Published 2011 by Prometheus Books

Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material. Copyright © 2011 by Robert Courland. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover images © Media Bakery, Inc.
Jacket design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

Inquiries should be addressed to
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive
Amherst, New York 14228-2119
VOICE: 716-691-0133
FAX: 716-691-0137
WWW.PROMETHEUSBOOKS.COM

15  14  13  12  11    5  4  3  2  1

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Courland, Robert, 1952-

Concrete planet : the strange and fascinating story of the world's most common man-made material / by Robert Courland.

    p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61614-481-4 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-61614-482-1 (ebook)

1. Concrete—History. I. Title.

TA439.C588 2011
620.1'36—dc23

2011028696

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper