getAbstract Summary: Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes.

Throughout this challenging read, scientist and policy analyst Vaclav Smil examines how the world uses materials. He wrestles with dense concepts using a specialized vocabulary and some jargon. Persevere anyway. This is an important, fascinating academic study. Smil's approach is historical and multidisciplinary: He compares how algae, birds and beavers use materials to how humans use them, and traces human development from the first stone tools through the Bowflex machine. Smil's treatise should be required reading for anyone thinking about contemporary economics and humanity's future. getAbstract recommends his rigorous study to investors, ecologists, futurists, historians, and students of history and business.

Book Publisher:

Wiley