Soil to Foil tells the extraordinary story of aluminum. Saleem H. Ali reveals its pivotal role in the histories of scientific inquiry and technological innovation as well as its importance to sustainability.

Saleem H. Ali is Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware and a senior fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Sustainable Investment. He is a member of the United Nations International Resource Panel and the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility. Ali’s books include Earthly Order: How Natural Laws Define Human Life (2022).

With approachable storytelling… environmental scientist Saleem Ali masterfully traces… the story of aluminum.

Jessica M. Smith, Department of Engineering and Society, Colorado School of Mines:
Soil to Foil considers the ‘extraction’ of the chemical processes used to turn aluminum ore into usable resources, fitting within a broader turn in the social sciences to considering the sociomaterial and sociotechnical dimensions of the world we live in. Ali persuasively shows why materiality and chemical composition matters for how aluminum ‘comes to be’ as a resource.

Tyler Volk, professor emeritus, New York University, and author of Quarks to Culture: How We Came to Be:
Soil to Foil shows the profound connections between the atomic properties of aluminum and the gigantic entanglements of the world we live in through economics, politics, environmental laws, science, technology, industrial design, advertising, and more. Ali admirably and skillfully guides us to a much deeper and more vital understanding of these subjects.

Rohitesh Dhawan, president and CEO, International Council on Mining and Metals:
Soil to Foil lights the way for how to build net-positive companies and economies from the ground up. It holds the hand of courageous business leaders in setting an inspiring vision for circular systems and gently but firmly pushing back against basic misconceptions of physics, chemistry, and geology that stifle creativity. Aluminum is something we can all relate to, and Soil to Foil helps you see it and the world around you in a new light filled with abundant possibility.

Bill McKibben, Right Livelihood Award-winning environmental author and Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Middlebury College:
Aluminum—who knew? In Saleem H. Ali’s capable hands, the metal becomes the vehicle for an engrossing and enlightening explanation of how our world works—and how it might work much better.