This inquiry into the technical advances that shaped the 20th century follows the evolutions of all the principal innovations introduced before 1913 (as detailed in the first ...

An argument that America's economy needs a strong and innovative manufacturing sector and the jobs it creates.

A comprehensive overview of Earth's biosphere, written with scientific rigor and essay-like flair. In his latest book, Vaclav Smil tells the story of the Earth's biosphere from ...

Dr. Smil is the world's authority on nitrogenous fertilizer. The industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen has been of greater fundamental importance to the ...

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.

A realistic yet encouraging look at how society can change in ways that will allow us to feed an expanding global population. This book addresses the question of how we can ...

In 1982, Vaclav Smil turned upside down traditional perceptions of China as a green paradise in "The Bad Earth," a disturbing book. This new volume, drawn on a much broader ...