Rust
The Longest War
by Jonathan Waldman
The recap
Rust is everywhere and almost invisible, a slow chemical reaction that gnaws at bridges, cans, pipelines, ships and monuments, and quietly costs the United States an estimated 437 billion dollars a year. Jonathan Waldman sets out to tell the story of humanity's long, unglamorous fight against it, and finds a surprisingly colourful cast of characters. He revisits the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, prompted by the discovery that its iron frame was being eaten away, sits in on a training course run by one of America's big can makers, and travels to the Alaska pipeline to see how such an enormous structure is protected. Along the way he meets engineers, scientists and inspectors whose working lives are devoted to a battle that can never be fully won. Waldman writes with a reporter's curiosity and a comic eye for obsession, turning what sounds like the dullest possible subject into a lively tour of human stubbornness. Afterwards, a soda can or a highway guardrail starts to look like a battlefield.
Why read it
For readers who love a deep dive into an unlikely subject, and for anyone who enjoys engineering stories with a wry sense of humour.
Fun facts
- 01
Corrosion costs the United States an estimated 437 billion dollars a year, about 3 percent of the nation's GDP, a figure the book uses to show what is at stake.
- 02
Waldman nearly gets thrown out of the Ball Corporation's "Can School" while reporting the book.
- 03
The Statue of Liberty's 1980s restoration was set in motion by the discovery that rust had brought its frame close to collapse.
- 04
The book was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
