Book pick: Material World, by Ed Conway – a standout from our recommended reading list for participants in our programs.

Material World is an eye-opening exploration of the raw materials that quietly power the global economy, and how deeply they shape our industries, lives, and future.

Conway focuses on six essential materials:

• Sand, used in everything from glass and concrete to silicon chips
• Salt, crucial to chemical industries, food systems, and preservation
• Iron, the foundation of modern infrastructure
• Copper, powering global electrification and connectivity
• Oil, still central to energy, mobility, and plastics
• Lithium, the lifeblood of the energy transition and battery technology

Together, these materials form the invisible scaffolding of the industrial world, and Conway’s reporting reveals just how interconnected, fragile, and geopolitically charged their supply chains have become.

For industrial leaders in sectors like mining, manufacturing, and global supply chains, Material World provides both context and challenge: how well do we truly understand the materials our businesses rely on? And how resilient are the systems behind them?

Highly readable, deeply researched, and often surprising – it’s the kind of book that reframes how we see the world.

Did you know the word “salary” comes from the high value of salt?