The world in a grain: the story of sand and how it shaped civilization

The most important solid substance on Earth

Part I. How sand built the twentieth century's industrialized world

The skeleton of cities

Paved with good intentions

The thing that lets us see everything

Part II. How sand is building the twenty-first century's globalized, digitized world

High tech, high purity

Fracking facilitator

Miami Beach-less

Man-made lands

Desert war

Concrete conquers the city

Beyond sand.