Rust: The Longest War, Waldman - C

                                               The ubiquitousness and destructiveness of rust is the theme here.  "Rust is costlier than all other natural disasters combined,  amounting to 3 percent of GDP, or $437 billion annually."  This book is a series of rust vignettes and starts with the Statue of Liberty. Almost a  hundred years after installation, engineers discovered that a third of the iron rivets holding the copper skin to the iron skeleton had popped out and half of the frame had corroded. A massive, multimillion dollar renovation, heralded by Ronald Reagan as a highlight of his presidency, followed.  A National Corrosion Restoration Site plaque now honors the effort.  Most of the Statue's problems stemmed from the fact that it was made of iron, not steel, which came along later in the 19th century or stainless steel, the 20th century's major contribution to the war against rust.  The fight against corrosion in cans has lead to the widespread use of BPA (a resin likely not great for humans) in aluminum cans.  The author points out that it would be hard to imagine life without cans. But at the same time, since Rachel Carson published 'Silent Spring' in 1962, the percentage of Americans touched by cancer has doubled.  As the author romps through the world of rust, one of the things we learn is that the Dept. of Defense has a Director of the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight. NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers ) calculated that corrosion costs the Pentagon $20 billion annually. The Office is so successful that the GAO calculates that its preventative programs have an investment return (savings) of 50:1. The battle against corrosion is ongoing, an integral part of the oil and gas industry and an important aspect of many industries. At the end of the day though, rust and corrosion are about as boring as it gets. I'm not sure anyone could make it an interesting a read.