ISBN: 9780241992142 Title: Size How It Explains the World Author: SMIL VACLAV
From the New York Times bestselling author of How the World Really Works, a wide-ranging look at the most fundamental governing principle of our world: size, whose laws, limits, and peculiarities offer the key to understanding health, wealth, and even happiness
\"No one writes about the great issues of our time with more rigor or erudition than Vaclav Smil.\" -- Elizabeth Kolbert
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). This book about the big and the small, and the relationship between them, answers the big and small questions of human existence:
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?
The latest masterwork of \"an ambitious and astonishing polymath who swings for fences\" (Wired)Size is a mind-bending journey that turns the modern world on its head.
var et_link_options_data = [{"class":"et_pb_text_6_tb_footer","url":"mailto:wellington@unitybooks.co.nz","target":"_self"},{"class":"et_pb_text_8_tb_footer","url":"http:\/\/unitybooks.nz\/contact-us\/faqs\/","target":"_blank"},{"class":"et_pb_text_9_tb_footer","url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/pridelands-help-100\/","target":"_self"}];
(function () {
var c = document.body.className;
c = c.replace(/woocommerce-no-js/, 'woocommerce-js');
document.body.className = c;
})();
var wc_add_to_cart_params = {"ajax_url":"\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","wc_ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","i18n_view_cart":"View cart","cart_url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/cart\/","is_cart":"","cart_redirect_after_add":"no"};
var wc_single_product_params = {"i18n_required_rating_text":"Please select a rating","review_rating_required":"yes","flexslider":{"rtl":false,"animation":"slide","smoothHeight":true,"directionNav":false,"controlNav":"thumbnails","slideshow":false,"animationSpeed":500,"animationLoop":false,"allowOneSlide":false},"zoom_enabled":"1","zoom_options":[],"photoswipe_enabled":"1","photoswipe_options":{"shareEl":false,"closeOnScroll":false,"history":false,"hideAnimationDuration":0,"showAnimationDuration":0},"flexslider_enabled":"1"};
var wc_cart_fragments_params = {"ajax_url":"\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","wc_ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","cart_hash_key":"wc_cart_hash_90e5735cc1f9166bf5f4ff56d33eadb4","fragment_name":"wc_fragments_90e5735cc1f9166bf5f4ff56d33eadb4","request_timeout":"5000"};
var awdr_params = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"f36817b770","enable_update_price_with_qty":"show_when_matched","refresh_order_review":"0","custom_target_simple_product":"","custom_target_variable_product":"","js_init_trigger":"","awdr_opacity_to_bulk_table":"","awdr_dynamic_bulk_table_status":"0","awdr_dynamic_bulk_table_off":"on","custom_simple_product_id_selector":"","custom_variable_product_id_selector":""};
var wc_stripe_payment_request_params = {"ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","stripe":{"key":"pk_live_51JTzUBIB197v8sCoScgBC3vpAdEkYdSgNMcc1cQFhjzks9y9r7Ujmc1sTjL5pdmjxN1PYhqh16ESNPUgS03jCm3L00E1YtMlaQ","allow_prepaid_card":"yes","locale":"en","is_link_enabled":false,"is_payment_request_enabled":true},"nonce":{"payment":"f2a32cdcb5","shipping":"a58d473e48","update_shipping":"21e5127489","checkout":"548e5d803f","add_to_cart":"2aa6fb6bc0","get_selected_product_data":"ee5d857af6","log_errors":"464701c5fe","clear_cart":"0b262c7a94"},"i18n":{"no_prepaid_card":"Sorry, we're not accepting prepaid cards at this time.","unknown_shipping":"Unknown shipping option \"[option]\"."},"checkout":{"url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/checkout\/","currency_code":"nzd","country_code":"NZ","needs_shipping":"no","needs_payer_phone":true},"button":{"type":"buy","theme":"dark","height":"40","locale":"en","branded_type":"long","css_selector":"","label":"","is_custom":false,"is_branded":false},"login_confirmation":"","is_product_page":"1","product":{"shippingOptions":{"id":"pending","label":"Pending","detail":"","amount":0},"displayItems":[{"label":"Size How It Explains the World","amount":3000},{"label":"Shipping","amount":0,"pending":true}],"total":{"label":" (via WooCommerce)","amount":3000},"requestShipping":true,"currency":"nzd","country_code":"NZ"}};
var DIVI = {"item_count":"%d Item","items_count":"%d Items"};
var et_builder_utils_params = {"condition":{"diviTheme":true,"extraTheme":false},"scrollLocations":["app","top"],"builderScrollLocations":{"desktop":"app","tablet":"app","phone":"app"},"onloadScrollLocation":"app","builderType":"fe"};
var et_frontend_scripts = {"builderCssContainerPrefix":"#et-boc","builderCssLayoutPrefix":"#et-boc .et-l"};
var et_pb_custom = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","images_uri":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi\/images","builder_images_uri":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi\/includes\/builder\/images","et_frontend_nonce":"e7046e08e7","subscription_failed":"Please, check the fields below to make sure you entered the correct information.","et_ab_log_nonce":"a6ca8666fd","fill_message":"Please, fill in the following fields:","contact_error_message":"Please, fix the following errors:","invalid":"Invalid email","captcha":"Captcha","prev":"Prev","previous":"Previous","next":"Next","wrong_captcha":"You entered the wrong number in captcha.","wrong_checkbox":"Checkbox","ignore_waypoints":"no","is_divi_theme_used":"1","widget_search_selector":".widget_search","ab_tests":[],"is_ab_testing_active":"","page_id":"822852","unique_test_id":"","ab_bounce_rate":"5","is_cache_plugin_active":"yes","is_shortcode_tracking":"","tinymce_uri":""};
var et_pb_box_shadow_elements = [];
var wc_stripe_params = {"title":"Credit Card (Stripe)","key":"pk_live_51JTzUBIB197v8sCoScgBC3vpAdEkYdSgNMcc1cQFhjzks9y9r7Ujmc1sTjL5pdmjxN1PYhqh16ESNPUgS03jCm3L00E1YtMlaQ","i18n_terms":"Please accept the terms and conditions first","i18n_required_fields":"Please fill in required checkout fields first","updateFailedOrderNonce":"9368678bdc","updatePaymentIntentNonce":"ace6c291c1","orderId":"0","checkout_url":"\/?wc-ajax=checkout","stripe_locale":"en","no_prepaid_card_msg":"Sorry, we're not accepting prepaid cards at this time. Your credit card has not been charged. Please try with alternative payment method.","no_sepa_owner_msg":"Please enter your IBAN account name.","no_sepa_iban_msg":"Please enter your IBAN account number.","payment_intent_error":"We couldn't initiate the payment. Please try again.","sepa_mandate_notification":"email","allow_prepaid_card":"yes","inline_cc_form":"no","is_checkout":"no","return_url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/checkout\/order-received\/?utm_nooverride=1","ajaxurl":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","stripe_nonce":"d5ec8e7cdc","statement_descriptor":"","elements_options":[],"sepa_elements_options":{"supportedCountries":["SEPA"],"placeholderCountry":"NZ","style":{"base":{"fontSize":"15px"}}},"invalid_owner_name":"Billing First Name and Last Name are required.","is_change_payment_page":"no","is_add_payment_page":"no","is_pay_for_order_page":"no","elements_styling":"","elements_classes":"","add_card_nonce":"2e0591a358","create_payment_intent_nonce":"3c45149f7b","cpf_cnpj_required_msg":"CPF\/CNPJ is a required field","invalid_number":"The card number is not a valid credit card number.","invalid_expiry_month":"The card's expiration month is invalid.","invalid_expiry_year":"The card's expiration year is invalid.","invalid_cvc":"The card's security code is invalid.","incorrect_number":"The card number is incorrect.","incomplete_number":"The card number is incomplete.","incomplete_cvc":"The card's security code is incomplete.","incomplete_expiry":"The card's expiration date is incomplete.","expired_card":"The card has expired.","incorrect_cvc":"The card's security code is incorrect.","incorrect_zip":"The card's zip \/ postal code failed validation.","postal_code_invalid":"Invalid zip code, please correct and try again","invalid_expiry_year_past":"The card's expiration year is in the past","card_declined":"The card was declined.","missing":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged.","processing_error":"An error occurred while processing the card.","invalid_sofort_country":"The billing country is not accepted by Sofort. Please try another country.","email_invalid":"Invalid email address, please correct and try again.","invalid_request_error":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method.","amount_too_large":"The order total is too high for this payment method","amount_too_small":"The order total is too low for this payment method","country_code_invalid":"Invalid country code, please try again with a valid country code","tax_id_invalid":"Invalid Tax Id, please try again with a valid tax id"};