Where:
Haller Hall
24 Oxford St
Cambridge, MA 02138
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Innovation, Lectures & Conferences, Nature, University
Event website:
https://hmsc.harvard.edu/calendar_event/soil-to-foil-aluminum-and-the-quest-for-industrial-sustainability/
Saleem H. Ali, Chair, Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences; Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment, University of Delaware
“With approachable storytelling, in Soil to Foil, environmental scientist Saleem Ali masterfully traces one such story—the story of aluminum…”
—Katrin Daehn, Science
Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. It is also ubiquitous in the modern world, from aircraft to soda cans. Today, the efficiency with which we use—and reuse—aluminum is vital to addressing key environmental challenges and understanding humanity’s fraught relationship with the earth. In Soil to Foil (Columbia University Press, 2023), Saleem Ali tells the extraordinary story of aluminum. He reveals its pivotal role in the histories of scientific inquiry and technological innovation as well as its importance to sustainability. He highlights scientists and innovators who discovered new uses for this remarkable element, ranging from chemistry and geoscience to engineering and industrial design. Ali argues that aluminum use exemplifies broader lessons about stewardship of nonrenewable resources: its seeming abundance has given rise to wasteful and destructive practices.
Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture