{"product_id":"the-devils-element-dan-egan-9781324002666","title":"The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance","description":"\u003cp\u003ePhosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it's also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called \"the oil of our time.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and \"dead zones\" in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide--which risks rising conflict and even war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith \u003cem\u003eThe Devil's Element\u003c\/em\u003e, Egan has written an essential and eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Dan Egan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1324002662\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781324002666\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/07\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.10d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2022 pg. 18\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/28\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2023 pg. 16","brand":"Dan Egan","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44071354564863,"sku":"9781324002666","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b8cf7a54-d0c5-43e6-a49d-f373610f7051.jpg?v=1685435606","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-devils-element-dan-egan-9781324002666","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}