This month we discuss The Elements of Power by David Abraham. New technologies like smart phones and wind turbines are increasing the diversity of elements that humanitiy is ustilising. Amongst them are the rare metals, which may not acutually be rare, but they often occur in such small amounts that the mining of them is often unprofitable. Some of them occur in only a very small number of mines. All this results in the use of them posing novel economic and environmental problems. These problems are the subject of Abraham's book. Hear an extract from the book, an interview with David Abraham, and the views of the Chemistry World team in this month's podcast. Listen here or subscribe to the podcast using the links below. You can read our review of The Elements of Power here, and find all our book reviews here. We want to include you, the Chemistry World reader, in the conversation so join us next month when we’ll be discussing Why Science is Sexist by Nicola Gaston. Tweet your thoughts to @ChemistryWorld, or use the hashtag #BookClubCW and we’ll endeavour to include your opinions (or questions) on the podcast.

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