**A complete history of the universe, spanning 13.8 billion years in an ultra-accessible, uncommonly illuminating, exhilarating chronicle of key events“Baker introduces us not only to the history of our species and our planet, but the history of our vast universe.”—from the foreword by John Green, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and The Fault in Our Stars**In this thrilling history, David Baker captures the longest-possible time span—from the Big Bang ...

**A BILL GATES “BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR”A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped 10,000 years of human history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today’s fossil fuel–driven civilization.**Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of...

**"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author… Numbers Don't Lie takes everything that makes his writing great and boils it down into an easy-to-read format. I unabashedly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning."—Bill Gates, GatesNotesFrom the author of How the World Really Works, an essential guide to understanding how numbers reveal the true state of our world—exploring a wide range of topics including energy, the environment, technology, transportatio...

This "excellent" popular science book explores just what we—and the things around us—are made of ( Aftenposten, Norway).Some elements get all the attention: glittering gold, radioactive uranium—materials we call "precious" because they are so rare. But what could be more precious than the building blocks of life—from the oxygen in our air to the carbon in all living things?In The Elements We Live By, physicist and award-winning author Anja R...

The enlightening, best-selling book on understanding sustainable energy and how we can make energy plans that add up.If you've ever wondered how much energy we use, and where it comes from – and where it could come from – but are fed up with all the hot air and 'greenwash', this is the book for you. Renewable resources are 'huge', but our energy consumption is also 'huge'. To compare 'huge' things with each other, we need numbers, not adjectives.

“This disturbing but very important book makes clear we must dig deeper than the normal solutions we are offered.”—Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Works"Bright Green Lies exposes the hypocrisy and bankruptcy of leading environmental groups and their most prominent cheerleaders. The best-known environmentalists are not in the business of speaking truth, or even holding up rational solutions to blunt the impending ecocide, but instead indulge in a menda...

The world needs to turn away from fossil fuels and use clean, renewable sources of energy as soon as we can. Failure to do so will cause catastrophic climate damage sooner than you might think, leading to loss of biodiversity and economic and political instability. But all is not lost! We still have time to save the planet without resorting to 'miracle' technologies. We need to wave goodbye to outdated technologies, such as natural gas and carbon capture, and repurpose the technologies tha...

An exploration of the Anthropocene and "a relentless reckoning of how we, as a species, got ourselves into the mess we're in today" ( The Wall Street Journal).Meteorites, mega-volcanoes, and plate tectonics—the old forces of nature—have transformed Earth for millions of years. They are now joined by a new geological force—humans. Our actions have driven Earth into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. For the first time in our home planet's 4.5-billion-...

Climate change. Finite fossil fuels. Fresh water depletion. Rising commodity prices. Ocean acidification. Overpopulation. Deforestation. Feeding the world’s billions. We’re beset by an array of natural resource and environmental challenges. They pose a tremendous risk to human prosperity, to world peace, and to the planet itself. Yet, if we act, these problems are addressable. Throughout history we’ve overcome similar problems, but only when we’ve focused our energies on innovation. For th...

Get charged up about energy! With more than 20 fun activities and experiments that will have children ages 8 to 12 enthusiastically engaged with making and using renewable energy, Michael J. Caduto takes a hands-on approach to fighting climate change. Step-by-step instructions for projects range from using the sun to make fires to charging electronic devices by peddling your bicycle. Additional energy case studies encourage kids to think about the basic tenets of resource management. Chang...

Materials and the Environment is the first book devoted solely to the environmental aspects of materials and their selection, production, use and disposal. Written by Mike Ashby, one of the world's foremost materials authorities, the book introduces methods and tools for thinking about and designing with materials within the context of their role in products and the environmental consequences. The tools developed in the text are implemented in the CES EduPack Eco Design Edition software an...

The world's population is increasing; but its supply of water is not. Empires have grown and declined due to discovery and exhaustion of their water sources, and now the West is at last catching on to the fact that abundance of water can no longer be taken for granted. For the last fifty years, wars have been fought over oil; for the next fifty, they may be fought over water (in fact, some local wars already have been). Remarkably, this new book is the first to bring together the ecologica...