SMIL 2.0 - Interactive multimedia for Web and Mobile Devices gently introduces you to the Web multimedia standard SMIL 2.0. Written by world-renowned SMIL experts who helped to develop the language and software for it, this book covers all aspects of the standard in a knowledgeable yet accessible manner: the overall concepts, the technical details and the many facets of SMIL's current and expected use. It is written to serve as an introduction, a full manual and a detailed technical reference.

A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year 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 solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.

Get the Summary of Vaclav Smil's Invention and Innovation in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Vaclav Smil's "Invention and Innovation" examines the evolution of human inventions across four categories: simple tools, machines and mechanisms, new materials, and production methods. The book contrasts the USSR's failure to innovate with China's successful adoption of foreign technologies. Smil notes an acceleration in patent filings but cautions that not all represent significant innovation...

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 The most obvious physical constraint on fertility is the length of the fertile period, which has been decreasing from about 17 years in preindustrial societies to less than 13 years in today’s Western world. #2 The shift from high to low fertility took about two centuries in Denmark and 170 years in Sweden. No country has been able to stop the fertility decline at the replacement level and achieve a stationary population. #3 The most common measure of human quality of life is the gross domestic product per capita, but this does not take into account economic inequality or the social net available to disadvantaged families. I prefer to use the Human Development Index, which combines life expectancy at birth and educational achievements with the gross national income per capita. #4 The lowest infant mortality rates are found in small, homogeneous societies with very low birth rates. It is difficult to maintain low infant mortalities in larger, heterogeneous societies with high rates of immigration from less affluent countries.

* Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic. It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes. As you read this summary, you will learn that the increased consumption of materials is the major feature of the modern world. You will also learn that : the invention of the steam engine revolutionized mankind; a long-term dematerialization without radical changes in lifestyle is very unlikely; humanity's material progress is experiencing two successive ages; energy is the most important of all materials; our civilization is at a crossroads in terms of our consumption of materials; the current level of material consumption is very recent if we place it in the long historical period. The consumption of materials is at the heart of economic production, without which it could not exist. Materials of all kinds, be they mineral, vegetable, etc., condition our daily life, modern life, that of industrialized countries whose societies are consumer societies. Their production, use and destruction, once they have become waste, are the subject of this book, which examines the costs of our society's dependence on materials, as well as the possible paths to a progressive dematerialization, which the threatened integrity of the biosphere makes indispensable. *Buy now the summary of this book for the modest price of a cup of coffee!

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The most obvious physical constraint on fertility is the length of the fertile period, which has been decreasing from about 17 years in preindustrial societies to less than 13 years in today’s Western world. #2 The shift from high to low fertility took about two centuries in Denmark and 170 years in Sweden. No country has been able to stop the fertility decline at the replacement level and achieve a stationary population. #3 The most common measure of human quality of life is the gross domestic product per capita, but this does not take into account economic inequality or the social net available to disadvantaged families. I prefer to use the Human Development Index, which combines life expectancy at birth and educational achievements with the gross national income per capita. #4 The lowest infant mortality rates are found in small, homogeneous societies with very low birth rates. It is difficult to maintain low infant mortalities in larger, heterogeneous societies with high rates of immigration from less affluent countries.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The modern world is a result of several transitions that have changed the way we live our lives. The premodern world was marked by a high degree of inertia and pattern persistence, as different climates and beliefs produced many specific outcomes. #2 There were many differences between everyday diets in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but they all had one thing in common: they were highly inertial. They produced low population growth, limited food supplies, low-power energy conversions, and barely changing economic performance. #3 The lives of people can be changed dramatically by the effects of grand transitions. For example, the lives of a woman born in a poor French village in the first decade of the 19th century and her son in the Paris of the 1870s could have been completely different. #4 China is a great example of how a grand transition can be covered by the lives of just two generations. A girl born to a poor peasant family in 1945 grew up in a society whose mores and material possessions were near carbon copies of life a century ago. By 1961, she became the only member of her extended family who survived the world’s most devastating famine.

World acclaimed scientist Vaclav Smil reveals everything there is to know about nature's most sought-after resource Oil is the lifeblood of the modern world. Without it, there would be no planes, no plastic, no exotic produce, and a global political landscape few would recognise. Humanity’s dependence upon oil looks set to continue for decades to come, but what is it? Fully updated and packed with fascinating facts to fuel dinner party debate, Professor Vaclav Smil's Oil: A Beginner's Guide explains all matters related to the ‘black stuff’, from its discovery in the earth right through to the controversy that surrounds it today.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 A benign science fiction scenario is that an extremely sapient civilization monitors Earth and its inhabitants. The probes make periodic visits to our planet, and only when they detect a previously unknown form of energy conversion or a new physical manifestation dependent on it do they make a second pass. #2 The first microorganisms emerge nearly 4 billion years ago, but passing probes do not register them, as they are rare and remain hidden associated with alkaline hydrothermal vents at the ocean’s floor. #3 The first extrasomatic use of energy is the controlled combustion of plants to create light and heat, which is used for cooking and comfort. The first crop cultivation is recorded about 10 millennia ago. #4 By 1800, the UK is the most interesting country to the alien probe because it is an exceptional early adopter. The country has a early start in coal mining, and begins to use steam engines to power machines.