Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities
okt. 2019 · MIT Press
3,5star
2 mnenjireport
E-knjiga
664
Strani
family_home
Primerno
info
reportOcene in mnenja niso preverjeni. Več o tem
O tej e-knjigi
A BILL GATES RECOMMENDED BOOK
The Energy and Civilization author offers “an epic, multidisciplinary analysis of growth” in nature and society—from tiny organisms to empires (Guardian).
Features 178 illustrations and fascinating insights on energy innovations throughout world history.
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 investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations.
Smil takes readers from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities—developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities. He considers the challenges of tracing the growth of empires and civilizations, explaining that we can chart the growth of organisms across individual and evolutionary time, but that the progress of societies and economies, not so linear, encompasses both decline and renewal. The trajectory of modern civilization, driven by competing imperatives of material growth and biospheric limits, Smil tells us, remains uncertain.
The Energy and Civilization author offers “an epic, multidisciplinary analysis of growth” in nature and society—from tiny organisms to empires (Guardian).
Features 178 illustrations and fascinating insights on energy innovations throughout world history.
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 investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations.
Smil takes readers from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities—developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities. He considers the challenges of tracing the growth of empires and civilizations, explaining that we can chart the growth of organisms across individual and evolutionary time, but that the progress of societies and economies, not so linear, encompasses both decline and renewal. The trajectory of modern civilization, driven by competing imperatives of material growth and biospheric limits, Smil tells us, remains uncertain.
Ocene in mnenja
3,5
2 mnenji
O avtorju
Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of forty books, including Energy and Civilization, published by the MIT Press. In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2013 Bill Gates wrote on his website that “there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil."
Ocenite to e-knjigo
Povejte nam svoje mnenje.
Informacije o branju
Pametni telefoni in tablični računalniki
Namestite aplikacijo Knjige Google Play za Android in iPad/iPhone. Samodejno se sinhronizira z računom in kjer koli omogoča branje s povezavo ali brez nje.
Prenosni in namizni računalniki
Poslušate lahko zvočne knjige, ki ste jih kupili v Googlu Play v brskalniku računalnika.
Bralniki e-knjig in druge naprave
Če želite brati v napravah, ki imajo zaslone z e-črnilom, kot so e-bralniki Kobo, morate prenesti datoteko in jo kopirati v napravo. Podrobna navodila za prenos datotek v podprte bralnike e-knjig najdete v centru za pomoč.
