Vaclav Smil has 5 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 5 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 75 ratings. The most-rated is Energy and Civilization.
Energy and Civilization
Summary
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows-ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity - for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts - from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering listeners a magisterial overview.
©2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2018 Gildan Media
The Mind Connection
Summary
Joyce Meyer, number-one New York Times best-selling author, explores the power of positive thinking and the undeniable connection between the mind, mouth, moods, and attitudes. Thoughts can seem random and meaningless, but they impact your life every day. It's all connected. What you think affects your words, attitude, decisions, and emotions and influences how you relate to yourself, to other people, and to God. In The Mind Connection, Joyce Meyer expands on the wisdom of her best-selling books Battlefield of the Mind and Power Thoughts to explain how to improve the quality of your thoughts and your life. She explores the undeniable connection between the mind, mouth, moods, and attitudes so you can develop and maintain the right mental position - no matter what challenges you face. Through practical advice and scriptural insights, Joyce will help you learn to think with purpose, gain greater confidence, and claim the fulfilling life you were meant to lead.
©2015 Joyce Meyer (P)2015 Hachette Audio
Energy: Bolinda Beginner Guides
Summary
In this user-friendly and informative audiobook, prolific author and academic Vaclav Smil provides an introduction to this far-reaching term and gives the reader a greater understanding of energy's place in both past and present society. Starting with an explanation of the concept, he goes on to cover such exciting topics as the inner workings of the human body and the race for more efficient and environmentally friendly fuels. Whether you're after insight or dinner-table conversation, Energy will amaze and inform, uncovering the science behind one of the most important concepts in our universe.
©2006 Vaclav Smil (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Growth
Summary
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.
©2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2020 Gildan Media
Oil: Bolinda Beginner Guides
Summary
Packed with fascinating facts and insight, this book will fuel dinner party debate and provide listeners with the science and politics behind the world’s most controversial resource. Without oil, there would be no globalisation, no plastic, little transport, and a global political landscape that few would recognise. It is the lifeblood of the modern world, and humanity’s dependence upon it looks set to continue for decades to come. In this captivating audiobook, Vaclav Smil explains all matters related to "black gold", from its discovery in the earth, right through to the political maelstrom that surrounds it today.
©2008 Vaclav Smil © 2008. (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd