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Holding Details

Barcode30293102087603
LocationClark County
Call No530.8 Smil
TitleSize : how it explains the world / Vaclav Smil.
AuthorSmil, Vaclav. author.
CollectionNF
Total Circ3
NumReserves0
Reserve Item

Copies

LocationBarcodeCall NoCreated OnIssue NameCirc StatusTemp Loc
Clark County30293102087603530.8 Smil6/3/2023 AvailableClark County

Catalog Details

International Standard Book Number 9780063324091 (hardback)
International Standard Book Number 0063324091 (hardback)
Personal Name Smil, Vaclav. author.
Title Statement Size : how it explains the world / Vaclav Smil.
Edition Statement First U.S. edition.
Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2023.
Physical Description ix, 292 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Bibliography, Etc. Note Includes bibliographical references (pages [219]-271) and index.
Formatted Contents Note Size as the measure of all things -- Perceptions, illusions, measurements -- Proportions, symmetry, and asymmetry -- Size designs: the good, the bad, the outrageous -- Size and scaling -- Metabolic scaling -- Symmetries around means -- When asymmetries rule -- Summations for the electronic age.
Summary, Etc. What makes a human society too big? What about a human being? Which alternative energy sources have the best chance of scaling and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels? Why do tall people make more money? What makes a face beautiful? How about a cathedral? How can changing the size of your plates help you lose weight? To answer the most important questions of our age, we must understand size. Neither bacteria nor empires are immune to its laws. Measuring it is challenging, especially where complex systems like economies are concerned, yet mastering it offers rich rewards: the rise of the West, for example, was a direct result of ever more accurate and standardized measurements. Using the interdisciplinary approach that has won him a wide readership, Smil draws upon history, earth science, psychology, art, and more to offer fresh insight into some of our biggest challenges, including income inequality, the spread of infectious disease, and the uneven impacts of climate change. Size explains the regularities--and peculiarities--of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages). We also learn the rules governing beauty, why a biosphere needs diversity, why bigger animals need proportionately less food, and why people in hotter climates have longer legs.
Subject Added Entry - Topical Term Measurement.
Subject Added Entry - Topical Term Size perception.

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