Acknowledgments

Over the ten years I have been researching lithium, many have helped me in small and large ways.I would first like to thank the organizations that funded this research and provided me with time and space for analy sis and writing:The National Science Foundation provided the funds used to access archives, hire research assistants, and travel to lithium sites (award no.1921777), with additional support from Chile's ANID (award no.1220620).The American Acad emy in Berlin provided me with a semester-long residency where I began writing, and the Rockefeller Foundation invited me to spend a month at the Bellagio Center, where I finished.This book would not exist without that precious time and the conversations with my fellow fellows-my thanks to each of you for making those residencies magical.My home university, UCSB, also provided support, above all with the opportunity to be the UC Faculty Director of Education Abroad programs in Chile and Argentina during 2019-2021 and a sabbatical year that followed.As luck would have it, we lived in Santiago during historic times: the October 2019 protests, the COVID pandemic, and constitutional reform.These were life-changing experiences and daily conversations with family, friends, and colleagues in Santiago transformed my thinking.