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(0)Vaclav Smil
Author
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
"How much further should the affluent world push its material consumption? Does relative dematerialization lead to absolute decline in demand for materials? These and many other questions are discussed and answered in Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization.Over the course of time, the modern world has become dependent on unprecedented flows of materials. Now even the most efficient production processes and the highest practical...
Author
Publisher
Viking
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
"An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible--a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our...
Author
Publisher
The MIT Press
Pub. Date
[2017]
Language
English
Description
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows -- ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity -- for their civilized existence....
Author
Series
Scientific American Library volume no. 63
Publisher
Scientific American Library
Pub. Date
[1997]
Language
English
Description
Introduces biogeochemical cycles, explaining the interrelationship of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and living organisims as agents of change in the environment
Author
Publisher
The MIT Press
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
"Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a child's growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic...
Author
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date
[2023]
Language
English
Description
What makes a human society too big? What about a human being? Which alternative energy sources have the best chance of scaling and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels? Why do tall people make more money? What makes a face beautiful? How about a cathedral? How can changing the size of your plates help you lose weight?
To answer the most important questions of our age, we must understand size. Neither bacteria nor empires are immune to its laws....
