Terry S. Reynolds grew up near El Dorado, Arkansas, and studied history at Southern Arkansas University and the University of Kansas. He is professor emeritus of history at Michigan Tech and author or editor of several books that examine the history of technology, from the early history of waterpower to the mining of iron ore in the Lake Superior region.

"The Metal of a Thousand Uses is a definitive history of an industry that once seemed so promising, yet totally collapsed in just a decade and a half. The text moves beyond events in the Ouachita Mountains to examine mercury mining around the world, demonstrating how the Great Depression, World War II, and shifting quicksilver markets shaped the fate of a mineral district in a poor state seeking industrial growth. Terry S. Reynolds's book tells us how enthusiasm can be thwarted in many ways, ending up in disappointment and failure." —Larry Lankton, author of Hollowed Ground: Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840s–1990s"Reynolds's industrial history reveals how the rural state of Arkansas embraced the possibility of a new source of economic activity that would stoke prosperity without upsetting the existing agriculturally based system of labor and wealth. The Metal of a Thousand Uses is an illuminating, deeply researched examination that should serve as a model for future studies of other regional mining endeavors." —Ben F. Johnson III, author of Arkansas in Modern America Since 1930"Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Reynolds's study of cinnabar mining in southwestern Arkansas provides a detailed scholarly history of the geologists, investors, corporations, civic boosters, and governmental forces that created a seesaw of interest in mercury production during a chaotic era of American history. Beyond local interest, however, the book provides a model for studies of other boom-and-bust regional industries." —Erik Nordberg, past president of the Mining History Association and dean of the library at the University of Tennessee at Martin

Terry S. Reynolds grew up near El Dorado, Arkansas, and studied history at Southern Arkansas University and the University of Kansas. He is professor emeritus of history at Michigan Tech and author or editor of several books that examine the history of technology, from the early history of waterpower to the mining of iron ore in the Lake Superior region.

"The Metal of a Thousand Uses is a definitive history of an industry that once seemed so promising, yet totally collapsed in just a decade and a half. The text moves beyond events in the Ouachita Mountains to examine mercury mining around the world, demonstrating how the Great Depression, World War II, and shifting quicksilver markets shaped the fate of a mineral district in a poor state seeking industrial growth. Terry S. Reynolds's book tells us how enthusiasm can be thwarted in many ways, ending up in disappointment and failure." —Larry Lankton, author of Hollowed Ground: Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840s–1990s"Reynolds's industrial history reveals how the rural state of Arkansas embraced the possibility of a new source of economic activity that would stoke prosperity without upsetting the existing agriculturally based system of labor and wealth. The Metal of a Thousand Uses is an illuminating, deeply researched examination that should serve as a model for future studies of other regional mining endeavors." —Ben F. Johnson III, author of Arkansas in Modern America Since 1930"Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Reynolds's study of cinnabar mining in southwestern Arkansas provides a detailed scholarly history of the geologists, investors, corporations, civic boosters, and governmental forces that created a seesaw of interest in mercury production during a chaotic era of American history. Beyond local interest, however, the book provides a model for studies of other boom-and-bust regional industries." —Erik Nordberg, past president of the Mining History Association and dean of the library at the University of Tennessee at Martin

Terry S. Reynolds grew up near El Dorado, Arkansas, and studied history at Southern Arkansas University and the University of Kansas. He is professor emeritus of history at Michigan Tech and author or editor of several books that examine the history of technology, from the early history of waterpower to the mining of iron ore in the Lake Superior region.

"The Metal of a Thousand Uses is a definitive history of an industry that once seemed so promising, yet totally collapsed in just a decade and a half. The text moves beyond events in the Ouachita Mountains to examine mercury mining around the world, demonstrating how the Great Depression, World War II, and shifting quicksilver markets shaped the fate of a mineral district in a poor state seeking industrial growth. Terry S. Reynolds's book tells us how enthusiasm can be thwarted in many ways, ending up in disappointment and failure." —Larry Lankton, author of Hollowed Ground: Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840s–1990s"Reynolds's industrial history reveals how the rural state of Arkansas embraced the possibility of a new source of economic activity that would stoke prosperity without upsetting the existing agriculturally based system of labor and wealth. The Metal of a Thousand Uses is an illuminating, deeply researched examination that should serve as a model for future studies of other regional mining endeavors." —Ben F. Johnson III, author of Arkansas in Modern America Since 1930"Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Reynolds's study of cinnabar mining in southwestern Arkansas provides a detailed scholarly history of the geologists, investors, corporations, civic boosters, and governmental forces that created a seesaw of interest in mercury production during a chaotic era of American history. Beyond local interest, however, the book provides a model for studies of other boom-and-bust regional industries." —Erik Nordberg, past president of the Mining History Association and dean of the library at the University of Tennessee at Martin