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Size: How It Explains the World - Vaclav Smil The New York Times bestselling author returns with a mind-opening exploration of how size defines life on Earth.Explaining the key processes shaping size in nature, society and technology, Smil busts myths around proportions - from bodies to paintings and the so-called golden ratio - tells us what Jonathan Swift got wrong in Gulliver's Travels - the giant Brobdingnagian's legs would buckle under their enormous weight - and dives headfirst into the most contentious issue in ergonomics: the size of aeroplane seats.It is no exaggeration to say this fascinating and wide-ranging tour de force will change the way you look at absolutely everything.‘Vaclav Smil is a phenomenon with an appetite for facts over prejudice and fashion. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future’ Lord Norman Foster Review Vaclav Smil is a phenomenon with an appetite for facts over prejudice and fashion. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future -- eminent architect, Lord Norman FosterAn endlessly entertaining career through fascinating territory -- Simon Ings ― Daily TelegraphBoth informative and entertaining . . . I suspect that many Physics World readers would be delighted to find this book waiting for them under the Christmas tree. Indeed, it would be perfect reading material for anyone who enjoys a mathematical analysis of the world around them ― Physics WorldIn a world of specialized intellectuals, Smil is an ambitious and astonishing polymath who swings for fences . . . They're among the most data-heavy books you'll find, with a remarkable way of framing basic facts ― WiredThere is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil ― Guardian About the Author Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of over forty books on topics including energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, risk assessment, and public policy. No other living scientist has had more books (on a wide variety of topics) reviewed in Nature. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.