Vaclav Smil
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Energy expert Vaclav Smil presents a sharp-witted and approachable guide to oil's origins, exploration, extraction and use. This book is the perfect starting point for readers who wish to understand the science and culture behind our oil-driven world. Energy expert Vaclav Smil presents a sharp-witted and approachable guide to oil's origins, exploration, extraction and use. This book is the perfect starting point for readers who wish to understand...
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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-which have transformed the way we live.
Societies that have undergone all four transitions emerge into an era of radically different population dynamics, food surpluses (and waste), abundant energy use, and expanding economic opportunities. Simultaneously, in other parts...
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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. Smil argues that no advanced economy can prosper without a strong, innovative manufacturing sector and the jobs it creates.
Smil explains how manufacturing became a fundamental force behind America's economic, strategic, and social...
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In this book, Vaclav Smil argues that power density is a key determinant of the nature and dynamics of energy systems. Any understanding of complex energy systems must rely on quantitative measures of many fundamental variables. Power density - the rate of energy flux per unit of area - is an important but largely overlooked measure. Smil provides the first systematic, quantitative appraisal of power density, offering detailed reviews of the power...