{"product_id":"size-how-it-explains-the-world-isbn-9780063324107","title":"Size: How It Explains the World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHow the World Really Works, \u003c\/i\u003ea wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look at the most fundamental governing principle of our world: \u003ci\u003esize\u003c\/i\u003e, whose laws, limits, and peculiarities offer the key to understanding health, wealth, and even happiness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“No one writes about the great issues of our time with more rigor or erudition than Vaclav Smil.” — Elizabeth Kolbert\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing 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. \u003ci\u003eSize \u003c\/i\u003eexplains the scaling laws, regularities—and peculiarities—of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances like ergonomics (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages). A fascinating work of popular science, this book about the big and the small, and the relationship between them, answers the big and small questions of human existence:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat makes a human society too big? What about a human being?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhich alternative energy sources have the best chance of scaling and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhy do tall people make more money?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat makes a face beautiful? How about a cathedral?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow can changing the size of your plates help you lose weight?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe latest masterwork of “an ambitious and astonishing polymath who swings for fences” (\u003ci\u003eWired)\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eSize\u003c\/i\u003e is a mind-bending journey that turns the modern world on its head. \u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"Informative and entertaining. ... Perfect reading material for anyone who enjoys a mathematical analysis of the world around them.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhysics World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From viruses to blue whales, this ambitious book tries to explain why size does matter.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“No one writes about the great issues of our time with more rigor or erudition than Vaclav Smil.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"One of the world's most interesting thinkers investigates the large, the small, and everything in between. ... [Smil] skillfully synthesizes a wealth of material to help explain the world and our place in it. ... Fascinating... interesting and accessible. ... Smil packs entire worlds into entertaining, colorful, pleasing packages.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Meditates on size and its relation to status, intelligence, wealth, and beauty. ... Fascinates.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Smil traverses the extremes and plenty in between. ... [A] fascinating inquiry.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This book is ambitious in scope but wonderfully granular in detail—and really will change the way you think about just about everything.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ei News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[An] interrogation, indeed demolition, of our modish and magical approach to mathematics. ... Wonderfully acerbic. ... \u003cem\u003eSize \u003c\/em\u003eis an endlessly entertaining career through fascinating territory.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTelegraph (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890635862245,"sku":"NP9780063324107","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063324107.jpg?v=1730233734","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/size-how-it-explains-the-world-isbn-9780063324107","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}