Energy and civilization: a history - václav smil

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. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

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. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look at global changes that may occur over the next fifty years—whether sudden and cataclysmic world-changing events or gradually unfolding trends. Fundamental change occurs most often in one of two ways: as a “fatal discontinuity,” a sudden catastrophic event that is potentially world changing, or as a persistent, gradual trend. Global catastrophes include volcanic eruptions, viral pandemics, wars, and large-scale terrorist attacks; trends are demographic, environmental, economic, and political shifts that unfold over time. In this provocative book, scientist Vaclav Smil takes a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look at the catastrophes and trends the next fifty years may bring. Smil first looks at rare but cataclysmic events, both natural and human-produced, then at trends of global importance, including the transition from fossil fuels to other energy sources and growing economic and social inequality. He also considers environmental change—in some ways an amalgam of sudden discontinuities and gradual change—and assesses the often misunderstood complexities of global warming. Global Catastrophes and Trends does not come down on the side of either doom-and-gloom scenarios or techno-euphoria. Instead, Smil argues that understanding change will help us reverse negative trends and minimize the risk of catastrophe (knihydobrovsky.cz)

An illuminating work revealing the long history of xenophobia and what it means for today's divided world Over the last few years, it has been impossible to ignore the steady resurgence of xenophobia. The European migrant crisis and immigration from Central America to the United States have placed Western advocates of globalisation on the defensive, and a 'New Xenophobia' seems to have emerged out of nowhere. In this fascinating study, George Makari traces the history of xenophobia from its origins to the present day. Often perceived as an ancient word for a timeless problem, 'xenophobia' was in fact only coined a century ago, tied to heated and formative Western debates over nationalism, globalisation, race and immigration. From Richard Wright to Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, writers and thinkers have long grappled with this most dangerous of phobias. Drawing on their work, Makari demonstrates how we can better understand the problem that is so crucial to our troubled times. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The first full, comprehensive account of the cultural representation of the Roma in European historyThis remarkable book describes a dark side of European history: the rejection of the Roma from their initial arrival in the late Middle Ages to the present day. To Europeans, the Roma appeared to be in complete contradiction with their own culture, because of their mysterious origins, unknown language and way of life. As representatives of an oral culture, for centuries the Roma have left virtually no written records of their own. Their history has been conveyed to us almost exclusively through the distorted images that European cultures project.Persecuted and shunned, the Roma nonetheless spread out across the continent and became an important, indeed indispensable element in the European imagination. It is impossible to conceive of the culture of Spain, southern France and much of Central Europe without this pervasive Romani influence.Europe and the Roma brilliantly describes the 'fascination and fear' which have marked Europeans' response to the Romani presence. Countless composers, artists and writers have responded to Romani culture and to fantasies thereof. Their projections onto a group whose illiteracy and marginalization gave it so little direct voice of its own have always been a very uneasy mixture of the inspired, the patronizing and the frighteningly ignorant. The book also shows the link between cultural violence, social discrimination and racist policies that paved the way for the genocide of the Roma. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Essays on acts of US imperialism, from the 1953 Iran coup to the 2019 ouster of Evo MoralesWashington Bullets is written in the best traditions of Marxist journalism and history-writing. It is a book of fluent and readable stories, full of detail about US imperialism, but never letting the minutiae obscure the larger political point. It is a book that could easily have been a song of despair―a lament of lost causes; it is, after all, a roll call of butchers and assassins; of plots against people’s movements and governments; of the assassinations of socialists, Marxists, communists all over the Third World by the country where liberty is a statue.Despite all this, Washington Bullets is a book about possibilities, about hope, about genuine heroes. One such is Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso―also assassinated―who said: ‘You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.’ (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Bez ropy by nebylo globalizace, plastů, běžné přepravy ani světové politické mapy, v níž by se alespoň někdo vyznal. Je to životadárná tekutina moderního světa a zdá se, že ze závislosti na ní se lidstvo ještě hezkých pár desetiletí nevymaní. Autor uznávané Energie v této aktuální knize vysvětluje vše, co s „černým zlatem“ souvisí, od jeho objevení v hlubinách Země až po politické turbulence, které dnes rozpoutává. Kniha Ropa je nabitá fascinujícími fakty a postřehy a je jedinečná jakožto kompilace spousty různých aspektů ropy a jejího příběhu. Tento Smilův vyčerpávající průvodce poskytne řadu témat k debatám pro jakoukoliv sešlost od geologie a ekonomiky až po alternativní zdroje energie, a seznámí čtenáře s vědeckým i politickým zákulisím tohoto nejkontroverznějšího zdroje světa. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Od bakterií po velryby, od atomů po asteroidy. Oceňovaný vědec českého původu Vaclav Smil tentokrát zkoumá, proč rozměry nejsou náhodné a jak ovlivňují svět. Má dvakrát větší člověk dvakrát více krve? Čím se vyznačují hezké tváře? Má každý růst své meze? Kde všude najdeme zlatý řez? A co ergonomický oříšek: velikost sedadel v letadle? Nečekané odpovědi na otázky všedního i planetárního významu vás ohromí i pobaví zároveň. Fascinující publikace od základů změní, jak se díváte na vše kolem sebe! (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Podle Einsteinovy slavné rovnice E=mc2 lze veškerou hmotu přeměnit v energii. Je všude a je vším. V tomto hodnotném zasvěcení do tématu uznávaný odborník Vaclav Smil vysvětluje její klíčovou roli ve vývoji jak naší planety, tak moderní společnosti. Počínaje jejími zdroji a využitím až po její toky a konverze Smil mapuje kritický význam energie pro: - Vnitřní procesy lidského těla - Biosféru planety země a obnovitelné zdroje - Globální oteplování a jeho prevenci V popisu mimo jiné i politicky motivovaného závodu o účinnější a ekologičtější paliva autor rovněž odhaluje dopady našich každodenních rozhodnutí na spotřebu energie. Svým komplexním přístupem a praktickými postřehy tento stravitelně podávaný průvodce ukazuje, jak je každý aspekt naší existence ovládán jedním z nejdůležitějších konceptů našeho vesmíru. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Bez ropy by nebylo globalizace, plastů, běžné přepravy ani současné světové politické mapy. Je to životadárná tekutina moderního světa a zdá se, že ze závislosti na ní se lidstvo jen tak nevymaní. Smilův vyčerpávající průvodce seznamuje čtenáře s vědeckým i politickým zákulisím tohoto nejkontroverznějšího zdroje světa a prezentuje řadu mezioborových souvislostí potřebných k pochopení komplexního globálního ropného systému. (vemzu.cz)

Od bakterií po velryby, od atomů po asteroidy. Oceňovaný vědec českého původu Vaclav Smil tentokrát zkoumá, proč rozměry nejsou náhodné a jak ovlivňují svět. Má dvakrát větší člověk dvakrát více krve? Čím se vyznačují hezké tváře? Má každý růst své meze? Kde všude najdeme zlatý řez? A co ergonomický oříšek: velikost sedadel v letadle? Nečekané odpovědi na otázky všedního i planetárního významu vás ohromí i pobaví zároveň. Fascinující publikace od základů změní, jak se díváte na vše kolem sebe! (vemzu.cz)

Rise and Fall opens with the Akkadian Empire, which ruled over a vast expanse of the region of ancient Mesopotamia, then turns to the immense Roman Empire, where we trace back our western and eastern roots. Next Strathern describes how a great deal of western classical culture was developed in the Abbasid and Umayyid Caliphates. Then, while Europe was beginning to emerge from a period of cultural stagnation, it almost fell to a whirlwind invasion from the East, at which point we meet the Emperors of the Mongol Empire . . . Combining breathtaking scope with masterful concision, Paul Strathern traces connections across four millennia and sheds new light on these major civilizations - from the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty to the Aztec and Ottoman, through to the most recent and biggest Empires: the British, Russo-Soviet and American. Charting 5,000 years of global history in ten succinct chapters, Rise and Fall makes comprehensive and inspiring reading to anyone fascinated by the history of the world. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Muzeum George Eastman House se sídlem v Rochesteru ve státě New York , je jednou z nejvýznamnějších světových institucí věnujících se výzkumu, vystavování a uchovávání fotografického umění. Bylo otevřeno v roce 1949 v domě George Eastmana, zakladatele Eastman Kodak Company, jako první muzeum v USA zaměřené na fotografii a film. Objevná publikace nabízí pohled zevnitř do hloubky a šířky jeho fotografických sbírek a sleduje bohaté dějiny fotografie od dávných počátků po moderní digitální obrazové technologie. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Jakou pravdu čísla sdělují? A jak je interpretovat? Celosvětově uznávaný kanadský vědec českého původu Vaclav Smil nás ve své knize bere na faktografickou výpravu za poznáním, na níž pomocí překvapivých statistik a názorných grafů zpochybňuje naše mnohdy pohodlné myšlení a vyvrací novodobé mýty o tom, jak svět funguje. 71 tematických kapitol přináší kromě nových informací a fascinujících příkladů z energetiky, dopravy či ekologie také odpovědi na otázky typu: Proč elektrická auta zatím nejsou šetrná k životnímu prostředí? Proč je těžké předpovědět, jak zlá bude probíhající pandemie? A jak lidstvo a vynálezy moderního světa ovlivňují život na naší planetě? (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Demografie, zemědělství, energie a hospodářství – to jsou čtyři „velké civilizační přechody“, jež zcela proměnily náš způsob života. Ačkoli jimi mnoho společností prošlo, na Zemi stále žijí stovky milionů lidí, kteří jsou tímto vývojem nedotčeni. Co to pro planetu znamená a kam tato nerovnováha lidstvo v blízké budoucnosti zavede? Mezinárodně uznávaný vědec Václav Smil představuje největší výzvy současnosti, které už nyní formují podobu našeho světa. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Celosvětově uznávaný kanadský vědec českého původu nás ve své knize bere na faktografickou výpravu za poznáním. 71 tematických kapitol přináší kromě nových informací a fascinujících příkladů z energetiky, dopravy či ekologie také odpovědi na otázky typu: Proč elektrická auta zatím nejsou šetrná k životnímu prostředí? Proč je těžké předpovědět, jak zlá bude probíhající pandemie? A jak lidstvo a vynálezy moderního světa ovlivňují život na naší planetě? (vemzu.cz)

At the terrible heart of the modern age lies Auschwitz. In a total inversion of earlier hopes about the use of science and technology to improve, extend and protect human life, Auschwitz manipulated the same systems to quite different ends. In Sybille Steinbacher's terse, powerful new book, the reader is led through the process by which something unthinkable to any European in the 1930s had become a sprawling, industrial reality during the course of the world war. How Auschwitz grew and mutated into an entire dreadful city, how both those who managed it and those who were killed by it came to be in Poland in the 1940s, and how it was allowed to happen, is something everyone needs to understand. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Martin Goodman, 656 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná A panoramic history of Judaism from its origins to the present. Judaism is by some distance the oldest of the three Abrahamic religions. Despite the extraordinarily diverse forms it has taken, the Jewish people have believed themselves bound to God by the same covenant for more than three thousand years. This book explains how Judaism came to be and how it has developed from one age to the next, as well as the ways in which its varieties have related to each other. (alza.cz)

eBook:,Kniha nabitá fascinujícími fakty a postřehy o „černém zlatu“, jež hýbe světovou mocenskou scénou Bez ropy by nebylo globalizace, plastů, běžné přepravy ani současné světové politické mapy. Je to životadárná tekutina moderního světa a zdá se, že ze závislosti na ní se lidstvo jen tak nevymaní. Smilův vyčerpávající průvodce seznamuje čtenáře s vědeckým i politickým zákulisím tohoto nejkontroverznějšího zdroje světa a prezentuje řadu mezioborových souvislostí potřebných k pochopení komplexního globálního ropného systému. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Audiokniha: Celosvětově uznávaný kanadský vědec českého původu nás ve své knize bere na faktografickou výpravu za poznáním. 71 tematických kapitol přináší kromě nových informací a fascinujících příkladů z energetiky, dopravy či ekologie také odpovědi na otázky typu: Proč elektrická auta zatím nejsou šetrná k životnímu prostředí? Proč je těžké předpovědět, jak zlá bude probíhající pandemie? A jak lidstvo a vynálezy moderního světa ovlivňují život na naší planetě? (knihydobrovsky.cz)

We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check - because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, making their complete and rapid elimination unlikely. Drawing on the latest science and tackling sources of misinformation head on - from Yuval Noah Harari to Noam Chomsky - ultimately Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? (knihydobrovsky.cz)

eBook: Demografie, zemědělství, energie a hospodářství – to jsou čtyři „velké civilizační přechody“, jež zcela proměnily náš způsob života. Ačkoli jimi mnoho společností prošlo, na Zemi stále žijí stovky milionů lidí, kteří jsou tímto vývojem nedotčeni. Co to pro planetu znamená a kam tato nerovnováha lidstvo v blízké budoucnosti zavede? Mezinárodně uznávaný vědec Václav Smil představuje největší výzvy současnosti, které už nyní formují podobu našeho světa. Vaclav Smil tentokrát předkládá interdisciplinární zkoumání pěti fundamentálních přechodů, jejichž vzájemné působení vytvořilo moderní svět. Zaměřuje se na historii těchto přechodů v oblasti populace, zemědělství, energie, hospodářství a životního prostředí a zkoumá jejich původ, jakož i faktory, jež je umožnily a přispěly k jejich rozmachu. Zabývá se jejich pokrokem, postupy a rozptýlením a popisuji jejich trajektorie, interakce a důsledky. Zkoumá, jak jsme se dostali do tohoto bodu lidské evoluce a jak se z velkých přechodů zrodila dnešní každodenní realita. Realita, která se tak dalece vymyká tomu, co jsme si byli schopni včera představit, ale na jejíž výhody dosud nedosáhly miliardy lidí v méně rozvinutých společnostech, a to i přesto, že pokrok, k němuž jsme již dospěli, ohrožuje integritu biosféry. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

eBook: Čísla nelžou. Ale jakou pravdu sdělují? Celosvětově uznávaný kanadský vědec českého původu nás ve své knize bere na faktografickou výpravu za poznáním. 71 tematických kapitol přináší kromě nových informací a fascinujících příkladů z energetiky, dopravy či ekologie také odpovědi na otázky typu: Proč elektrická auta zatím nejsou šetrná k životnímu prostředí? Proč je těžké předpovědět, jak zlá bude probíhající pandemie? A jak lidstvo a vynálezy moderního světa ovlivňují život na naší planetě? (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Lidstvo ještě nikdy ve své historii nemělo tolik informací, přesto si jen málokdo uvědomuje, jak svět ve skutečnosti funguje. Oceňovaný vědec českého původu Vaclav Smil popisuje a objasňuje složité procesy s neuvěřitelnou lehkostí. Zabývá se sedmi základními principy moderní společnosti, počínaje energiemi přes globalizaci až po výzvy čekající v budoucnosti. Abychom mohli začít řešit problémy, musíme nejdříve pochopit základní fakta. S touto fascinující publikací to bude mnohem snazší. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

* A significant contribution to our understanding of how politics affects real people, and a brilliant blend of sweeping narrative and detailed analysis: this is a major and potentially prize-winning work (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The first one-volume, complete history of Europe, as told by Europeans themselves, from Homo Erectus to the Celts, to Greek wisdom and Roman grandeur, all of the way to the European phenomenon - the Industrial Revolution. This is the definitive way to discover the real, modern Europe progressively unfolding, because looking back to the past reveals more about our future than we ever expected, and only by knowing how Europe came to be, can we know what really lies ahead. Whilst experiencing constant turbulence and change, Europe has made an astonishing mark on the world. How did one small continent become so powerful? How did such diverse islands come together to act as one? How did a diplomatic society descend into bloodshed and what does that mean for Europe today? For two-millenia Europe has been a superpower; it's fretted coastlines, it's many religions and revolutions have all shaped what it is now, and with more change ahead Jean-Baptiste Duroselle's Europe including a special and up-to-date introduction from Anthony Teasdale, Director General for Parliamentary research and former Special Advisor for the Deputy Prime Minister, couldn't be better timed. It is a much needed portrayal of our ever turbulent Europe. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The sweeping story of cartoons, comic strips, and graphic novels and their hold on the American imagination. Comics have conquered America. From our multiplexes, where Marvel and DC movies reign supreme, to our television screens, where comics-based shows like The Walking Dead have become among the most popular in cable history, to convention halls, best-seller lists, Pulitzer Prize–winning titles, and MacArthur Fellowship recipients, comics shape American culture, in ways high and low, superficial, and deeply profound. In American Comics, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers through their incredible but little-known history, starting with the Civil War and cartoonist Thomas Nast, creator of the lasting and iconic images of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus; the golden age of newspaper comic strips and the first great superhero boom; the moral panic of the Eisenhower era, the Marvel Comics revolution, and the underground comix movement of the 1960s and ’70s; and finally into the twenty-first century, taking in the grim and gritty Dark Knights and Watchmen alongside the brilliant rise of the graphic novel by acclaimed practitioners like Art Spiegelman and Alison Bechdel. Dauber’s story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. Throughout, he describes the origins of beloved comics, champions neglected masterpieces, and argues that we can understand how America sees itself through whose stories comics tell. Striking and revelatory, American Comics is a rich chronicle of the last 150 years of American history through the lens of its comic strips, political cartoons, superheroes, graphic novels, and more. FEATURING… • American Splendor • Archie • The Avengers • Kyle Baker • Batman • C. C. Beck • Black Panther • Captain America • Roz Chast • Walt Disney • Will Eisner • Neil Gaiman • Bill Gaines • Bill Griffith • Harley Quinn • Jack Kirby • Denis Kitchen • Krazy Kat • Harvey Kurtzman • Stan Lee • Little Orphan Annie • Maus • Frank Miller • Alan Moore • Mutt and Jeff • Gary Panter • Peanuts • Dav Pilkey • Gail Simone • Spider-Man • Superman • Dick Tracy • Wonder Wart-Hog • Wonder Woman • The Yellow Kid • Zap Comix … AND MANY MORE OF YOUR FAVORITES! (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A new narrative history of the Viking Age, interwoven with exploration of the physical remains and landscapes that the Vikings fashioned and walked: their rune-stones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields.To many, the word `Viking' brings to mind red scenes of rape and pillage, of marauders from beyond the sea rampaging around the British coastline in the last gloomy centuries before the Norman Conquest. It is true that Britain in the Viking Age was a turbulent, violent place. The kings and warlords who have impressed their memories on the period revel in names that fire the blood and stir the imagination: Svein Forkbeard and Edmund Ironside, Ivar the Boneless and Alfred the Great, Erik Bloodaxe and Edgar the Pacifier amongst many others. Evidence for their brutality, their dominance, their avarice and their pride is still unearthed from British soil with stunning regularity.But this is not the whole story.In Viking Britain, Thomas Williams has drawn on his experience as project curator of the British Museum exhibition of Vikings: Life and Legend to show how the people we call Vikings came not just to raid and plunder, but to settle, to colonize and to rule. The impact on these islands was profound and enduring, shaping British social, cultural and political development for hundreds of years. Indeed, in language, literature, place-names and folklore, the presence of Scandinavian settlers can still be felt, and their memory - filtered and refashioned through the writings of people like J.R.R. Tolkien, William Morris and G.K.Chesterton - has transformed the western imagination.This remarkable book makes use of new academic research and first-hand experience, drawing deeply from the relics and landscapes that the Vikings and their contemporaries fashioned and walked: their runestones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields, poems and chronicles. The book offers a vital evocation of a forgotten world, its echoes in later history and its implications for the present.show less (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Klasická point & click adventura, jejímž hlavním hrdinou je vojenský psycholog David Mc Namara, který po odchodu z aktivní služby prožívá hodně těžké období. Trpí silnými cholerickými záchvaty a jeho manželství je v troskách. V této situaci je David povolán do New Yorku, aby si zde prohlédl pět mladých žen a mužů, kteří byli nalezeni křičící, totálně zmatení a vystrašení na ulicích NY. David všechny své nové pacienty opatrně vyslýchá, jednoho po druhém a postupně se dopracuje k alarmujícímu zjištění. Hra je rozdělena na dvě části. V té první budete v roli Davida vyšetřovat v současnosti a v té druhé naopak ovládat jednotlivé pacienty, s nimiž si prožijete jejich flashbacky a postupně se tak dostanete na kloub všem záhadám co se po cestě objeví. Hlavní rysy : - Klasická point & click adventura s neobvyklými prvky. - Napínavý příběh odehrávající se ve zpětné chronologii. - Vyzkoušejte si role jedinečných šesti postav. - Prozkoumejte 45 vysoce detailních a precizně animovaných lokací. - Vysoce kvalitní dabing. - Od tvůrců „Moment of Silence“. Minimální konfigurace : Windows 2000, XP, Vista[32bit], procesor 1300MHz, paměť 256MB RAM, 1.50GB volno na disku, DVDROM (fitvyziva.cz)

eBook: Od bakterií po velryby, od atomů po asteroidy. Oceňovaný vědec českého původu Vaclav Smil tentokrát zkoumá, proč rozměry nejsou náhodné a jak ovlivňují svět. Má dvakrát větší člověk dvakrát více krve? Čím se vyznačují hezké tváře? Má každý růst své meze? Kde všude najdeme zlatý řez? A co ergonomický oříšek: velikost sedadel v letadle? Nečekané odpovědi na otázky všedního i planetárního významu vás ohromí i pobaví zároveň. Fascinující publikace od základů změní, jak se díváte na vše kolem sebe! (knihydobrovsky.cz)

World acclaimed scientist Vaclav Smil reveals everything there is to know about nature's most sought-after resourceOil is the lifeblood of the modern world. Without it, there would be no planes, no plastic, no exotic produce, and a global political landscape few would recognise. Humanity’s dependence upon oil looks set to continue for decades to come, but what is it?Fully updated and packed with fascinating facts to fuel dinner party debate, Professor Vaclav Smil's Oil: A Beginner's Guide explains all matters related to the ‘black stuff’, from its discovery in the earth right through to the controversy that surrounds it today. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A highly original history of the least understood and most intractable form of organised human aggression, from ancient Rome to our present conflict-ridden world We think we know civil war when we see it. Yet ideas of what it is, and isn't, have a long and contested history. Defining the term is acutely political, for ideas about what makes a war "civil" often depend on whether one is ruler or rebel, victor or vanquished, sufferer or outsider; it can also shape a conflict’s outcome, determining whether external powers are involved or stand aside. From the American Revolution to the Iraq war, pivotal decisions have hung on such shifts of perspective. The West’s age of civil war may be over, but elsewhere it has exploded – from the Balkans to Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Sri Lanka and, most recently, Syria. And the language of civil war has burgeoned as democratic politics has become more violently fought. This book's unique perspective on the roots, dynamics and shaping force of civil war will be essential to our ongoing struggles with this seemingly interminable problem. David Armitage is Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at Harvard University. His books include The History Manifesto (CUP, 2014), Foundations of Modern International Thought (CUP, 2013), The Declaration of Independence: A Global History (Harvard, 2007) and the prize-winning The Ideological Origins of the British Empire (CUP, 2000). He frequently appears on national radio and in the press, and tweets actively (@DavidRArmitage) to his more than 6000 followers. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Sailing on a boat by yourself out at sea and out of sight of land can be exhilarating or terrifying, compelling or tedious - sometimes it can be all of these things just in one morning. It is an adventure at odds with our normal, sociable lives, carried out floating on a medium wholly inimical to our existence. But the deep ocean is also a remarkable place on which to think.Richard King's enormously engaging and curious new book is about the debt we owe to solo sailors: women and men, young and old, who have set out alone. Spending weeks and months alone, slowly, quietly and close to the ocean surface is to create the world's largest laboratory: an endlessly changing, capricious and startling place in which to observe oneself, the weather, the stars and myriad sea creatures, from the tiniest to the most massive and threatening.This is a book for anyone who is fascinated by sailing, solitude and the vast seas that cover so much of our planet. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A kaleidoscopic journey tracing the methods and means of visual communication from the cave paintings of the earliest humans to the 'photograph' of a black hole in deep space. Since the beginning of our time as humans, we have never stopped making images and inventing channels for visual communication. From the cave dweller creating paintings on a wall at the dawn of civilized time to Instagram influencers today, technology may keep changing, but our need to reach one another, to move one another, to persuade, inform and entertain, has never been so vital.Hello Human traverses the entire landscape of our diverse, expansive and yet familiar means of visual communication. From the use of the human hand as a symbol, the power and use of gestures and the genesis of the printed book, to the movement between dimensions of reality and the digital realm, pixilation, optics and the understanding of light, Horsham takes his readers on a journey full of unexpected twists and turns, laying out a temporal narrative in the form of an intricate map of objects, events and people tied together by a common purpose - to communicate. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The first one-volume, complete history of Europe, as told by Europeans themselves, from Homo Erectus to the Celts, to Greek wisdom and Roman grandeur, all of the way to the European phenomenon - the Industrial Revolution. This is the definitive way to discover the real, modern Europe progressively unfolding, because looking back to the past reveals more about our future than we ever expected, and only by knowing how Europe came to be, can we know what really lies ahead. Whilst experiencing constant turbulence and change, Europe has made an astonishing mark on the world. How did one small continent become so powerful? How did such diverse islands come together to act as one? How did a diplomatic society descend into bloodshed and what does that mean for Europe today? For two-millenia Europe has been a superpower; it's fretted coastlines, it's many religions and revolutions have all shaped what it is now, and with more change ahead Jean-Baptiste Duroselle's Europe including a special and up-to-date introduction from Anthony Teasdale, Director General for Parliamentary research and former Special Advisor for the Deputy Prime Minister, couldn't be better timed. It is a much needed portrayal of our ever turbulent Europe. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Robert Service, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Robert Service's critically acclaimed and compellingly readable history of world communism (alza.cz)

Kniha - autor Mary Beard, 606 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Britain's favourite classicist lifts the lid on the Roman Empire in this major non-fiction release for 2015. Covering 1,000 years of history, and casting fresh light on the basics of Roman culture from slavery to running water, as well as exploring democracy, migration, religious controversy, social mobility and more, this is a definitive and enlightening account. Now in paperback. (alza.cz)

'There is no author whose books I look forward to more' Bill GatesThe 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.‘Vaclav Smil is a phenomenon with an appetite for facts over prejudice and fashion. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future’ Lord Norman Foster (knihydobrovsky.cz)

eBook: Lidstvo ještě nikdy ve své historii nemělo tolik informací, přesto si jen málokdo uvědomuje, jak svět ve skutečnosti funguje. Oceňovaný vědec českého původu Vaclav Smil popisuje a objasňuje složité procesy s neuvěřitelnou lehkostí. Zabývá se sedmi základními principy moderní společnosti, počínaje energiemi přes globalizaci až po výzvy čekající v budoucnosti. Abychom mohli začít řešit problémy, musíme nejdříve pochopit základní fakta. S touto fascinující publikací to bude mnohem snazší. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

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. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A history of the world told through the prism of language, from Shakespeare to Anne Frank, Martin Luther King to Greta Thunberg. A History of Words for Children explores the uniquely human ability to transfer thoughts from one brain to another using words. Written in a lively narrative style, the book presents a history of the world and human development through the prism of language, introducing readers to the civilisations, inventions and wordsmiths who have shaped the way we communicate.Divided into themed chapters, the book explores what words are and how humans communicate using spoken language and sign; the development of written scripts and writing implements, including paper; the history of manuscripts and printed books, including worldwide bestsellers and famous libraries; the process of learning another language; dialects and accents and the way language can reflect our identity; the power of words to calm, inspire, rally crowds and rule nations; graffiti's role in spreading messages; codes and invented languages; the patterns of poetry; the future of words, including emojis; and languages facing extinction. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A History of Pictures for Children takes readers on a journey through art history, from early art drawn on cave walls to the images we make today on our computers and phone cameras. Based on the bestselling book for adults, this children's edition of A History of Pictures is told through conversations between the artist David Hockney and the author Martin Gayford, who talk about art with inspiring simplicity and clarity. Rose Blake's illustrations illuminate the narratives of both authors to bring the history of art alive for a young audience. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Sedm fotografických cyklů. Knihu tvoří fotografie, které si Václav Stratil dával pořizovat ve veřejných fotografických ateliérech od roku 1991 až do současnosti. Texty Jiří Ptáček, Jiří Skála, Karel Thein. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Revolution, the fourth volume of Peter Ackroyd's enthralling History of England begins in 1688 with a revolution and ends in 1815 with a famous victory. In it, Ackroyd takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was - again - at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.Late Stuart and Georgian England marked the creation of the great pillars of the English state. The Bank of England was founded, as was the stock exchange, the Church of England was fully established as the guardian of the spiritual life of the nation and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation with responsibilities and duties far beyond those of the monarch. It was a revolutionary era in English letters, too, a time in which newspapers first flourished and the English novel was born. It was an era in which coffee houses and playhouses boomed, gin flowed freely and in which shops, as we know them today, began to proliferate in our towns and villages. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The first mention of espionage in world literature is in the Book of Exodus.'God sent out spies into the land of Canaan'. From there, Christopher Andrew traces the shift in the ancient world from divination to what we would recognize as attempts to gather real intelligence in the conduct of military operations, and considers how far ahead of the West - at that time - China and India were. He charts the development of intelligence and security operations and capacity through, amongst others, Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England, Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, right up to sophisticated modern activities of which he is the world's best-informed interpreter. What difference have security and intelligence operations made to course of history? Why have they so often forgotten by later practitioners? This fascinating book provides the answers. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

eBook: An imaginary historian. One immaculately imagined history. Told from the invented Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker’s perspective, Washington Irving’s ‘A History of New York’ weaves a rip-roaringly funny and dangerously dark account of the rise – and fall- of The Big Apple. Kick-starting with the creation of the world, we follow the origins of life and love as we know it, through to the new world discoveries and dangers of the Dutch Dynasty. Crafting a tale full of mystery and might, Irving’s satirical ‘A History of New York’ is ideal for American literature fans of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz and Jim Broadbent in ‘Gangs of New York’. Washington Irving (1783- 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. A prolific author, Irving wrote ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle.’ Whilst his celebrated historical biographies span Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, his 15th-century histories of Span explore Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. Having served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s, Irving remains a rich cultural insight into both American and Spanish history. His human touch and deep emotional insight are reflected throughout his thought-provoking novels. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Neil MacGregor, 614 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná A paperback reader's edition of this original and very successful history of humanity. The book's range is enormous, with each chapter immersing the reader in a past civilisation, not just describing the objects and how they were made, but what their significance is. 'Magnificent...brings home to our hearth the long-dead ancestors, the distant races, the heroes and brutes... there is poetry in their survival' "Times" (alza.cz)

From the Big Bang to the Gaia Mission, this is a very personal history of the universe through the author's favourite 100 stars. Astronomer Florian Freistetter has chosen 100 stars that have almost nothing in common. Some are bright and famous, some shine so feebly you need a huge telescope. There are big stars, small stars, nearby stars and faraway stars. Some died a while ago, others have not even yet come into being. Collectively they tell the story of the whole world, according to Freistetter. There is Algol, for example, the Demon Star, whose strange behaviour has long caused people sleepless nights. And Gamma Draconis, from which we know that the earth rotates around its own axis. There is also the star sequence 61 Cygni, which revealed the size of the cosmos to us. Then there are certain stars used by astronomers to search for extra-terrestrial life, to explore interstellar space travel, or to explain why the dinosaurs became extinct. In 100 short, fascinating and entertaining chapters, Freistetter not only reveals the past and future of the cosmos, but also the story of the people who have tried to understand the world in which we live. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

'An indispensable guide to the tragic history of a great European nation' (David Blair Sunday Telegraph)Located at the western edge of the Eurasian steppe, Ukraine has long been the meeting place of empires - Roman to Ottoman, Habsburg to Russian - and they all left their imprint on the landscape, the language and the people living within these shifting borders. In this authoritative book, Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhy traces the history of Ukraine from the arrival of the Vikings in the tenth century to the current Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Fascinating and multilayered, The Gates of Europe is the essential guide to understanding not just Ukraine's past but also its future. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Helen Lewis, 320 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Well-behaved women don't make history: difficult women do. Feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Helen Lewis argues that too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It's time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. In this book, you'll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the pioneer of the refuge movement who became a men's rights activist; the 'striker in a sari' who terrified Margaret Thatcher; the wronged Victorian wife who definitely wasn't sleeping with the prime minister; and the lesbian politician who outraged the country. Taking the story up to the present with the... (alza.cz)