The Song of Styrene: An Intimate History of Plastics

An intimate history of plastics, written by a plastic-maker’s daughter turned environmental sociologist who, for the past decade, has searched for the origin story of plastic and how it is inextricably bound to her own.

In one generation, industry has created billions of tons of plastic. It's a forever material that is everywhere—on the wrack line, collecting in deep sea; falling with rain, circulating through us. For some, it's the ultimate fate of these plastics that holds the existential ...