9781422285541

INTRODUCTION P eople can go their entire lives without seeing a bit of gold. Copper, however, is a different story. Everywhere you look, copper stares you in the face. Bathrooms brim with copper pipes and faucets. If you pull out a fistful of change from your pocket, you’ll probably grab on to a few gleaming copper pennies. Copper pans, copper forks, copper wire, copper roofs. Take a peek—copper is all around you. It is even in your blood.

Copper’s use in plumbing dates back thousands of years, to the Ancient Egyptians, and it is still common today. (Gana123/Dreamstime)

7