Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.84 (890 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0262014432 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-09-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
These engines have made ocean shipping and intercontinental air travel so cheap that they have changed the face of our planet. "A stimulating book that connects the past with the future, from an outstanding writer who knows all about sustainability and the issues that make it such a challenge for us." John B. Smil's account of the engineering advances throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries -- advances that brought the world large marine diesels and gas turbines -- is first-rate history, both thorough and compelling." Nick Schulz The Wall Street Journal"Smil masterful
The massive diesel engines that power cargo ships and the gas turbines that propel jet engines, Smil argues, are more important to the global economy than any corporate structure or international trade agreement. The many books on globalization published over the past few years range from claims that the world is flat to an unlikely rehabilitation of Genghis Khan as a pioneer of global commerce. Missing from these accounts is a consideration of the technologies behind the creation of the globalized economy. The lengthy processes of development, commercialization, and diffusion that the diesel engine and the gas turbine went through, he argues, provide perfect examples of gradual technical advances that receive little attention but have resulted in epochal shifts in global affairs and the global economy.. What makes it possible for us to move billions of tons of raw materials and manufactured goods from continent to continent? Why are we able to fly almost anywhere on the planet within twenty-four hours? In Prime Movers of Globalization, Vaclav Smil offers a history of two key technical developments that have driven globalization: the high-compression non-sparking internal combustion engines invented by Rudolf Diesel in the 1890s and the gas turbines designed by Frank Whittle and Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain in the 1930s. Smil compares the efficiency and scale of these two technologies to prime movers
He is the author of more than thirty books, including Harvesting the Biosphere: What We Have Taken from Nature and, most recently, Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing, both published by the MIT Press. Vaclav Smil is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. In 2013 Bill Gates wrote on his website that "there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav
"Stirring and dramatic book" according to Stephen C. Baer. A stirring and dramatic book even if you refrain from jetting around the world or never buy the goods that travel by diesel engine in containers across the Pacific.This is a book about power, not political power or star power which we hear too much of but thrust and torque. These are gracefully presented as embodiments of mans struggle with metals, oils and dreams. The slow throb of lines of diesel cylinders work as slowly as you or I would peddle or crank but these diesel cylinders can add up to 100,000 horse power slowly turning. The cylinders are so huge. A giant propeller, while one of us wou. For the Serious Globalization Enthusiast This book is a serious overview of what impact the diesel engine and the gas turbine have had on important aspects of globalization, i.e., in moving cargo and people around the world. In roughly the first third of the book, the author discusses the history and development of engines and how the diesel engine and the gas turbine came to stand out for certain applications, i.e., to power cargo ships and jet engines, respectively. Highlights of the lives of some of the inventors are also briefly presented. The rest of the book is mainly devoted to further developments and uses of these devices. Near. Outstanding History Of Technology Mr. Vaclav Smil has written a very interesting and useful book on the prime movers of our present global economy. Mr. Smil is one of the few general public authors to actually describe the basic inventions that produced the global economy. These inventions are the Diesel engine which enabled the cheap and efficient transport of goods all over the planet and the gas turbine engine that enabled fast and safe transportation via airplane around the world.Mr. Smil describes the background of both inventions, the leading inventors and developers, the basics of the operation of these inventions, the cha