Vaclav Smil

**Václav Smil** (gebore op 9 Desember 1943) is 'n Tsjeggies-Kanadese wetenskaplike en beleidsontleder. Hy is 'n toonaangewende professor emeritus in die Fakulteit Omgewing aan die Universiteit van Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kanada. Sy interdissiplinêre navorsingsbelangstellings omvat 'n breë gebied van energie-, omgewings-, voedsel-, bevolkings-, ekonomiese, historiese en openbare beleidsstudies, en hy het ook hierdie benaderings toegepas op energie-, voedsel- en omgewingsake in die Volksrepubliek China.

## Vroeë lewe en opvoeding 
Smil is tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlog in Pilsen gebore, destyds in die Duitse protektoraat Boheme en Morawië (die huidige Tsjeggiese Republiek). 

## Loopbaan 
In 1972 aanvaar Smil sy eerste werksaanbod aan die Universiteit van Manitoba waar hy dekades lank gebly het, tot sy aftrede.

### Standpunt oor ekonomiese groei 
Smil is van meening dat ekonomiese groei moet eindig, dat alle groei logisties eerder as eksponensiaal is, en dat mense baie laer vlakke van materiale en energie kan verbruik.

## Ontvangs
Onder die bewonderaars van Smil is die medestigter van Microsoft, Bill Gates ] wat al Smil se 36 boeke gelees het. "Ek wag op nuwe Smil-boeke soos sommige mense op die volgende Star Wars-film wag," het Gates in 2017 geskryf. en die ontvanger van die American Association for the Advancement of Science Toekenning vir openbare vestaan van wetenskap en tegnologie in 2000. In 2010 word hy deur die tydskrif *Foreign Policy* benoem tot sy lys van FP se top 100 globale denkers.  In 2013 het die Goewerneur-generaal die Orde van Kanada aan hom toegeken. In die herfs van 2013 was hy die EADS Distinguished Visitor aan die American Academy in Berlyn.

Hy was 'n uitgenooide spreker in meer as 300 konferensies en werksessies in die VSA, Kanada, Europa, Asië en Afrika, het by baie universiteite in Noord-Amerika, Europa en Oos-Asië gedoseer en as konsultant gewerk vir baie Amerikaanse, Europese Unie en internasionale instellings.

## Publikasies
### Boeke
* 2019 : *Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities.* The MIT Press  
* 2017 : *Energy and Civilization: A History.* The MIT Press  
* 2015 : *Natural Gas: Fuel for the 21st Century.* Wiley  
* 2015 : *Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses* The MIT Press 
* 2013 : *Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization* Wiley  
* 2013 : *Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing* The MIT Press 
* 2013 : *Should We Eat Meat? Evolution and Consequences of Modern Carnivory* Wiley  
* 2013 : *Harvesting the Biosphere; What We Have Taken from Nature* The MIT Press 
* 2012 : *Japan’s Dietary Transition and Its Impacts* The MIT Press 
* 2010 : *Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines* The MIT Press Cambridge, 261 p.&nbsp;
* 2010 : *Energy Myths and Realities: Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate* The American Enterprise Institute Press, Washington, D.C., 212p.&nbsp;
* 2010 : *Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects.* Praeger Santa Barabara, CA, 178 p.&nbsp;
* 2010 : *Why America is Not a New Rome* MIT Press Cambridge, 322 p.&nbsp;
* 2008 : *Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next Fifty Years*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xi + 307 p.  
* 2008 : ''Oil: A Beginner's Guide* Oneworld Publications 
* 2008 : *Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xi + 480 p.
* 2006 : *Energy: A Beginner's Guide* Oneworld Publications 
* 2006 : *Transforming the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations and Their Consequences*, *Oxford University Press*, New York, x + 358 p.
* 2005 : *Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact*, *Oxford University Press*, New York, xv + 350 p.
* 2004 : *China’s Past, China’s Future*, *RoutledgeCurzon*, New York et Londres, xvi + 232 p.
* 2003 : *Energy at the Crossroads Global Perspectives and Uncertainties*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xiv + 427 p.
* 2002 : *The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics and Change*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xxviii + 360 p.
* 2001 : *Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch and the Transformation of World Food Production*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xvii + 411 p.
* 2000 : *Feeding the World: A Challenge for the 21st Century*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xxviii + 360 p.
* 2000 : *Cycles of Life: Civilization and the Biosphere*, *Scientific American Library*, New York, x + 221 p.
* 1998 : *Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization*, *The MIT Press*, Cambridge, xi + 217 p.
* 1994 : *Energy in World History*, *Westview Press*, Boulder, xviii + 300 p.
* 1993 : *China's Environment: An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development*, *M. E. Sharpe*, Armonk, xix + 257 p. Winner of the 1995 Joseph Levenson Book Prize.
* 1993 : *Global Ecology: Environmental Change and Social Flexibility*, Routledge, London, xiii + 240 p.
* 1991 : *General Energetics: Energy in the Biosphere and Civilization*, *John Wiley & Sons|John Wiley*, New York, xiii + 369 p.
* 1988 : *Energy in China's Modernization*, *M.E. Sharpe*, Armonk, xiv + 250 p.
* 1987 : *Energy Food Environment: Realities Myths Options*, *Oxford University Press*, Oxford, ix + 361 p.
* 1985 : *Carbon Nitrogen Sulfur: Human Interference in Grand Biospheric Cycles*, *Plenum Press*, New York, xv + 459 p.
* 1984 : *The Bad Earth: Environmental Degradation in China*, *M.E. Sharpe*, Armonk, xvi + 245 p.
* 1983 : *Biomass Energies: Resources, Links, Constraints*, *Plenum Press*, New York, xxi + 453 p.
* 1982 : (in collaboration with P. Nachman and T.V. Long, II) *Energy Analysis in Agriculture: An Application to U.S. Corn Production*, *Westview Press*, Boulder, xvi + 191 p.
* 1980 : (in collaboration with W. E. Knowland) *Energy in the Developing World*, *Oxford University Press*, Oxford, 386 p.
* 1976 : *China's Energy: Achievements, Problems, Prospects*, *Praeger Publishers*, New York, xxi + 246 p.

### Artikels
* "Good Eats"," by Vaclav Smil, *Inference,* v5n1, geplaas 12 Desember 2019
* "Sputnik at 60," by Vaclav Smil, *IEEE Spectrum,* Geplaas 26 Sep 2017, 19:00 GMT
* "A Skeptic Looks at Alternative Energy," deur Vaclav Smil, *IEEE Spectrum,* July 2012
* Energy innovation as a process: Lessons from LNG. *Master Resource: A Free-Market Energy Blog*. Januarie 11, 2010.
* Two decades later: Nikkei and lessons from the fall. *The American*, December 29, 2009.
* The Iron Age & coal-based coke: A neglected case of fossil-fuel dependence. *Master Resource: A Free-Market Energy Blog*. September 17, 2009.
* U.S. energy policy: The need for radical departures. *Issues in Science and Technology* Summer 2009:47-50.
* Long-range energy forecasts are no more than fairy tales. *Nature ''453**:**154; 2008.
* Moore's curse and the great energy delusion. *The American* 2(6): 34–41; 2008.
* Water news: bad, good and virtual. *American Scientist* 96:399-407; 2008.
* On meat, fish and statistics: The global food regime and animal consumption in the United States and Japan. *Japan Focus*, October 19, 2008. .
* James N. Galloway, Marshall Burke, G. Eric Bradford, Rosamond Naylor, Walter Falcon, Ashok K. Chapagain, Joanne C. Gaskell, Ellen McCullough, Harold A. Mooney, Kirsten L. L. Oleson, Henning Steinfeld, Tom Wassenaar and Vaclav Smil. 2007. International trade in meat: The tip of the pork chop. *Ambio* 36:622-629.
* The two prime movers of globalization: history and impact of diesel engines and gas turbines. *Journal of Global History* 3:373-394; 2007.
* Global material cycles. *Encyclopedia of Earth,* 2 Junie 2007.
* The unprecedented shift in Japan's population: Numbers, age, and prospects. *Japan Focus*, May 1, 2007.
* Light behind the fall: Japan's electricity consumption, the environment, and economic growth. *Japan Focus*, April 2, 2007.
* 21st century energy: Some sobering thoughts. *OECD Observer*; 2006.
* Peak oil: A catastrophist cult and complex realities. *World Watch* 19: 22–24; 2006.
* Naylor, R., Steinfeld, H., Falcon, W., Galloway, J., Smil, V., Bradford, E., Alder, J., Mooney, H. Losing the links between livestock and land. *Science* 310:1621-1622
* The next 50 years: Unfolding trends. *Population and Development Review* 31: 605–643; 2005.
* Feeding the world: How much more rice do we need? In: Toriyama K., Heong K.L., Hardy B., eds. *Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century*. Proceedings of the World Rice Research Conference held in Tokyo and Tsukuba, Japan, 4–7 November 2004. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute, pp.&nbsp;21–23.
* The next 50 Years: Fatal discontinuities. *Population and Development Review* 31: 201–236; 2005.
* Improving efficiency and reducing waste in our food system. *Environmental Sciences* 1:17-26; 2004.
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## Verwysings