“Earth's Treasures” as a book
The new focusTerra publication gives an insight into the variety of mineral raw materials. How do we use them and what challenges do we face?
Copper for power cables, petroleum for heating, silver for jewellery and zinc in our cars - mineral raw materials are omnipresent in our daily lives.
People have been using mineral resources from very early on. Knowledge about where they can be found and how they can be used has always meant an advantage, and often promoted wealth and power. Even today, raw materials are an important economic factor for many countries. The availability of raw materials is a matter of course for us and global consumption is steadily increasing. What are the consequences of our increasing use of these non-renewable resources? What challenges do we face?
The book gives an insight into the variety of mineral raw materials. The subject is illuminated from different perspectives: geology and the environment, technology, economics, sociology and state regulation mechanisms. The complexity and major challenges are highlighted, possible solutions are presented. Many ideas for a sustainable handling of our raw materials have already been conceived and implemented in society, but there is still room for improvement. And we are all called upon to play our part.
BodenSchätzeWerte – Unser Umgang mit Rohstoffen
The book is available in German only.
- Ulrike Kastrup, Bettina Gutbrodt, Gillian Grün, Andrea Dähler, Martine Vernooij, Iris Thurnherr
- Full content of the former special exhibition with numerous pictures and illustrations, in colour, including supplementing poster “Rohstoffe durch die Zeit”
- 256 pages
- German
- ISBN: 978-3-7281-3808-8
- 1st edition, 2017
- The book will also be published as eBook.
About the exhibition
The exhibition “Earth's Treasures – How we use and value mineral resources” was shown in the museum focusTerra from 25 August 2015 until 20 November 2016.
Would you like to show our special exhibition “Earth's Treasures – How we use and value mineral resources” in your museum? Please contact us via .
About focusTerra
focusTerra is the Earth & Science Discovery Center of ETH Zurich. With its exciting exhibitions and activities on issues around our home planet, focusTerra manages to engage wide and diverse audiences – lay and expert people of all ages alike.