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"An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible--a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check--because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable--the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020--and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future."--

Trajectories: or common patterns of growth --Nature: or growth of living matter --Energies: or growth of primary and secondary converters --Artifacts: or growth of man-made objects and their performances --Populations, societies, economies: or growth of the most complex assemblies --What comes after growth: or demise and continuity --Coda.

Although the last two generations have seen an enormous amount of attention paid to advances in electronics, the fact remains that high-income, high-energy societies could thrive without microchips, etc., but, by contrast, could not exist without steel. Because of the importance of this material to comtemporary civilization, a comprehensive resource is needed for metallurgists, non-metallurgists, and anyone with a background in environmental studies, industry, manufacturing, and history, seeking a broader understanding of the history of iron and steel and its current and future impact on society. Given its coverage of the history of iron and steel from its genesis to slow pre-industrial progress, revolutionary advances during the 19th century, magnification of 19th century advances during the past five generations, patterns of modern steel production, the ubiquitous uses of the material, potential substitutions, advances in relative dematerialization, and appraisal of steel's possible futures, Still the Iron Age: Iron and Steel in the Modern World by world-renowned author Vaclav Smil meets that need

Although the last two generations have seen an enormous amount of attention paid to advances in electronics, the fact remains that high-income, high-energy societies could thrive without microchips, etc., but, by contrast, could not exist without steel. Because of the importance of this material to comtemporary civilization, a comprehensive resource is needed for metallurgists, non-metallurgists, and anyone with a background in environmental studies, industry, manufacturing, and history, seeking a broader understanding of the history of iron and steel and its current and future impact on society. Given its coverage of the history of iron and steel from its genesis to slow pre-industrial progress, revolutionary advances during the 19th century, magnification of 19th century advances during the past five generations, patterns of modern steel production, the ubiquitous uses of the material, potential substitutions, advances in relative dematerialization, and appraisal of steel's possible futures, Still the Iron Age: Iron and Steel in the Modern World by world-renowned author Vaclav Smil meets that need

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms and Editorial Notes -- 1 CHINA'S ENVIRONMENT -- 1.1 The natural setting -- 1.2 Attitudes -- 2 LAND -- 2.1 Deforestation -- 2.1.1 China's forest resources -- 2.1.2 Deforestation -- 2.1.3 Consequences -- 2.1.4 Solutions -- 2.1.5 Agroforestry -- 2.2 Erosion -- 2.2.1 Loess erosion -- 2.2.2 The Sanmenxia miscalculation -- 2.2.3 Controlling loess erosion -- 2.2.4 Spreading erosion -- 2.3 Desertification -- 2.4 Reclamation of lakes -- 2.5 Losses and deterioration of cultivated land -- 2.5.1 Losses of arable land -- 2.5.2 Qualitative deterioration -- 3 WATER -- 3.1 China's water resources -- 3.2 Surface waters -- 3.2.1 Rivers -- 3.2.2 Water transfer -- 3.3 Ground waters -- 3.4 Waterworks and irrigation -- 3.5 Water pollution -- 3.5.1 Urban wastes -- 3.5.2 Industrial pollution -- 3.5.3 Controls -- 4 AIR -- 4.1 Pollution sources and effects -- 4.1.1 Chinese fuel combustion -- 4.1.2 Pollution effects -- 4.2 Substitutions and controls -- 4.3 Coming problems -- 5 BIOTA -- 5.1 The disappearance of species -- 5.2 Conservation efforts -- 6 CHINESE ENVIRONMENTS -- 6.1 The countryside -- 6.1.1 China's agroecosystem -- 6.1.2 Village environments -- 6.1.3 Rural energetics -- 6.2 Cities -- 6.2.1 Beijing -- 6.2.2 Shanghai -- 7 SOLUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS -- 7.1 A new awareness -- 7.2 New policies: achievements and limitations -- 7.3 Population growth -- 7.4 Agricultural strategies -- 7.5 Energy use and modernization -- 7.6 The outlook -- References -- Appendices -- Appendix A.1 Chinese provinces -- Appendix B State Council Forestry Circular -- Appendix C The State Council on the voluntary tree-planting campaign.

How much further should the affluent world push its material consumption? Does relative dematerialization lead to absolute decline in demand for materials? These and many other questions are discussed and answered in Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization. Over the course of time, the modern world has become dependent on unprecedented flows of materials. Now even the most efficient production processes and the highest practical rates of recycling may not be enough to result in dematerialization rates that would be high enough to negate the rising demand for m