Book review: ‘Under a Metal Sky’ by Philip Marsden

In Under a Metal Sky, Philip Marsden travels across Europe in search of minerals—and of the stories behind their discovery and exploitation.

He explores our ancestors’ use of ochre to make depictions on cave walls, and their discovery and use of copper, later amalgamating it with tin and arsenic in the Bronze Age. He describes the proto-science of alchemy; the use of mercury to extract silver from ore; the relentless pursuit of gold; the discovery of radioactive elements that mysteriously transform themselves into other forms; the rare minerals that fall to earth from the heavens; and our over-use of under-appreciated resources such as peat and soil.

An entertaining read.