Vaclav Smil

"There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil."--Bill Gates An essential guide to understanding how numbers reveal the true state of our world--exploring a wide range of topics including energy, the environment, technology, transportation, and food production. Vaclav...

From the New York Times-bestselling author comes a new volume on the history of human ingenuity—and its attendant breakthroughs and busts....

In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization and offers listeners a magisterial overview of humanity's energy eras....

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Provocative but perceptive . . . You can agree or disagree with Smil—accept or doubt his ‘just the facts’ posture—but you probably shouldn’t ignore him.”—The Washington Post An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes...

"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author."—Bill Gates An indispensable analysis of how the world really produces and consumes its food—and a scientist's exploration of how we can successfully feed a growing population without killing the planet We have never had to feed as many people as we do...

What makes the modern world work? The answer to this deceptively simple question lies in four "grand transitions" of civilization - in populations, agriculture, energy, and economics - that have transformed the way we live....

In this user-friendly and informative audiobook, prolific author and academic Vaclav Smil provides an introduction to this far-reaching term....

A data-driven, scientific account of our need for speed—exploring a wide range of topics including evolution, transportation, and technology In a world obsessed with efficiency, perhaps nothing is valued as highly as being fast. Some of our greatest achievements include building planes that...

In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations....

In this book, Vaclav Smil argues that power density is a key determinant of the nature and dynamics of energy systems....

From the New York Times bestselling author of How the World Really Works, a wide-ranging look at the most fundamental governing principle of our world: size, whose laws, limits, and peculiarities offer the key to understanding health, wealth, and even happiness “No one writes about the great...

In Made in the USA, Vaclav Smil powerfully rebuts the notion that manufacturing is a relic of predigital history and that the loss of American manufacturing is a desirable evolutionary step toward a pure service economy....

Brought to you by Penguin. From the internationally bestselling author, a revealing look at the surprising numbers that uncover the hidden forces shaping our world What do marriage, milk and the black market tell us about the state of humanity? Most people would say, not much at all. But the...

En esta monumental historia, Vaclav Smil ofrece una impresionante panorámica de cómo la energía ha impulsado el progreso cultural y económico de las sociedades humanas durante los últimos diez mil años....

Este libro sobre lo grande, lo pequeño y la relación entre ambos nos entrega una innovadora respuesta a las grandes preguntas sobre la existencia humana. El tamaño no es solo una propiedad más de lo que nos rodea, sino que puede cambiar nuestra forma de verlo absolutamente todo.

Un sincero y revelador análisis de las posibilidades energéticas de nuestro futuro.