First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. 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.” The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. Overview: The New York Times best-selling author on the source of great bounty-and now great peril-all over the world. The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance by Dan Egan
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