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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

100 words: The New York Times bestselling author returns with a mind-opening exploration of how size defines life on Earth.

Explaining the key processes shaping size in nature, society and technology, Smil busts myths around proportions - from bodies to paintings and the so-called golden ratio - tells us what Jonathan Swift got wrong in Gulliver's Travels - the giant Brobdingnagian's legs would buckle under their enormous weight - and dives headfirst into the most contentious issue in ergonomics: the size of aeroplane seats.

It is no exaggeration to say this fascinating and wide-ranging tour de force will change the way you look at absolutely everything.

10 words: Size, an omnipresent scalar, is the measure of all things.

1 word: Size.

© Vaclav Smil 2023 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

Critics Review

Vaclav Smil is a phenomenon with an appetite for facts over prejudice and fashion. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future
eminent architect, Lord Norman Foster
An endlessly entertaining career through fascinating territory
Daily Telegraph
Both informative and entertaining . . . I suspect that many Physics World readers would be delighted to find this book waiting for them under the Christmas tree. Indeed, it would be perfect reading material for anyone who enjoys a mathematical analysis of the world around them
Physics World
In a world of specialized intellectuals, Smil is an ambitious and astonishing polymath who swings for fences . . . They're among the most data-heavy books you'll find, with a remarkable way of framing basic facts
Wired
There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil
Guardian
Author Vaclav Smil
Narrator Stephen Perring
Duration 8 hours and 43 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9780241997413
Format Audiobook
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Genre Biology, life sciences, History: specific events and topics, Materials science, Mathematical modelling, Popular beliefs and controversial knowledge, Popular science, Probability and statistics, Scientific standards, measurement etc
Availability AU, GB, IE

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