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Making the Modern World
Book

Making the Modern World

Materials and Dematerialization

Wiley, 2013 mais...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Throughout this challenging read, scientist and policy analyst Vaclav Smil examines how the world uses materials. He wrestles with dense concepts using a specialized vocabulary and some jargon. Persevere anyway. This is an important, fascinating academic study. Smil’s approach is historical and multidisciplinary: He compares how algae, birds and beavers use materials to how humans use them, and traces human development from the first stone tools through the Bowflex machine. Smil’s treatise should be required reading for anyone thinking about contemporary economics and humanity’s future. getAbstract recommends his rigorous study to investors, ecologists, futurists, historians, and students of history and business.

Take-Aways

  • Every living thing uses materials.
  • Humanity’s use of materials defines, in part, how it evolved.
  • Most civilizations throughout history used only the materials available in their immediate environment: stone, plants and the like.

About the Author

Scientist and policy analyst Vaclav Smil is distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He wrote Made in the USA, Should We Eat Meat? and many other books and articles.


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