Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities
2019-10 · MIT Press
star
2 apžvalgos
El. knyga
664
Puslapiai
Įrankiai
info
family_home
Tinkama
info
Apie šią el. knygą
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.
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 h...
Įvertinimai ir apžvalgos
2 apžvalgos
Apie autorių
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."
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...
Įvertinti šią el. knygą
Pasidalykite savo nuomone.
Skaitymo informacija
Išmanieji telefonai ir planšetiniai kompiuteriai
Įdiekite „Google Play“ knygų programą, skirtą „Android“ ir „iPad“ / „iPhone“. Ji automatiškai susinchronizuojama su paskyra ir jūs galite skaityti tiek prisijungę, tiek neprisijungę, kad ir kur būtumėte.
Nešiojamieji ir staliniai kompiuteriai
Galite klausyti garsinių knygų, įsigytų sistemoje „Google Play“ naudojant kompiuterio žiniatinklio naršyklę.
El. knygų skaitytuvai ir kiti įrenginiai
Jei norite skaityti el. skaitytuvuose, pvz., „Kobo eReader“, turite atsisiųsti failą ir perkelti jį į įrenginį. Kad perkeltumėte failus į palaikomus el. skaitytuvus, vadovaukitės išsamiomis pagalbos centro instrukcijomis.
