'Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization' by Vaclav Smil
Gates says his favorite author is Vaclav Smil, an environmental sciences professor who writes big histories of things like energy and innovation.
His latest is "Making the Modern World." It got Gates thinking.
"It might seem mundane, but the issue of materials — how much we use and how much we need — is key to helping the world's poorest people improve their lives," he writes. "Think of the amazing increase in quality of life that we saw in the United States and other rich countries in the past 100 years. We want most of that miracle to take place for all of humanity over the next 50 years."
To know where we're going, Gates says, we need to know where we've been — and Smil is one of his favorite sources for learning that.
Gates says his favorite author is Vaclav Smil, an environmental sciences professor who writes big histories of things like energy and innovation.
His latest is "Making the Modern World." It got Gates thinking.
"It might seem mundane, but the issue of materials — how much we use and how much we need — is key to helping the world's poorest people improve their lives," he writes. "Think of the amazing increase in quality of life that we saw in the United States and other rich countries in the past 100 years. We want most of that miracle to take place for all of humanity over the next 50 years."
To know where we're going, Gates says, we need to know where we've been — and Smil is one of his favorite sources for learning that.
