How the World Really Works

Prepare to view the world through a new lens - SPEED - a groundbreaking exploration that challenges your perceptions of life's driving force, from the internationally bestselling author<BR><BR>'There is no author whose books I look forward to more' Bill Gates<BR><BR>'There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil' Guardian<BR><BR>In a world that feels like it's moving faster than ever, Smil examines how our relentless pursuit of speed - in areas such as production, travel and communication - shapes not only our technological landscape but also our social and environmental realities. And through engaging anecdotes and striking statistics, Smil challenges the assumption that faster is always better.<BR><BR>He invites readers to reconsider the implications of our collective obsession with speed, and its intricate relationship with nature and innovation. For example, he highlights the surprising fact that erosion can actually accelerate mountain growth, and he points out that the rapid adoption of mobile phones - achieving 90 per cent penetration in just nineteen years - reflects historical patterns of technological adoption, suggesting that our world may not be moving significantly faster than in the past.<BR><BR>Whether exploring the tiny mites that can traverse 300 times their body length in a second or the societal impacts of high-frequency trading, Speed invites readers to engage in a more balanced conversation about the role of speed in our lives, in an age defined by haste.

WAS VERBRAUCHT MEHR ENERGIE: EIN AUTO ODER EIN SMARTPHONE? UNSERE WELT MIT ZAHLEN VERSTEHEN <BR> <BR>Vaclav Smil ist ein Zahlenkünstler. Er beschreibt unsere Welt in Zahlen und beleuchtet sie dadurch auf überraschende Weise neu. Smil berechnet, ob ein Auto oder ein Smartphone mehr Energie benötigt oder wie viele Menschen es brauchte, um die Pyramiden zu bauen. Das ist nicht nur unterhaltsam, sondern räumt auch mit manchen Irrtümern und falschen Vorstellungen darüber auf, wie unsere Welt wirklich funktioniert. Denn am Ende sind es die Zahlen, die uns den wahren Zustand der Welt enthüllen.<BR><BR>Vaclav Smil hat die Fähigkeit, praktisch alles auf Zahlen herunterzubrechen und berechenbar zu machen. In seinem globalen Bestseller 'Zahlen lügen nicht' führt er leicht zugänglich in eine Vielzahl von Themen ein: Bevölkerungsentwicklung und Krankheiten, Ernährung und Landwirtschaft, Energie und Umwelt, technologische Innovationen sowie die Maschinen und Geräte, die unsere moderne Zivilisation ermöglichen. So bietet das Buch auch eine Summe all der Themen, die Vaclav Smil seit den 1970er Jahren erforscht und in über 40 Büchern bearbeitet hat. Dabei geht sein Blick sowohl in die Vergangenheit als auch zu den Streitfragen der aktuellen Politik. Er enthüllt die Einzigartigkeit unserer Spezies, ihre Erfindergabe und Lernbegier. Er nimmt aber auch mit auf eine Art fact-finding-mission, die faszinierende Informationen und überraschende Einsichten bereithält. <BR> <BR>"Enthält alles, was Smils Texte so großartig macht. Ich empfehle dieses Buch jedem, der das Lernen liebt." Bill Gates <BR> <BR> - 250 000 verkaufte Exemplare weltweit - Unsere Welt in Zahlen verstehen - Überraschende Einsichten zu den großen Fragen unserer Zeit - Für alle Leser von Hans Roslings "Factfulness" - "Ein beeindruckendes, faszinierendes und vor allem realistisches Porträt unserer Welt und wohin sie sich entwickelt." Steven Pinker

Prepare to view the world through a new lens - SPEED - a groundbreaking exploration that challenges your perceptions of life's driving force, from the internationally bestselling author'There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil' GuardianIn a world that feels like it's moving faster than ever, Smil examines how our relentless pursuit of speed - in areas such as production, travel and communication - shapes not only our technological landscape but also our social and environmental realities. And through engaging anecdotes and striking statistics, Smil challenges the assumption that faster is always better.He invites readers to reconsider the implications of our collective obsession with speed, and its intricate relationship with nature and innovation. For example, he highlights the surprising fact that erosion can actually accelerate mountain growth, and he points out that the rapid adoption of mobile phones - achieving 90 per cent penetration in just nineteen years - reflects historical patterns of technological adoption, suggesting that our world may not be moving significantly faster than in the past.Whether exploring the tiny mites that can traverse 300 times their body length in a second or the societal impacts of high-frequency trading, Speed invites readers to engage in a more balanced conversation about the role of speed in our lives, in an age defined by haste.

A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization."I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years.<BR>—Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year<BR>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. 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. <BR><BR>Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.

Tour the history of human invention—and its attendant breakthroughs and busts—in this history book from the New York Times-bestselling author of How the World Really Works.<BR> <BR>A BILL GATES RECOMMENDED BOOK: “Every Smil book that I own is marked up with lots of notes that I take while reading. Invention and Innovation is no exception.”<BR><BR>The world is never finished catching up with Vaclav Smil, author of New York Times bestsellers How the World Really Works and Energy and Civilization. In Invention and Innovation, the prolific author—a favorite of Bill Gates—pens an insightful and fact-filled jaunt through the history of human invention. Impatient with the hype that so often accompanies innovation, Smil offers in this book a clear-eyed corrective to the overpromises that accompany everything from new cures for diseases to AI. He reminds us that even after we go quite far along the invention-development-application trajectory, we may never get anything real to deploy. Or worse, even after we have succeeded by introducing an invention, its future may be marked by underperformance, disappointment, demise, or outright harm.<BR><BR>Drawing on his vast breadth of scientific and historical knowledge, Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks not only at inventions that failed to dominate as promised (such as the airship, nuclear fission, and supersonic flight), but also at those that turned disastrous (leaded gasoline, DDT, and chlorofluorocarbons). And finally, most importantly, he offers a “wish list” of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century.<BR><BR>Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human ingenuity—and how we can, and must, better align our expectations with reality.

A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look at global changes that may occur over the next fifty years—whether sudden and cataclysmic world-changing events or gradually unfolding trends.Fundamental change occurs most often in one of two ways: as a “fatal discontinuity,” a sudden catastrophic event that is potentially world changing, or as a persistent, gradual trend. Global catastrophes include volcanic eruptions, viral pandemics, wars, and large-scale terrorist attacks; trends are demographic, environmental, economic, and political shifts that unfold over time. In this provocative book, scientist Vaclav Smil takes a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look at the catastrophes and trends the next fifty years may bring.Smil first looks at rare but cataclysmic events, both natural and human-produced, then at trends of global importance, including the transition from fossil fuels to other energy sources and growing economic and social inequality. He also considers environmental change—in some ways an amalgam of sudden discontinuities and gradual change—and assesses the often misunderstood complexities of global warming.Global Catastrophes and Trends does not come down on the side of either doom-and-gloom scenarios or techno-euphoria. Instead, Smil argues that understanding change will help us reverse negative trends and minimize the risk of catastrophe.

'How to Feed the World had a lot to teach me - and I'm sure it will teach you a lot, too. It challenges readers to think differently about a problem we thought we understood' Bill Gates<BR><BR><BR>'Concise and erudite . . . How to Feed the World is weighted with statistics, but there is something light and irresistible about the way Smil structures his argument and propels his narrative . . . The breadth of Smil's knowledge is as impressive as the depth' Talha Burki, Lancet<BR><BR><BR>In this ambitious, myth-busting book, leading scientist and internationally bestselling author Vaclav Smil investigates many of the burning questions facing the world today:<BR><BR>Why are some of the world's biggest food producers also the countries with the most undernourished populations?<BR><BR>Why is food waste a colossal 1,000kcal per person daily, and how can we solve that?<BR><BR>Could we all go vegan and be healthy? Should we?<BR><BR>How will we feed the ballooning population without killing the planet?<BR><BR>How Food Really Works shows how we misunderstand the essentials of where our food really comes from, how our dietary requirements shape us, and why this impacts our planet in drastic ways. Ultimately, this data-based, rigorously researched guide explains how we will survive and thrive long into the future.<BR><BR>'There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil' GUARDIAN

Un saggio sistematico sulla crescita, in cui Smil racconta lo sviluppo di ogni forma di vita e organizzazione sulla Terra, nella natura e nella società: dai microrganismi agli imperi e alle civiltà. L'autore accompagna i lettori a partire dalle invasioni batteriche, passando per il metabolismo animale e arrivando alle megalopoli e all'economia globale. La crescita è da sempre un obiettivo, per individui e gruppi: governa la vita dei microrganismi e delle galassie; determina le capacità eccezionali dei nostri cervelli e le fortune delle nostre economie; si manifesta in incrementi annuali della crosta continentale, in un aumento del prodotto interno lordo, in un grafico della crescita di un bambino, nella diffusione delle cellule cancerose. Dalla biologia alla tecnologia, il libro percorre la storia della vita sulla Terra, dedicando ampio spazio all'evoluzione della capacità di produrre energia e agli oggetti creati dall'uomo che consentono attività economiche, segnando progressi essenziali per la civiltà. La dinamica della civiltà moderna, guidata dagli imperativi opposti della crescita materiale e dei limiti biosferici, resta incerta e difficile da governare: verso quale futuro si avvia il mondo? Una crescita senza fine non è sostenibile per una realtà fatta da risorse finite. Das Urheberrecht an bibliographischen und produktbeschreibenden Daten und an den bereitgestellten Bildern liegt bei Informazioni Editoriali, I.E. S.r.l., oder beim Herausgeber oder demjenigen, der die Genehmigung erteilt hat. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.