Author: Vaclav Smil Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262536161 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 564
Book Description
A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year 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 readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.
Author: Guy C. Brown Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 0684862573 Category : Bioenergetics Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
One of the world's leading experts on bioenergetics unravels the deepest mystery of human physiology: biological energyQwhat it is, how we get it, how we expend it, and most importantly, how we can make more. 6 diagrams.
Author: Alan Lightman Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0593081323 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 209
Book Description
The acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams tackles "big questions like the origin of the universe and the nature of consciousness ... in an entertaining and easily digestible way” (Wall Street Journal) with a collection of meditative essays on the possibilities—and impossibilities—of nothingness and infinity, and how our place in the cosmos falls somewhere in between. Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space extend to larger and larger regions, on and on to infinity? Is consciousness reducible to the material brain and its neurons? What was the origin of life, and can biologists create life from scratch in the lab? Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, whom The Washington Post has called “the poet laureate of science writers,” explores these questions and more—from the anatomy of a smile to the capriciousness of memory to the specialness of life in the universe to what came before the Big Bang. Probable Impossibilities is a deeply engaged consideration of what we know of the universe, of life and the mind, and of things vastly larger and smaller than ourselves.
Author: Liu Hua-Yang Publisher: Shambhala Publications ISBN: 1570623422 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 121
Book Description
A modern translation of Hui-ming Ching, the classic Taoist manual on cultivating and conserving energy as a means of achieving greater health, longevity, and inner peace To live a healthy and long life, to be tranquil and untouched by the dust of the mundane world, and to become one with the life-giving energy of the Tao—these are the goals of the practitioner of Taoist spirituality. The classic Chinese text Hui-ming ching (“Treatise on Cultivating Life”) is one of the most important Taoist classics on the arts of longevity and a major inspiration for many techniques of Qigong. Even two hundred years after its initial publication, it is still one of the most accessible works on a branch of Taoist practice that has been heretofore shrouded in mystery. Abandoning the symbolic language typically used in the ancient classics, it discusses the practices of the Microcosmic and Macrocosmic Orbits, the role of breath in circulating energy, and the conservation of procreative energy in a straightforward and concrete way. Now, in this new, complete translation, a foremost translator of Taoist texts clarifies and elucidates the Taoist methods of conserving and cultivating energy for the attainment of health, longevity, and inner peace.
Author: Vladimir Megre Publisher: Ringing Cedars Press LLC ISBN: 9780980181265 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
"The Energy of Life reasserts the extraordinary power of human thought and reveals the influence our thinking has - not only on our lives - but also on the destiny of our planet and the Universe."--P. [4] of cover.
Author: Waysun Liao Publisher: Shambhala Publications ISBN: 0834823608 Category : Body, Mind & Spirit Languages : en Pages : 171
Book Description
An insightful introduction to the basics and benefits of chi energy, a tenet of Taoism and of popular martial arts like T’ai Chi, qigong, and more Chi is the invisible energy of life that flows in and around us throughout the universe. Used skillfully, it can have a remarkable effect on health and vitality—to the degree that you’d be tempted to call it magical, if it weren’t so completely natural. Here is a perfect introduction to chi that explains in a direct and simple way what it is and why it is essential to a healthy and vital life. It provides an easy-to-understand explanation of chi, and then helps readers recognize, develop, and strengthen their own chi through specific breathing techniques and basic exercises, all demonstrated by the author. There are many books on chi development through T’ai Chi and qigong practice, but this one goes deeper to enable you to understand the fundamental principles as you cultivate it. This book is a reference for alternative health professionals such as acupuncturists and shiatsu therapists and their patients, as well as for anyone who practices T’ai Chi, qigong, aikido, and other chi-based martial arts.
Author: Sabino Matarrese Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 9048186854 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 413
Book Description
This book brings together reviews from leading international authorities on the developments in the study of dark matter and dark energy, as seen from both their cosmological and particle physics side. Studying the physical and astrophysical properties of the dark components of our Universe is a crucial step towards the ultimate goal of unveiling their nature. The work developed from a doctoral school sponsored by the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation. The book starts with a concise introduction to the standard cosmological model, as well as with a presentation of the theory of linear perturbations around a homogeneous and isotropic background. It covers the particle physics and cosmological aspects of dark matter and (dynamical) dark energy, including a discussion of how modified theories of gravity could provide a possible candidate for dark energy. A detailed presentation is also given of the possible ways of testing the theory in terms of cosmic microwave background, galaxy redshift surveys and weak gravitational lensing observations. Included is a chapter reviewing extensively the direct and indirect methods of detection of the hypothetical dark matter particles. Also included is a self-contained introduction to the techniques and most important results of numerical (e.g. N-body) simulations in cosmology. " This volume will be useful to researchers, PhD and graduate students in Astrophysics, Cosmology Physics and Mathematics, who are interested in cosmology, dark matter and dark energy.
Author: Vaclav Smil
Author: Guy C. Brown
Author: Alan Lightman
Author: George M. Briggs
Author: Liu Hua-Yang
Author: Vladimir Megre
Author: Waysun Liao
Author: Jim Holt
Author: Seba Eldridge
Author: Sabino Matarrese