Seven Elements That Have Changed the World Read Free Page A

determined by the choices we make. We are in control of our own destiny, and the elements are merely the tools for our progress or our destruction. We are not slaves of the elements; we are their masters.
    And so this book is not about the elements per se. Rather, it is about how people have harnessed the intrinsic powers of the elements to shape our cultural, economic and social existence, and in doing so have transformed our world. I have seen much of this transformation first-hand, and so this story of seven elements also contains a personal element. It takes you on a journey of my adventures with oil barons in Russia, merchants in Venice, tribesmen in Colombia and computer wizards in Silicon Valley. And along the way, we explore the stories of remarkable times and remarkable individuals – Pizarro, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Curie – and their deep connection with the elements. They changed the course of history. They demonstrated the elements’ latent potential to inspire and equip good men to do good and evil men to do evil. Whether we continue to use these elements for common human progress and prosperity, or for individual greed and iniquity, is up to us.
    The American physicist Richard Feynman summed it up through a Buddhist proverb: ‘To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell.’ 9



Power, Progress and Destruction
    I SUSPECT THAT EVERY generation in every place believes that their moment in history is moving more quickly than that of previous generations. They may be right. Today, everything, from technological advances to the growth in population, seems to be moving faster. Decisions are made rapidly, communicated more widely and their impact felt more broadly. What we do today has a far greater impact on humankind than what was done yesterday. Underlying what will be done is the way humankind uses the elements. Agricola cautioned us in the sixteenth century that ‘good men employ them for good and to them they are useful. The wicked use them badly and to them they are harmful.’ 1 I wonder what his practical and realistic advice to us today would be. Here is my view.
    First, all of us need to be aware of not only the good things we get from using the elements, but also their negative consequences. You can see that in carbon and its impact on the global climate, or uranium and its use in a weapon of mass destruction. To foster an understanding of these dangers will take a great commitment to education. It will also take an enormous amount of communication, not least to overcome the voices of those with vested interests who want to be blind to the negative.
    Second, while all those who have predicted that we will run out of one or another element, mineral or commodity have so far been wrong, they may eventually be right. We need to keep investing in the technologies that make our use of these exhaustible reserves more productive. And we should not prejudge which of these technologies to use but to decide on the evidence of their overall merits. Short-run considerations of supplyand demand will not provide the right basis to do the research and development needed for the future. Leaders are needed to take the risk of looking to and acting for the long run.
    Third, we need to take a fresh look at the age-old human characteristic of greed. The seven elements have always inspired greed; their utility and power appeal to the self-interest in all of us. Many people are captivated by the idea of being rich and are prepared to do terrible things to get there. They have fought to control land, they have knowingly polluted, they have exploited labour and they have used their wealth to do the same all over again.
    Greed cannot be eliminated, but it can be controlled and directed for good. Society can make laws that forbid exploitation of people and the environment. Around the world, where the law is enforced, companies or individuals buy land rather than steal it, employ