Soil to Foil: Aluminum and the Quest for Industrial Sustainability (Free Hybrid Lecture)

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.

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