A unique biography of a vital element in our bodies, our food and the world
‘At once lyrical and exacting, clear-sighted and deeply informed – a beautiful book.’ Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction
A fascinating natural history for fans of Underland by Robert Macfarlane, 1492 by Charles Mann and Leviathan by Philip Hoare. Jack Lohmann reframes our relationship with the natural world, uncovering the many lives – and deaths – of phosphorus.
In 1842, Darwin’s beloved botany professor, Reverend John Stevens Henslow, discovered the miraculous potential of phosphorus as a fertilizer. He hardly imagined that his countrymen would soon be grinding the bones of dead soldiers and mummified Egyptian cats to fertilise farms. Nor that his discovery would spawn a global mining industry, changing diets, lifestyle and the face of the planet forever.
Journeying across the flat expanses of Henslow’s Suffolk to far-flung Nauru, an island stripped of its life force by this ravenous young industry, Lohmann sifts through the Earth’s geological layers and eras, exploring our strained relationship with a life-giving element. Bold, lyrical, genre-defying, White Light invites us to renew our broken relationship not just with the earth but with our own death – and the life it brings after us.
'An eerie exploration of a strange and surprising element, and a plangent warning of a looming environmental crisis that needs our attention. Science writing of the highest order.' —Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment
'Last week, I had no interest in phosphorus; now, thanks to Jack Lohmann’s ground-breaking book, I find life and death – the whole universe – within it. Every sentence in this deeply original work sparkles with astonishing facts, prodigious research, crystal clarity. White Light is a conscience-driven tour de force.' —Pico Iyer, author of The Half Known Life
'White Light tells the history of life through an element’s history. It is at once lyrical and exacting, clear-sighted and deeply informed – a beautiful book.' —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction
'An effervescent – or I should say phosphorescent – debut from a talented young science writer. Jack Lohmann travels across time and space, from eroding English seasides to lonely Pacific outposts, and from 50-million-year-old fossil beds to modern factory farms, to explore how the humble element phosphorus underpins our world. By the end of the journey, you too will see this often-ignored element in a new light – the white light that underlies life itself.' —Steve Brusatte, bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
'White Light mixes individual stories with global statistics and sweeping history to tell the story of phosphorus, from pollution in Florida to agricultural collapse on the island of Nauru. Jack Lohmann also looks to the future, exploring potential improvements in land output that would support the billions of humans living today, and the billions more to come.' —Times Literary Supplement
'In this deft and radiant book, Jack Lohmann has achieved something quite rare: a work that is scientifically precise yet ethically expansive. Lohmann writes with assured wisdom, whether reflecting on Earth’s biogeochemical history or on environmental justice. Who knew that a book about phosphorus could generate such profound material and spiritual insights into life, death, human suffering, and planetary flourishing?' —Rob Nixon, author of Slow Violence
'Lohmann’s beautiful book demonstrates that phosphate, a substance we do not think of in everyday life, tells us about our origin, the present and the future. This book reminds us of the meaning of life.' —Kohei Saito, author of Slow Down
'A beautiful piece of genuinely literary science writing, very much in the spirit of John McPhee. You can feel the love of nature, and the wonder before nature, pouring out from nearly every page. With expert storytelling, [Lohmann conveys] just how different our natural world, and our modern history of science, would have been in the absence of the light-bearing element from Mendeleev’s table.' —Justin E. H. Smith, author of The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is
'Phosphorus is a chemical Swiss Army knife. It is essential for life, a component of cells and bones, the prime part of a matchstick, an agricultural fertilizer, an ingredient in some insecticides, and emanates an eerie glow (phosphorescence)... Lohmann’s profile of phosphorus, a chemical necessary for life with many different uses, highlights how nature masterfully recycles an indispensable element.' —Booklist
Jack Lohmann is a science writer, originally from Richmond, Virginia. He currently lives in Scotland. White Light is his first book.
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