Sublime

Abundance of material possessions, frequent travel and massive information flows are among the most notable accomplishments of modern civilization,

Additionally, aluminum wires became the most important long-distance conductors of electricity.

The combustion of fossil fuels generates more than 90% of all anthropogenic sulfur,

The principal reason for this limited mastery of materials was the energy constraint: for millennia our abilities to extract, process, and transport biomaterials and minerals were limited by the capacities of animate prime movers (human and animal muscles) aided by simple mechanical devices and by only slowly improving capabilities of the

large share of humanity lives in conditions that the affluent minority left behind generations ago,

m2 in the early 1950s to 220 m2 by 2005).

it offers the best way to power our imagination, to mobilize our creativity, and to deploy our considerable capacity for adapting to new, unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances.

Starr concluded that acceptability of risk from an activity is roughly proportional to the third power of its benefits,