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Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities Paperback – 8 December 2020
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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 readers 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. He considers the challenges of tracing the growth of empires and civilizations, explaining that we can chart the growth of organisms across individual and evolutionary time, but that the progress of societies and economies, not so linear, encompasses both decline and renewal. The trajectory of modern civilization, driven by competing imperatives of material growth and biospheric limits, Smil tells us, remains uncertain.
- Print length664 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date8 December 2020
- ISBN-100262539683
- ISBN-13978-0262539685
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- Language : English
- Paperback : 664 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0262539683
- ISBN-13 : 978-0262539685
- Best Sellers Rank: 1,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1 in Environmentalism
- 2 in Botany & Plant Ecology
- 3 in Environmental Economics
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The enormous scope of this book is matched by its wealth of detail. So I recommend you sit in a comfy chair with a hot beverage and your favourite scientific calculator (optional), whilst reading this.
And there's no shame in pausing every now and then, to stare into space with your mouth open.


But I must admit, I found it boring - and I gave up on it after some 100+ pages. And I very rarely give up on books.
If I find the energy to finish it, I will update my review.
I will give Smil another chance with some of the other books he has written on energy, based on recommendations by Bill Gates.


I wish Smil would invest in a good editor. The book is difficult to read not only because of its complexity but also due to poor editing. Maybe he’s used to his books not being read by many so he doesn’t bother to have them edited but that’s quite unfortunate.
Nevertheless, there’s a gem to be found in almost every page of this book and that makes it well worth the pain of slow reading.