0
Your cart

Your cart is empty

Books > Professional & Technical

Buy Now

Speed - How It Explains the World (Paperback) Loot Price: R389
Discovery Miles 3 890
You Save: R116 (23%)

Speed - How It Explains the World (Paperback)

Vaclav Smil

 (sign in to rate)
List price R505 Loot Price R389 Discovery Miles 3 890 You Save R116 (23%)

Bookmark and Share

To be released on 19 January 2026. You can pre-order this product. We should be able to ship between Monday, 26 Jan 2026 and Monday, 2 Feb 2026.

A data-driven, scientific account of our need for speed—exploring a wide range of topics including evolution, transportation, and technology

In a world obsessed with efficiency, perhaps nothing is valued as highly as being fast. Some of our greatest achievements include building planes that break the sound barrier and creating computers that process data at the touch of a button. With signature clarity, Smil offers accessible explanations of every major speed category, from wind erosion to hunting cheetahs, from Boeing 747s to America’s war time industrial mobilization to the speed of global energy decarbonization.

But as Smil argues in this paradigm-shifting book, speed isn’t just a metric to optimize. In Speed, Smil expands on our traditional, human-centric understanding of speed to explore phenomena of space and time, evolution, and human achievement. What was the speed of planet formation? Of the development of different life forms? What happened in the collision of humans and the limits of natural speed, and what has emerged from our incessant desire to push those boundaries?

Lauded for his“compelling, fascinating, realistic” (Steven Pinker) portraits of the modern world, Smil knows that we can’t, won’t, and shouldn’t abandon our collective need for speed. But as good devotees of speed’s eminence, we must understand it, its value, and its cost. Rich in historical and contemporary data, Bill Gates’s favorite scientist’s latest work is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary guidebook for science readers living in the fast lane.

General

Imprint: Penguin Books
Release date: 19 January 2026
Authors: Vaclav Smil
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
ISBN-13: 978-0-241-75454-2
Categories: Books > Social sciences > General
Books > Professional & Technical > General
Promotions
LSN: 0-241-75454-2
Barcode: 9780241754542

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!

You might also like..

Closing The Gap - The Fourth Industrial…
Tshilidzi Marwala Paperback R559 Discovery Miles 5 590
Management for Engineers, Scientists and…
JV Chelsom Paperback R1,660 Discovery Miles 16 600
Build - An Unorthodox Guide To Making…
Tony Fadell Paperback  (2)
R380 R351 Discovery Miles 3 510
Secrets From The Cockpit - Pilots…
Robert Schapiro Paperback R295 R264 Discovery Miles 2 640
Environment - An Interdisciplinary…
Glenn Adelson, James Engell, … Paperback R915 R760 Discovery Miles 7 600
The Uncomfortable Truth About South…
Wandile Sihlobo, Johann Kirsten Paperback R290 R259 Discovery Miles 2 590
The Hitchhiker's Guide To AI - The…
Arthur Goldstuck Paperback R330 R270 Discovery Miles 2 700
Finding Endurance - Shackleton, My…
Darrel Bristow-Bovey Paperback R295 R264 Discovery Miles 2 640
Mechanics Of Materials - SI Edition
Barry Goodno, James Gere Paperback R1,376 R1,283 Discovery Miles 12 830
Introduction To Communication Studies
George Angelopulo, Elizabeth Lubinga Paperback R458 Discovery Miles 4 580
Betting On A Darkie - Lifting The…
Mteto Nyati Paperback  (2)
R375 R335 Discovery Miles 3 350
The Technological Republic - Hard Power…
Alexander C. Karp, Nicholas W. Zamiska Paperback R440 R393 Discovery Miles 3 930

See more

Partners