MS

Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability through a Volatile Element

Noelle E. Selin

Science & engineering

Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability through a Volatile Element

By Noelle E. Selin, associate professor in the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; and Henrik Selin

MIT Press · 2020

This book explores how people have made beneficial use of mercury for thousands of years, how they've been harmed by its toxic properties, and how they've tried to protect themselves and the environment from its damaging effects. The authors develop and apply an analytical framework that can inform other efforts to evaluate and promote sustainability.

From Summer 2021 recommended reading from MIT (MIT News). Cover image via Google Books.