{"title":"Vaclav Smil","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the data-rich world of Vaclav Smil, where science meets real-world challenges. Explore his insightful works on energy, environment, and technological advancement – essential reading for informed minds.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"how-the-world-really-works-book-vaclav-smil-9780593297063","title":"How the World Really Works","description":"\u003cb\u003eINSTANT \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Provocative but perceptive . . . You can agree or disagree with Smil--accept or doubt his 'just the facts' posture--but you probably shouldn't ignore him.\"\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e--The Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e 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 material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, \u003ci\u003eHow the World Really Works\u003c\/i\u003e offers a much-needed reality check--because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable--the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020--and that our societies have been steadily \u003ci\u003eincreasing\u003c\/i\u003e their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49514651517201,"sku":"CIN0593297067VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49724415213841,"sku":"CIN0593297067A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49759637405969,"sku":"CIN0593297067G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50320105242897,"sku":"GOR012749939","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51004259860753,"sku":"NIN9780593297063","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":51589369331985,"sku":"CIN0593297067LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51693118718225,"sku":"GOR013091034","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53149788012817,"sku":"GOR014781060","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0593297067.jpg?v=1785914335"},{"product_id":"growth-book-vaclav-smil-9780262539685","title":"Growth","description":"\u003cb\u003eA systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrowth 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSmil 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49514966679825,"sku":"CIN0262539683VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49739803853073,"sku":"NGR9780262539685","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50156615106833,"sku":"CIN0262539683G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50918147358993,"sku":"GOR011544108","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262539683.jpg?v=1786082033"},{"product_id":"oil-book-vaclav-smil-9781851685714","title":"Oil","description":"Packed with fascinating facts and insight, this book will fuel dinner party debate, and provide readers with the science and politics behind the world s most controversial resource. Without oil, there would be no globalisation, no plastic, little transport, and a global political landscape that few would recognise. It is the lifeblood of the modern world, and humanity s dependence upon it looks set to continue for decades to come. In this captivating book, the author of the acclaimed Energy: A Beginner s Guide, Vaclav Smil, explains all matters related to the black stuff, from its discovery in the earth, right through to the political maelstrom that surrounds it today. Author Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He has written over 10 books on energy and been a keynote speaker at both the World Economic Forum and the Global Roundtable on Climate Change. He is the first non-American to receive the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology and is a Special Fellow of the Royal Society.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49521440096529,"sku":"GOR003418357","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49811115639057,"sku":"GOR003660933","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50040437244177,"sku":"CIN1851685715G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50282796220689,"sku":"GOR008211730","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50488846319889,"sku":"CIN1851685715VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51888991863057,"sku":"GOR006356167","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1851685715.jpg?v=1751379413"},{"product_id":"energy-book-vaclav-smil-9781851684526","title":"Energy","description":"This authoritative guide, written by international expert Vaclav Smil, has been fully revised to reveal how every aspect of our existence is governed by one of the most important concepts in our universe.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49523473580305,"sku":"GOR010089473","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49617778573585,"sku":"CIN1851684522A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49660514205969,"sku":"GOR012382498","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50391712104721,"sku":"CIN1851684522G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51197195354385,"sku":"CINB0092G7088VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51456334463249,"sku":"GOR009127378","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B0092G7088.jpg?v=1750899601"},{"product_id":"energy-and-civilization-book-vaclav-smil-9780262536165","title":"Energy and Civilization","description":"\u003cb\u003eA comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, \u003ci\u003eEnergy and Civilization: A History\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e-Bill Gates, \u003ci\u003eGates Notes\u003c\/i\u003e, Best Books of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eEnergy in World History\u003c\/i\u003e (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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49535740051729,"sku":"GOR009908792","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49618271240465,"sku":"CIN0262536161VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49726619844881,"sku":"NGR9780262536165","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49941017428241,"sku":"CIN0262536161G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50058028581137,"sku":"GOR010121520","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50520252514577,"sku":"GOR011391403","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000611176721,"sku":"NIN9780262536165","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53144257134865,"sku":"CIN0262536161A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262536161.jpg?v=1751389124"},{"product_id":"making-the-modern-world-book-vaclav-smil-9781119942535","title":"Making the Modern World","description":"How much further should the affluent world push its material consumption? 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These and many other questions are discussed and answered in Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49536420806929,"sku":"GOR013084117","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49548989858065,"sku":"CIN1119942535G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50029135986961,"sku":"GOR008149899","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50032428646673,"sku":"CIN1119942535VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51019812339985,"sku":"NIN9781119942535","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":54056296218897,"sku":"GOR011938184","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1119942535.jpg?v=1751048588"},{"product_id":"numbers-don-t-lie-book-vaclav-smil-9780143136224","title":"Numbers Don't Lie","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author... \u003ci\u003eNumbers Don't Lie\u003c\/i\u003e takes everything that makes his writing great and boils it down into an easy-to-read format. I unabashedly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning.\"--Bill Gates, \u003ci\u003eGatesNotes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e From the author of \u003ci\u003eHow the World Really Works\u003c\/i\u003e, an essential guide to understanding how numbers reveal the true state of our world--exploring a wide range of topics including energy, the environment, technology, transportation, and food production.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Vaclav Smil's mission is to make facts matter. An environmental scientist, policy analyst, and a hugely prolific author, he is Bill Gates' go-to guy for making sense of our world. In \u003ci\u003eNumbers Don't Lie\u003c\/i\u003e, Smil answers questions such as: What's worse for the environment--your car or your phone? How much do the world's cows weigh (and what does it matter)? And what makes people happy?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e From data about our societies and populations, through measures of the fuels and foods that energize them, to the impact of transportation and inventions of our modern world--and how all of this affects the planet itself--in \u003ci\u003eNumbers Don't Lie\u003c\/i\u003e, Vaclav Smil takes us on a fact-finding adventure, using surprising statistics and illuminating graphs to challenge conventional thinking. Packed with fascinating information and memorable examples, \u003ci\u003eNumbers Don't Lie\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how the US is leading a rising worldwide trend in chicken consumption, that vaccination yields the best return on investment, and why electric cars aren't as great as we think (yet). Urgent and essential, with a mix of science, history, and wit--all in bite-sized chapters on a broad range of topics--\u003ci\u003eNumbers Don't Lie\u003c\/i\u003e inspires readers to interrogate what they take to be true.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49548978061585,"sku":"CIN0143136224G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49626143457553,"sku":"GOR012844994","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49759998050577,"sku":"CIN0143136224VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49794410381585,"sku":"CIN0143136224A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50999479468305,"sku":"NIN9780143136224","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0143136224.jpg?v=1751435225"},{"product_id":"size-book-vaclav-smil-9780241506998","title":"Size","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'There is no author whose books I look forward to more' Bill Gates\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author returns with a mind-opening exploration of how size defines life on Earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExplaining the key processes shaping size in nature, society and technology, Smil busts myths around proportions - from bodies to paintings and the so-called golden ratio - tells us what Jonathan Swift got wrong in \u003ci\u003eGulliver's Travels\u003c\/i\u003e - the giant Brobdingnagian's legs would buckle under their enormous weight - and dives headfirst into the most contentious issue in ergonomics: the size of aeroplane seats.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is no exaggeration to say this fascinating and wide-ranging \u003ci\u003etour de force\u003c\/i\u003e will change the way you look at absolutely everything.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49550700609809,"sku":"GOR013422005","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49757149790481,"sku":"GOR013171950","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52688851861777,"sku":"NLS9780241506998","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0241506999.jpg?v=1786088840"},{"product_id":"energy-in-nature-and-society-book-vaclav-smil-9780262693561","title":"Energy in Nature and Society","description":"\u003cb\u003eA comprehensive, systematic, analytically unified, and interdisciplinary treatment of energy in nature and society, from solar radiation and photosynthesis to our fossil fuelled civilization and its environmental consequences.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eEnergy in Nature and Society\u003c\/i\u003e is a systematic and exhaustive analysis of all the major energy sources, storages, flows, and conversions that have shaped the evolution of the biosphere and civilization. Vaclav Smil uses fundamental unifying metrics (most notably for power density and energy intensity) to provide an integrated framework for analyzing all segments of energetics (the study of energy flows and their transformations). The book explores not only planetary energetics (such as solar radiation and geomorphic processes) and bioenergetics (photosynthesis, for example) but also human energetics (such as metabolism and thermoregulation), tracing them from hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies through modern-day industrial civilization. Included are chapters on heterotrophic conversions, traditional agriculture, preindustrial complexification, fossil fuels, fossil-fueled civilization, the energetics of food, and the implications of energetics for the environment. The book concludes with an examination of general patterns, trends, and socioeconomic considerations of energy use today, looking at correlations between energy and value, energy and the economy, energy and quality of life, and energy futures. 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The expansion of the world's population from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to today's six billion would not have been possible without the synthesis of ammonia.In Enriching the Earth, Vaclav Smil begins with a discussion of nitrogen's unique status in the biosphere, its role in crop production, and traditional means of supplying the nutrient. He then looks at various attempts to expand natural nitrogen flows through mineral and synthetic fertilizers. The core of the book is a detailed narrative of the discovery of ammonia synthesis by Fritz Haber--a discovery scientists had sought for over one hundred years--and its commercialization by Carl Bosch and the chemical company BASF. Smil also examines the emergence of the large-scale nitrogen fertilizer industry and analyzes the extent of global dependence on the Haber-Bosch process and its biospheric consequences. Finally, it looks at the role of nitrogen in civilization and, in a sad coda, describes the lives of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch after the discovery of ammonia synthesis.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49564345860369,"sku":"GOR007922927","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50483834618129,"sku":"CIN0262693135VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50614203318545,"sku":"GOR004299618","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51904065831185,"sku":"CIN0262693135G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52674494234897,"sku":"NLS9780262693134","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262693135.jpg?v=1750695445"},{"product_id":"energy-at-the-crossroads-book-vaclav-smil-9780262693240","title":"Energy at the Crossroads","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn objective, comprehensive, and accessible examination of today's most crucial problem: preserving the environment in the face of society's insatiable demand for energy.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eEnergy at the Crossroads\u003c\/i\u003e, Vaclav Smil considers the twenty-first century's crucial question: how to reconcile the modern world's unceasing demand for energy with the absolute necessity to preserve the integrity of the biosphere. With this book he offers a comprehensive, accessible guide to today's complex energy issues-how to think clearly and logically about what is possible and what is desirable in our energy future.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter a century of unprecedented production growth, technical innovation, and expanded consumption, the world faces a number of critical energy challenges arising from unequal resource distribution, changing demand patterns, and environmental limitations. 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Missing from these accounts is a consideration of the technologies behind the creation of the globalized economy. What makes it possible for us to move billions of tons of raw materials and manufactured goods from continent to continent? Why are we able to fly almost anywhere on the planet within twenty-four hours? In Prime Movers of Globalization, Vaclav Smil offers a history of two key technical developments that have driven globalization: the high-compression non-sparking internal combustion engines invented by Rudolf Diesel in the 1890s and the gas turbines designed by Frank Whittle and Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain in the 1930s. The massive diesel engines that power cargo ships and the gas turbines that propel jet engines, Smil argues, are more important to the global economy than any corporate structure or international trade agreement. Smil compares the efficiency and scale of these two technologies to prime movers of the past, including the sail and the steam engine. 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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 dominance. He describes American manufacturing's rapid rise at the end of the nineteenth century, its consolidation and modernization between the two world wars, its role as an enabler of mass consumption after 1945, and its recent decline. Some economists argue that shipping low-value jobs overseas matters little because the high-value work remains in the United States. But, asks Smil, do we want a society that consists of a small population of workers doing high-value-added work and masses of unemployed? Smil assesses various suggestions for solving America's manufacturing crisis, including lowering corporate tax rates, promoting research and development, and improving public education. Will America act to preserve and reinvigorate its manufacturing? It is crucial to our social and economic well-being; but, Smil warns, the odds are no better than even.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50038816604433,"sku":"CIN0262019388G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50936343396625,"sku":"GOR009401179","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51320940331281,"sku":"CIN0262019388A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53175316250897,"sku":"CIN0262019388VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262019388.jpg?v=1751452809"},{"product_id":"energies-book-vaclav-smil-9780262692359","title":"Energies","description":"Energy is the only universal currency. One of its many forms must be transformed into another in order for stars to shine, planets to rotate, living things to grow, and civilizations to evolve. Recognition of this universality was one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century science, yet even today there is little literature that tries to view the world broadly through the prism of energy.In this highly original book, ecologist Vaclav Smil takes the principle of universality seriously, presenting a comprehensive and integrated survey of all the forms of energy that shape our world, from the sun to the human body, from bread to microchips. Written in a scientifically sophisticated yet accessible style, Energies consists of eighty-two short essays organized under six headings: Sun and Earth, Plants and Animals, People and Food, Preindustrial Societies, Fossil-Fueled Civilization, and Motion and Information. Each essay explains the science of the energy form as well as its implications for the functioning of the universe, life, or human society. Cross-links and summary diagrams allow easy comparisons among the various levels and flows of energy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50091169808657,"sku":"CIN026269235XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50346445734161,"sku":"CIN026269235XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52668161818897,"sku":"NLS9780262692359","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/026269235X.jpg?v=1751005534"},{"product_id":"size-book-vaclav-smil-9780063324091","title":"Size","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the New York Times bestselling author of How the World Really Works, a wide-ranging look at the most fundamental governing principle of our world: size, whose laws, limits, and peculiarities offer the key to understanding health, wealth, and even happiness\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"No one writes about the great issues of our time with more rigor or erudition than Vaclav Smil.\" -- Elizabeth Kolbert\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo answer the most important questions of our age, we must understand size. 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