Couverture / Jaquette

"Smil presents the long history and modern infatuation with invention and innovation. Meticulous as always, these vast realms of human ingenuity are organized into sensible categories: inventions that went from welcome to undesirable, inventions that dominate and missed the mark, inventions we still dream about, and lastly, the exaggerations, myths, and wise expectations for innovations we need most"--

Note biographique

Vaclav Smil

Table des matières

I Inventions and innovations: a long history and modern infatuation 1

II Inventions that turned from welcome to undesirable 19
Leaded gasoline 23 
DDT 36
Chlorofluorocarbons 49

III Inventions that were to dominate –- and do not 63
Airships 66
Nuclear fission 79 
Supersonic flight 93

IV Inventions that we keep waiting for 107
Travel in (near) vacuum (hyperloop) 109
Nitrogen-fixing cereals 123
Controlled Nuclear Fusion 135

V Techno-optimism, exaggerations, and realistic expectations 151
Breakthroughs that are not 152
Myth of ever-faster innovations 160
What we need most 171

Further reading 185
Index 209

Détails