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The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance Hardcover – March 7, 2023

by Dan Egan (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 168 ratings
Editors' pick Best Books of the Year 2023
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A New Yorker Best Book of 2023 • A Smithsonian Staff Favorite of 2023

The New York Times best-selling author on the source of great bounty―and now great peril―all over the world.

Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called “the oil of our time.”

The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and “dead zones” in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide―which risks rising conflict and even war.

With The Devil’s Element, Egan has written an essential and eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    March 7, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1 x 9.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1324002662
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1324002666
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

The Devil's Element: An Amazon Best Book of 2023 in Science

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An enjoyable, lively, and thought-provoking read…[P]eppered with fascinating details…I highly recommend The Devil's Element, which presents an easily digestible introduction to a major global issue."
― Robert W. Howarth, Science

"In the tradition of environmental clarion calls like Silent Spring and The Sixth Extinction…The Devil's Element urges readers to confront another quietly unfolding disaster…Egan, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work chronicling the threats facing the Great Lakes, has a knack for telling big, unwieldy stories through absorbing personal narratives."
― Julia Rosen, Undark

"In his crisply written new book…Dan Egan sounds alarms on both the scarcity and overabundance sides of the phosphorus-human equation."
― Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"[Egan] builds a story of innovation, failure, recovery, and looming catastrophe…[A] deep humanity resides in his writing."
― Garin Cycholl, Chicago Review of Books

"A revelatory book that exposes human use of [phosphorus] as a double-edged sword capable of sustaining and destroying life."
― Booklist (starred review)

"A cautionary history…This will ignite readers’ curiosity."
― Publishers Weekly

"Disquieting…A fine account, worthy of fertile discussion, of yet another environmental disaster."
― Kirkus Reviews

From the Back Cover

“[Phosphorus] today is precious and finite in the same way fossil fuels are. Yet we are blowing through Earth’s accessible deposits at such a pace that, just like oil production, some scientists now fear we could hit ‘peak phosphorus’ in just a matter of decades, at which point we risk declining mining yields― and chronic food scarcity.… Call it the phosphorus paradox―at the same time as we are drawing down our increasingly precious caches of mineable phosphorus rock we are overdosing our waters with it.” ―from the introduction

Praise for Dan Egan’s The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

“Suspenseful, superbly informative, crucial.”
― Louise Erdrich

“Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death).”
― Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review

“Fascinating and brilliant… Egan’s narrative often moves like a thriller.”
― Vicky Albritton and Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Los Angeles Review of Books

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (March 7, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1324002662
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1324002666
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1 x 9.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 168 ratings

About the author

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Dan Egan

Dan Egan

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Dan Egan is a former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and journalist in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences. He has won the LOS ANGELES TIMES book prize and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has been awarded Columbia University's Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, its John B. Oakes Award and its Lukas prize, as well as the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. Dan lives in Milwaukee with his wife and children.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
168 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jane Rains
5.0 out of 5 stars The Devil’s Element
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a very informative book. As a gardener I have learned a lot.
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Susan E Dix
4.0 out of 5 stars Ecological Farming
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
Wow. This book is a lot to digest. The human race still has a long way to go to start taking better care of our precious planet. Some of this book, while informative, is depressing and scary. Will we get out of our own way? Some of the proposed cures will take time to work. Can we learn patience? The last part of the book is optimistic about our chances to make things better. May it be so.
4 people found this helpful
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Lee Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars Phosphorus, the devil's element, is necessary for all life, but supplies are limited.
Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2024
Verified Purchase
Fascinating discussion of the importance of the element Phosphorus and its place in the existence of all living things. Its use as a necessary component in fertilizer has seen agricultural production increase incredibly. Increasing Ag production has been followed by an uptick in worldwide population. Unfortunately, easy access to Phos. is limited. How will this effect the future of mankind?
2 people found this helpful
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mom's word
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for everyone
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a great writer who makes everything easy to understand. You don't need a chemistry background because he explains everything and just tells the facts.
One person found this helpful
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Colin A. Brodd
5.0 out of 5 stars A frightening look at human use and abuse of Phosphorus
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Want to be terrified about something you've probably never even considered? Read this book! Phosphorus is an element, and one basic to life as we know it. Our modern crop yields that supply enough food for Earth to sustain more than 8 billion people rely on Phosphorus based fertilizers. But we use it up at an alarming rate, losing more than 80 percent of it in the process, and the runoff ends up in the water, prompting toxic algal blooms that can cause untold devastation . . . and that's just the tip of the story!
4 people found this helpful
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Bama Fan
4.0 out of 5 stars Important and relevant
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2023
Every once in awhile we need a reminder about things in our world that don't get enough of a spotlight shine on them. Because it's not talked about much, phosphorus run-off is something that is out of sight and out of mind for most people. However, Egan reminds us of the issue and why we need to see it, recognize it and plan for it moving forward. There are way too many examples of the harm this is doing, but this book also brings up and highlights what can be done as well. It's in everyone's interest to be aware of this topic and hopefully by this book and others being published it will help us to take steps in the right direction for future generations. Highly recommend for anyone to read!
2 people found this helpful
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Maurie
5.0 out of 5 stars Important science to know
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
Dan Egan is an exceptional author. His ability to put the science in layman's terms make him a credit to today's citizens. We sell need to be aware of phosphorus, it's over uses, and ways to hopefully bring it under control to protect our waters.
Thanks
One person found this helpful
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OKay
3.0 out of 5 stars What Was Here Was Good But....
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
Verified Purchase
We are bombarded every day with more evidence that the world is out of balance. The first half of the book was very good. It would be greatly enhanced by a chapter about the history and other uses of phosphorus besides fertilizer. The singular focus unfortunately just made it another book of bad news and capitalistic greed. While that is not unimportant, it would have been more interesting if it had a mission to educate on the whole topic of phosphorus. Thank goodness we have Wikipedia to fill in the blanks.
3 people found this helpful
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