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About

Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of forty books, including Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses and Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing, both 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.”

Books by Vaclav Smil

How to Feed the World

The History and Future of Food

by (author) Vaclav Smil

El tamaño de las cosas / Size : How It Explains the World

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Grand Transitions

How the Modern World Was Made

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Invention and Innovation

A Brief History of Hype and Failure

by (author) Vaclav Smil

How the World Really Works

The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Numbers Don't Lie

71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Growth

From Microorganisms to Megacities

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Energy and Civilization

A History

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Energy

A Beginner's Guide

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Power Density

A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Oil

by (author) Vaclav Smil
read by Robert Meldrum

Harvesting the Biosphere

What We Have Taken from Nature

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Made in the USA

The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Prime Movers of Globalization

The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Global Catastrophes and Trends

The Next Fifty Years

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Energy Myths and Realities

Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Energy in Nature and Society

General Energetics of Complex Systems

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Transforming the Twentieth Century

Technical Innovations and Their Consequences

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Creating the Twentieth Century

Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Energy at the Crossroads

Global Perspectives and Uncertainties

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Enriching the Earth

Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production

by (author) Vaclav Smil

The Earth's Biosphere

Evolution, Dynamics, and Change

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Feeding the World

A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Cycles of Life

Civilization and the Biosphere

by (author) Vaclav Smil

Energies

An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization

by (author) Vaclav Smil