Vaclav Smil Audio Books

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.

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 - that have transformed the way we live.

Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done.

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.

In this user-friendly and informative audiobook, prolific author and academic Vaclav Smil provides an introduction to this far-reaching term and gives the reader a greater understanding of energy's place in both past and present society.

Packed with fascinating facts and insight, this book will fuel dinner party debate and provide listeners with the science and politics behind the world's most controversial resource.

From 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

Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving.

From the New York Times-bestselling author, a new volume on the history of human ingenuity-and its attendant breakthroughs and busts.

In this book, Vaclav Smil argues that power density is a key determinant of the nature and dynamics of energy systems.