Salt

For the sake of salt Rome created a system of remuneration (from which we get the word <em>salary</em>) nomads domesticated the camel the Low Countries revolted against their Spanish oppressors and Gandhi marched against the British. Through the ages salt has conferred status preserved foods and mingled in the blood sweat and tears of humankind. Today chefs of haute cuisine covet its most exotic forms -- underground salt deposits Hawaiian black lava salt glittery African crystals and pink Peruvian sea salt carried in bricks on the backs of Ilamas.</p>From proverbs to technical arguments from anecdotes to tales of folklore chemist and philosopher Pierre Laszlo takes us through the kingdom of white gold. With enthusiasm and freshness (<em>Le Monde</em>) he mixes literary analysis history anthropology biology physics economics art history political science chemistry ethnology and linguistics to create a full body of knowledge about the everyday substance that rocked the world and still brings zest to the ordinary.</p><em>Salt</em> is a tour de force about a substance that is one of the very foundations of civilization.</p>