As a software engineer, I take hardware for granted. Moore’s law has taught me that all kind of computing power grows. My experience has taught me that all computing power is then consumed by frameworks, clouds and eventually is not enough.
This great book shades a really interesting light on the way in which materials like Lithium and Silicon shape our society. We think that TSMC is one of the isolated companies that excelled in chip-making. The reality is that this company is great, but it is also only one in a long chain of suppliers of the chip industry. We learn that the sand which is used to make chips comes from the US, not from Taiwan. We learn that the lithium used in our batteries comes often from the Andes, Chile, not from China. We also learn that the ONLY way for the humanity to progress is to collaborate cross-nations. If we don’t do that, no single country in the world has the machinery, the know-how and the competence to develop our modern technology.
It is in a series of great readings for software engineers when they start their studies today.
