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Energy: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides) Paperback – February 14, 2017

by Vaclav Smil (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 845 ratings
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With one famous equation, E=mc2, Einstein proved all matter can be described as energy. It is everywhere and it is everything.

In this newly updated and engaging introduction, renowned scientist Vaclav Smil explores energy in all its facets – from the inner workings of the human body to what we eat, the car we drive and the race for more efficient and eco-friendly fuels.

Energy: A Beginner's Guide highlights the importance of energy in both past and present societies, by shedding light on the science behind global warming and efforts to prevent it, and by revealing how our daily decisions affect energy consumption. Whether you're looking for dinner table conversation or to further your own understanding, this book will amaze and inform, uncovering the truths and exposing the myths behind one of the most important concepts in our universe.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oneworld Publications
  4. Publication date
    February 14, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 0.55 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1786071339
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1786071330
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Beginners guides
Energy, Jazz, Jesus, Populism, Biodiversity, Oil
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil' -- Bill Gates

'This book is about physical rather than social sciences. It explores important topics around how energy works, how our production and use might evolve, and how this affects climate change.' -- Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

'A breath of fresh air and a gem in the bookshop. Rich in thoughtful insights and written in sparkling prose.' -- Professor David G. Victor - School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego

'This admirably clear and comprehensive guide shows how we use and misuse energy, and the prospects, as ever more if us devour the Earth's diminishing capital of fossil fuels.' ― Sir Crispin Tickell - British Ambassador to the United Nations

About the Author

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He has written 40 books and nearly 500 papers on energy, environment and technical advances. In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, in 2014 he became the Member of the Order of Canada and in 2015 he received the OPEC Award for Research.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oneworld Publications; 2nd Edition, Revised (February 14, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1786071339
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1786071330
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.55 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 845 ratings

About the author

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Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil

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Vaclav Smil is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He completed his graduate studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Carolinum University in Prague and at the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of the Pennsylvania State University. His interdisciplinary research interests encompass a broad area of energy, environmental, food, population, economic, historical and public policy studies, and he had also applied these approaches to energy, food and environmental affairs of China.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Science Academy) and the first non-American to receive the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology. He has been an invited speaker in more than 250 conferences and workshops in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa, has lectured at many universities in North America, Europe and East Asia and has worked as a consultant for many US, EU and international institutions. His wife Eva is a physician and his son David is an organic synthetic chemist.

Official Website: www.vaclavsmil.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
845 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Katerina Meramveliotaki
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive review
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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This is a very interesting book, but most of all a comprehensive review of renewables. Interesting all of the hard fact information that it contains. Highly recommended, fascinating.
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Brian H. Fiedler
4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful for nonbeginners
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2008
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This is not truly a Beginner's Guide. The book is more like an Executive Summary of the many writings by the prolific author, up to 2005. No references are given. There is no appendix with useful tables of values. However, there are many useful tables, lists and values dispersed throughout the book. The book has a few flubs: confusing ultra-violet radiation with infrared, missing a "per year" in a sentence, and draft animals pulling with kg of force.

Some more serious problems occur on page 152, where the parenthetical definition of "net energy ratio" is actually the the definition of EROI, energy return on investment (of energy). The numbers discussed in the remainder of the paragraph are actually values of 1- 1/EROI . A true beginner would be flummoxed.

Another grievance is that the difference between installed capacity of wind power and the actual production of electrical power is not emphasized forcefully enough. A wind production number is given on page 169 (as a percent of world electrical power), but you are on your own to figure out the important capacity factor, and then to put wind power in a fair comparison with nuclear power and coal power. The summary of wind energy is otherwise excellent, as is the summary of photosynthesis and biofuels. All ethanol fans should read it.

The focus of the book in not renewable energy policy. The scope is much more grand, all done wonderfully in consistent S.I. Units, with respect for the intelligence of the reader. The author gets to the point. Energetics is the most concise way to organize knowledge of your universe. The brilliant author summarizes nearly all of it in 176 pages: your cells, your home economics, your technology, your planet. For larger scale solar and galactic - you may need to shop elsewhere. Presentation of energetics leads to implications in the sociology of jet travel, urban planning, and history of science and technology. For example, on page 93 we learn how the celebrated inventor James Watt delayed progressive development of the steam engine.

The book would be a great investment of time and money if a better book was not available: "Energy in Nature and Society", published by Smil in 2008. That book has more figures, of better quality, appendices and approximately 3 times the amount of text. The overlap in not complete, though. You won't find that tidbit about Watt in the 2008 work, or the fact that swarms of insects soiling the leading edge of wind turbine blades can cause a nearly instant drop in power production by up to 20%.
79 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, I was left wanting more.
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
Very informative book. However I'm left wondering the actual energy cost to build and maintain and strategies to dispose of all these alternative resources.
I am always looking for more information on that. I felt the book touches it but does not supply a satisfactory answer. That makes me more curious to find out more. I have read many of his books and they are all substantial and well substantiated, and complementary in many aspects. I trust Vaclav immensely and hope he can delve more into those aspects on one of his new books.
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Ben
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2017
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Based on his previous book about materials, I expected a bit more detailed information about the problems (physical and chemical in addition to beaurocratictic) that are limiting solar cell production, nuclear fusion, wave-kinetic energy harnessing, etc., technologies of the potential future. But there was a M ton of information and I suppose it has "beginner 's guide" on the title, so it is what it is. My favorite part is the in depth analysis of the energy stored in materials and goods, and how they are transferred around the world and reside in everyday as objects. I personally recommend reading the previous materials book which instilled in me an understanding of the physical magnitude of these materials, then this analysis goes more into what it took to make that happen (starting with the sun most of all).
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J. Chan
3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but at points tedious
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book is informative and offers a decent introduction for beginners. But at points it gets tedious with too much detail. Overall the book reads like a collection of facts and lacks a coherent story.

The writing can also be improved. For example, the book starts with the Greek root of the word energy -- a definition opening is weak and boring. Why is this opening chosen? Does knowing the Greek root help us understand the concept of energy better? I'm not sure.
4 people found this helpful
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D. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Good primer - plenty of details.
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
I picked up Vaclav Smil's Energy because I wanted to better understand mankind's current use of energy, and to develop a better perspective on how I personally consume energy. The book was perfect for both of these purposes.

At ~200 pages, I figured the book would provide a quick survey of many topics at a high level, and wouldn't read like a science textbook. This is true, but someone looking for an overview should know that this book is packed with detailed explanations of the topics that are covered. As a non-scientist, this book increased my knowledge and certainly shed light on the applications to modern life that I was looking for.

I highly recommend this book.
21 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
The writing was straight forward and the historical overview of energy sources was interesting. The evaluation of future energy sources is limited to current knowledge as it only can be. However what was not addressed was the impact on demand for natural resources required by developing technologies. Such as, the quantities of steel, concrete, copper, rare earths, lithium and others. I believe limits on key natural resources will be the limiting factor on any of the developing energy technologies.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great survey of the subject
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is my first book by Vaclav Smil. I had heard great things about him, and I was not disappointed. The book is a very detailed short introduction to the topic of energy. My only complaint is that the book is a little dry. Apart from that it is very much worth your time.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Igor
5.0 out of 5 stars Boa proposta como guia inicial
Reviewed in Brazil on February 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
Livro muito bom para a proposta de ser um guia para iniciantes no tema. O tema energia é abordado em perspectiva temporal (passado, presente e tendências para o futuro) em setores e atividades mais importantes. Em geral, a leitura é agradável. Apesar do conteúdo ser conciso, os capítulos trazem dados e gráficos interessantes que podem ser consultados posteriormente, mas para isso o índice remissivo poderia ser mais extenso.
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Robert, Ontario
5.0 out of 5 stars A typical Smil book
Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2022
Verified Purchase
Smil is the guru of energy information and has been for some time. I really enjoyed the book - it has broad scope and lots of details on all energy sources, as always, coupled with his usual down-to-earth attitude. The intensity and vast amount of data may, however, overwhelm some readers who would place themselves in the beginner category.
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Hobbykoch
5.0 out of 5 stars Trockenes Thema unterhaltsam und abwechslungsreich dargestellt
Reviewed in Germany on October 25, 2022
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Das Thema ist für mich selbst nicht neu, Arbeit, Leistung, die Hauptsätze der Thermodynamik, ... bekannt ... und faszinierend. Sehr vergnüglich, ein Buch wie dieses zu lesen, das das Thema so erfrischend darstellt.
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Sfsfsfdgg
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read !!!! For students interested in science
Reviewed in India on March 10, 2022
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Sfsfsfdgg
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read !!!! For students interested in science
Reviewed in India on March 10, 2022
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Olivier
5.0 out of 5 stars A rapid grand tour of energy in different contexts
Reviewed in France on May 3, 2021
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Vaclav Smil (the author) having already written so many books on subjects related to energy (ex. E. and civilization, or Prime movers, or Making the modern world), one may fear this book is only one more book by the same author on the same subject. However, I feel this book serves a useful purpose because it covers a larger variety of concerns about energy in a smaller volume than previous Smil's books (it almost fits in one's pocket). Covered concerns are the very concept of energy, the climate, its harnessing in history, its role in our modern world, and questions for our future. As usual with this author the book is abundantly documented, and it is laden with numbers, but as the author writes in another book "he will never apologize for that". Altogether, I recommend this book, at least for readers who have not already read Smil on that same subject.
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