The world in a grain

"After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other--even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand . . . It's the ingredient that makes possible our cities, our science, our lives--and our future. And, incredibly we're running out of it. 'The World in a Grain' is a . . . true story of this hugely important and diminishing nautural resource that growns more essential every day, and of the people who mine it, sell it, build with it--and sometimes, even kill for it . . ."--Dust jacket.