Growth: from microorganisms to megacities
Smil, Vaclav
Growth: from microorganisms to megacities - Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019. - xxv, 634 p. : ill. ; pb, 23 cm. - Includes bibliographical references and index. .
Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a child's growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Smil takes listeners from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities-developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities.
9780262539685
World History
Population
Technology and Civilization
Urban Ecology- Sociology
Cities and Towns- Growth
Civilization- Modern
Economic Development
Energy Development
909.82 / SMI
Growth: from microorganisms to megacities - Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019. - xxv, 634 p. : ill. ; pb, 23 cm. - Includes bibliographical references and index. .
Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a child's growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Smil takes listeners from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities-developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities.
9780262539685
World History
Population
Technology and Civilization
Urban Ecology- Sociology
Cities and Towns- Growth
Civilization- Modern
Economic Development
Energy Development
909.82 / SMI
