Vaclav Smil
Vaclav Smil is a Czech-Canadian interdisciplinarian, who is an emeritus professor in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of Manitoba. He has written on a very broad range of subjects, including energy, the environment and population, to name a few. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has said that there is “no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil”.
Books by Vaclav Smil
Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities
by Vaclav Smil
Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities is the latest book by Vaclav Smil, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of Manitoba. A lifelong interdisciplinarian, in Growth he examines a wide variety of phenomena, "from microorganisms to megacities”, taking in plants, crops, animals, humans, energy sources, manufactured goods and more along the way, looking at all of them in just one particular dimension – how they grow.
The result is a thought-provoking analysis of some of the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, such as energy transition and population growth. He also uses this approach to raise questions about cherished economic objectives, such as the quest for constantly high GDP growth. He argues that in a finite material world such growth must, necessarily, have its limits. Smil makes no attempt to cast the implications of this in a positive light. The book is a sobering as well as a fascinating read.
“There isn’t a page you don’t learn something from.” Read more...
The best books on Energy Transitions
Chris Goodall, Environmentalist
Energy at the Crossroads
by Vaclav Smil
This book provides a basic grounding in the mathematics of energy – where we get our energy from, the momentum of the global energy system and the scale of change we might be talking about if we want to alter that system and take it in a different technological direction. One reason our policies on climate change have run aground is that many people have underestimated the scale of the challenge.
Interviews where books by Vaclav Smil were recommended
The best books on Climate Change Innovation, recommended by Roger Pielke Jr
Environmental studies professor Roger Pielke Jr says innovation and argument is the only way to reverse climate change.
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1
Energy and Civilization: a History
by Vaclav Smil -
2
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
by Daniel Yergin -
3
Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air
by David J C MacKay -
4
Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry
by Travis Bradford -
5
The Planet Remade
by Oliver Morton
The best books on Energy Transitions, recommended by Chris Goodall
The best books on Energy Transitions, recommended by Chris Goodall
The switch to sources of energy other than oil and gas is now well under way, but how long will it be before we can rely on them for the bulk of the world’s power—if ever? Renewable energy expert Chris Goodall gives us a thought-provoking reading list to think about both past and future ‘energy transitions.’
