Speed: How It Explains the World
book · First published 2025
Author guide
Vaclav Smil Books in Order
Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His interdisciplinary research examines energy, environment, population, food, technical advances, growth, innovation, size, speed, and efficiency. He is the author of more than forty original books and hundreds of scholarly papers, and a Member of the Order of Canada.
science writingenergy studiesenvironmental studiestechnology historyeconomic historyfood systemspopulation studies
Catalog record updated .
Vaclav Smil's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
Accessible overview of Smil's core interests in energy, food, materials, transport, and global systems.
Energy and Civilization: A History
Comprehensive historical synthesis of energy use and the development of civilizations.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Other (44)
- Biomass Energies: Resources, Links, Constraints
book · 1983
- Energy in World History
book · 1994
Every human activity entails the conversion of energy. Changes in the fundamental sources of energy, and in the use of energy sources, are a basic dimension of the evolution of society. Our appreciation of the significance of these…
- Cycles of Life: Civilization and the Biosphere
book · 1997
Introduces biogeochemical cycles, explaining the interrelationship of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and living organisims as agents of change in the environment
- Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization
book · 1998
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 Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change
book · 2002
"In his latest book, Vaclav Smil tells the story of the Earth's biosphere from its origins to its long-term future. He explains the workings of its parts and what is known about their interactions. He examines the biosphere's physics,…
- China's Past, China's Future
book · 2004
- Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact
book · 2005
The period between 1867 and 1914 remains the greatest watershed in human history since the emergence of settled agricultural societies: the time when an expansive civilization based on synergy of fuels, science, and technical innovation…
- Transforming the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations and Their Consequences
book · 2006
Post-WWI inventions transformed the technical advances that created the modern world, & added new capabilities ranging from both military uses of nuclear energy to the universal diffusion of microprocessors. This book examines most of…
- Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties
book · 2003
An objective, comprehensive, and accessible examination of today's most crucial problem: preserving the environment in the face of society's insatiable demand for energy. In Energy at the Crossroads, Vaclav Smil considers the twenty-first…
- Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems
book · 2008
A comprehensive, systematic, analytically unified, and interdisciplinary treatment of energy in nature and society, from solar radiation and photosynthesis to our fossil fueled civilization and its environmental consequences.
- Oil: A Beginner's Guide
book · 2008
- Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next Fifty Years
book · 2008
In this book, the author takes a wide-ranging interdisciplinary look at the catastrophes and trends the next fifty years may bring. The author looks at rare but cataclysmic events, both natural and human-produced, then at trends of global…
- Why America Is Not a New Rome
book · 2010
An investigation of the America-Rome analogy that goes deeper than the facile comparisons made on talk shows and in glossy magazine articles. America's post-Cold War strategic dominance and its pre-recession affluence inspired pundits to…
- Japan's Dietary Transition and Its Impacts
book · 2012
In a little more than a century, the Japanese diet has undergone a dramatic transformation. This book points out that the gains in the quality of Japans diet have exacted a price in terms of land use changes, water requirements, & marine…
- Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization
book · 2013
How much further should the affluent world push its material consumption? Does relative dematerialization lead to absolute decline in demand for materials? These and many other questions are discussed and answered in Making the Modern…
- Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing
book · 2013
"In Made in the USA, Vaclav Smil powerfully rebuts the notion that manufacturing is a relic of predigital history and that the loss of American manufacturing is a desirable evolutionary step toward a pure service economy. Smil argues that…
- Should We Eat Meat? Evolution and Consequences of Modern Carnivory
book · 2013
"Meat eating is often a contentious subject, whether considering the technical, ethical, environmental, political, or health-related aspects of production and consumption. This book is a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary examination and…
- Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses
book · 2015
The first systematic, quantitative appraisal of power density, offering detailed reviews of power densities of renewable energy flows, fossil fuels, and all common energy uses. “There's no author whose books I look forward to more than…
- Natural Gas: Fuel for the 21st Century
book · 2015
Natural gas is the world’s cleanest fossil fuel; it generates less air pollution and releases less CO2 per unit of useful energy than liquid fuels or coals. With its vast supplies of conventional resources and nonconventional stores, the…
- Still the Iron Age: Iron and Steel in the Modern World
book · 2016
Although the last two generations have seen an enormous amount of attention paid to advances in electronics, the fact remains that high-income, high-energy societies could thrive without microchips, etc., but, by contrast, could not exist…
- Energy and Civilization: A History
book · 2017
A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star…
- Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities
book · 2019
A systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs…
- Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World
book · 2020
'There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil' Bill Gates Is flying dangerous? How much do the world's cows weigh? And what makes people happy? From earth's nations and inhabitants, through the fuels and foods…
- Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
book · 2021
Epochal transitions -- Populations -- Agricultures and diets -- Energies -- Economies -- Environment -- Outcomes and outlooks.
- Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure
book · 2023
From the New York Times-bestselling author, a new volume on the history of human ingenuity—and its attendant breakthroughs and busts. Included in BILL GATES's 2023 Holiday Reading List Included in Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2023…
- Speed: How It Explains the World
book · 2025
