressing from prehistoric stone and medieval wood to the quintessential twentieth-century material: plastic.
- Understand why accurate material flow surveys intentionally exclude massive hidden flows, like excavated earth, as well as water and oxygen to focus only on raw materials destined for processing.
- Learn to categorize the modern world's vast material consumption into six crucial groups: biomaterials, construction materials, metals, plastics, industrial gases, and electronics.
- Find out why industrial gases like oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are indispensable raw materials necessary for driving major economic sectors and enabling processes like efficient steel production.
- Grasp the staggering global complexity of everyday devices by tracing how modern supply chains source components from dozens of companies across multiple countries to build a single smartphone.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Making the Modern World
Mind Map
Making the Modern World
Material Surveys & Accounting+
Historical Eras by Material+
6 Modern Material Categories+
Impact Assessment & Recycling+
The Dematerialization Paradox+
Future Outlook & Solutions+
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 6
Why are water and oxygen typically excluded from quantitative material-flow surveys?
Question 2 of 6
According to the text, what is considered the quintessential material of the twentieth century?
Question 3 of 6
Why does the author argue that industrial gases like oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are an indispensable material category?
Question 4 of 6
What does a life-cycle assessment (LCA) reveal about the environmental impact of paving a sidewalk with natural granite versus modern concrete?
Question 5 of 6
How has the trend of 'dematerialization' (using materials more sparingly in individual products) affected overall global material consumption?
Question 6 of 6
According to the book, what is the most likely scenario regarding the future supply of major construction materials and silicon?
Making the Modern World — Full Chapter Overview
- 1Recommendation
- 21 — Material-use surveys should count the raw materials used across every sector of the economy.
- 32 — The eras of human history are defined by their dominant materials.
- 43 — The modern world uses an enormous variety of materials.
- 54 — Material-flow accounting is easier with a few tricks – and recycling may be more attractive than you think.
- 65 — Using materials more intelligently doesn’t necessarily reduce consumption – more complex approaches are needed.
- 76 — We have the tools to manage modern civilization’s growing demand for materials.
- 87 — Final summary
Making the Modern World Summary & Overview
Making the Modern World (2014) is a guide to humanity’s material consumption through history and into the future. These blinks explain the major material categories of our time and how we can effectively manage them as we move forward.
Who Should Listen to Making the Modern World?
- Anyone interested in the material flow and consumption of modern society
- Every manufacturer, designer and product developer
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