First Principles, Volume 1 (audiobook)

Light was once a luxury measured in candles. Aluminum sat on Napoleon's table as a metal rarer than gold. A shipping container turned the cost of moving goods across an ocean into a rounding error.

Fifty-eight teardowns of everyday things (light, steel, cement, glass, rockets, insulin, eyeglasses, a house, a parking space), each one asking the same two questions: what does this actually cost, in materials and energy and labour, and how far is today's price from that floor? Organised into five parts. The companion ebook lists every source that was checked.

Volume 1 of a continuing series. Compiled from the First Principles Daily podcast, part of the Nerra Network. Narrated with a digital voice. Running time 7 hours 20 minutes.

What you get: the complete audiobook as a chaptered M4B (about 340 MB, plays in Apple Books, BookPlayer, Smart AudioBook Player and most audiobook apps) plus a zip of the 58 chapters as plain MP3s for any player, and a free three-minute sample. DRM-free. Download links delivered by email immediately after purchase.