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The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change
Received Honorable Mention in the category of Geography and Earth Science in the 2002 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.
In his latest book, Vaclav Smil tells the story of the Earth's biosphere from its origins to its near- and long-term future. He explains the workings of its parts and what is known about their interactions. With essay-like flair, he examines the biosphere's physics, chemistry, biology, geology, oceanography, energy, climatology, and ecology, as well as the changes caused by human activity. He provides both the basics of the story and surprising asides illustrating critical but often neglected aspects of biospheric complexity.
Smil begins with a history of the modern idea of the biosphere, focusing on the development of the concept by Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky. He explores the probability of life elsewhere in the universe, life's evolution and metabolism, and the biosphere's extent, mass, productivity, and grand-scale organization. Smil offers fresh approaches to such well-known phenomena as solar radiation and plate tectonics and introduces lesser-known topics such as the quarter-power scaling of animal and plant metabolism across body sizes and metabolic pathways. He also examines two sets of fundamental relationships that have profoundly influenced the evolution of life and the persistence of the symbiosis and the role of life's complexity as a determinant of biomass productivity and resilience. And he voices concern about the future course of human-caused global environmental change, which could compromise the biosphere's integrity and threaten the survival of modern civilization.
In his latest book, Vaclav Smil tells the story of the Earth's biosphere from its origins to its near- and long-term future. He explains the workings of its parts and what is known about their interactions. With essay-like flair, he examines the biosphere's physics, chemistry, biology, geology, oceanography, energy, climatology, and ecology, as well as the changes caused by human activity. He provides both the basics of the story and surprising asides illustrating critical but often neglected aspects of biospheric complexity.
Smil begins with a history of the modern idea of the biosphere, focusing on the development of the concept by Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky. He explores the probability of life elsewhere in the universe, life's evolution and metabolism, and the biosphere's extent, mass, productivity, and grand-scale organization. Smil offers fresh approaches to such well-known phenomena as solar radiation and plate tectonics and introduces lesser-known topics such as the quarter-power scaling of animal and plant metabolism across body sizes and metabolic pathways. He also examines two sets of fundamental relationships that have profoundly influenced the evolution of life and the persistence of the symbiosis and the role of life's complexity as a determinant of biomass productivity and resilience. And he voices concern about the future course of human-caused global environmental change, which could compromise the biosphere's integrity and threaten the survival of modern civilization.
346 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Vaclav Smil
77 books4,354 followersVaclav Smil is a Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst whose work spans energy, environment, food, population, economics, history, and public policy. Educated at Charles University in Prague and later at Pennsylvania State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in geography, Smil emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1969 following the Soviet invasion, before beginning his long academic career at the University of Manitoba in 1972. Over the decades he established himself as a leading voice on global energy systems, environmental change, and economic development, with particular attention to China. Smil has consistently argued that transitions to renewable energy will be gradual rather than rapid, emphasizing the persistence of coal, oil, and natural gas and highlighting the difficulties of decarbonizing critical industries such as steel, cement, ammonia, and plastics. He has also been skeptical of indefinite economic growth, suggesting that human consumption could be sustained at much lower levels of material and energy use. Widely admired for his clear, data-driven analyses, Smil counts Bill Gates among his readers, while colleagues have praised his rigor and independence. Known for his reclusiveness and preference for letting his books speak for him, he has nonetheless lectured extensively worldwide and consulted for major institutions. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Order of Canada, Smil remains a highly influential public intellectual.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 25, 2010
This is a survey of biology (from cell biology to biome-scale ecology) and geography as pertaining to the earth's biosphere - where life on earth came from (as far as it can be known), how it will end, where it has spread, how life affects the natural cycles of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and other elements, what are the scaling laws for animals and plants, what is the total biomass of wild mammals, domesticated bovids and humans, and so on. So far as a nonbiologist can understand it, this is very interesting stuff.
The last chapter is about the human influence on the biosphere - human-introduced invasive species (99% of the biomass of the San Francisco Bay), air and water pollution, deforestation and global warming via anthropogenic emission of fossil carbon. I didn't know that the answer to a great many questions about global warming is, "We have no idea", since there are dozens of feedback cycles, both positive and negative, around the increased concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its consequences. Will plants photosynthesize more because of greater concentration of carbon dioxide? Some will, some won't. Will the warmer oceans cause the methane hydrates on the ocean floor to melt, releasing large quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere? Fortunately, we cannot destroy the biosphere; unfortunately, it is within our capabilities to alter it in such a way as to make the earth unlivable for billions of humans.
Smil's Energies is one of the best popular science books I have ever read.
The last chapter is about the human influence on the biosphere - human-introduced invasive species (99% of the biomass of the San Francisco Bay), air and water pollution, deforestation and global warming via anthropogenic emission of fossil carbon. I didn't know that the answer to a great many questions about global warming is, "We have no idea", since there are dozens of feedback cycles, both positive and negative, around the increased concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its consequences. Will plants photosynthesize more because of greater concentration of carbon dioxide? Some will, some won't. Will the warmer oceans cause the methane hydrates on the ocean floor to melt, releasing large quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere? Fortunately, we cannot destroy the biosphere; unfortunately, it is within our capabilities to alter it in such a way as to make the earth unlivable for billions of humans.
Smil's Energies is one of the best popular science books I have ever read.
October 18, 2016
As with all of Vaclav Smil's books, very full of numbers and conversant with a very wide range of fields that may at first seem only distantly related.
To keep his books (including this one) down to a reasonable length, he uses abbreviations very heavily. His abbreviation system turns out to be quite simple, but might seem incredibly obscure to some who aren't familiar with it. All number dimensions are metric (much more than just gram-centimeter-second, uses commonly used measures like "tons"). As the numbers can be quite large, the metric prefixes (milli, micro, mega, giga, etc.) are used extensively. Most of the things quantified are named by their chemical element name (C, P, etc.) or molecular formula (CO2, O3, etc.). A few are either inferred from context, or use a very common acronym other than the chemical formula (DMS for Di-Methyl-Sulfide, etc.). The only one that initially tripped me up was 'a', which means 'annum' or in the vernacular 'year'. So 4.2 Ga means 4.2 Billion years (the probable age of the earth:-), and 6Mt C means 6 million tons of Carbon, etc.) The notation system is thoroughly explained in appendices in _some_ of his books ...but not this particular one. If you're not already familiar with his notation system, this book will likely be incomprehensible, and you unfortunately may not perceive much recourse.
In this book professor Smil sets out to approach some sort of "forecasting", something he's normally extremely reluctant to do. He makes so many compromises on just what "forecasting" actually means, and even then is somewhat uncomfortable with the result, that this book is less satisfying than many of his others.
As usual he sticks to numbers, staying as far away from "politics" (and even "shoulds") as possible. As usual for his books, this book is most definitely not anything like a "polemic". It's very nice to read such an even-handed and thorough approach. (On the other hand, it will probably inevitably be judged unsatisfactory by any reader with a strong commitment to one position or another.)
As usual for his books, the depth of information is astounding. Numbers seem to go *tens *of *times* deeper (in all cases, not just one particular case) than anything else you've ever read.
To keep his books (including this one) down to a reasonable length, he uses abbreviations very heavily. His abbreviation system turns out to be quite simple, but might seem incredibly obscure to some who aren't familiar with it. All number dimensions are metric (much more than just gram-centimeter-second, uses commonly used measures like "tons"). As the numbers can be quite large, the metric prefixes (milli, micro, mega, giga, etc.) are used extensively. Most of the things quantified are named by their chemical element name (C, P, etc.) or molecular formula (CO2, O3, etc.). A few are either inferred from context, or use a very common acronym other than the chemical formula (DMS for Di-Methyl-Sulfide, etc.). The only one that initially tripped me up was 'a', which means 'annum' or in the vernacular 'year'. So 4.2 Ga means 4.2 Billion years (the probable age of the earth:-), and 6Mt C means 6 million tons of Carbon, etc.) The notation system is thoroughly explained in appendices in _some_ of his books ...but not this particular one. If you're not already familiar with his notation system, this book will likely be incomprehensible, and you unfortunately may not perceive much recourse.
In this book professor Smil sets out to approach some sort of "forecasting", something he's normally extremely reluctant to do. He makes so many compromises on just what "forecasting" actually means, and even then is somewhat uncomfortable with the result, that this book is less satisfying than many of his others.
As usual he sticks to numbers, staying as far away from "politics" (and even "shoulds") as possible. As usual for his books, this book is most definitely not anything like a "polemic". It's very nice to read such an even-handed and thorough approach. (On the other hand, it will probably inevitably be judged unsatisfactory by any reader with a strong commitment to one position or another.)
As usual for his books, the depth of information is astounding. Numbers seem to go *tens *of *times* deeper (in all cases, not just one particular case) than anything else you've ever read.
July 3, 2019
A very solid comprehensive introduction to the concept of the biosphere - the macro ecological system of which we arise from, are supported by, and are a participant in.
Understanding the concept of the biosphere is of upmost importance to understanding what exactly is at stake in climate change. And dont worry. The big rock we are standing on will be fine invariably. The ecological web, less so.
Reading smil is never a smooth walk in the park. His erudition is superb as he spans between a ton of subjects with a clear comprehension beyond that of the classic journalist. He is very much an academic. At times his words come at you like a storm of rocks numbers and quantities, at time it will hurt to move through the many numbers, charts and words, BUT to simply be able to encounter an individual so well read in so many things is quite rare.
In short, this is a great book. Painful at times as it would be nice if he had a bit better if he played with the melody of language rather than giving straight facts. But alas, he does what he says he would do in the title.
Recommended for those interested in:
Climate change
Evolution
Ecology
Gaia theory
Systems thinkers
Understanding the concept of the biosphere is of upmost importance to understanding what exactly is at stake in climate change. And dont worry. The big rock we are standing on will be fine invariably. The ecological web, less so.
Reading smil is never a smooth walk in the park. His erudition is superb as he spans between a ton of subjects with a clear comprehension beyond that of the classic journalist. He is very much an academic. At times his words come at you like a storm of rocks numbers and quantities, at time it will hurt to move through the many numbers, charts and words, BUT to simply be able to encounter an individual so well read in so many things is quite rare.
In short, this is a great book. Painful at times as it would be nice if he had a bit better if he played with the melody of language rather than giving straight facts. But alas, he does what he says he would do in the title.
Recommended for those interested in:
Climate change
Evolution
Ecology
Gaia theory
Systems thinkers
January 18, 2021
It's text bookey but I like that about it. Very factual and thought provoking.
July 13, 2011
This changed my outlook on the world. Amazing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews