China's Past, China's Future (Asia's Transformations/Critical Asian Scholarship) [Paperback]

Vaclav Smil (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415314992 | ISBN-13: 978-0415314992 | Publication Date: December 20, 2003

China has a population of 1.3 billion people which puts strain on her natural resources. This volume, by one of the leading scholars on the earth's biosphere, is the result of a lifetime of study, and provides the fullest account yet of the environmental challenges that China faces. The author examines China's energy resources, their uses, impacts and prospects, from the 1970s oil crisis to the present day, before analysing the key question of how China can best produce enough food to feed its enormous population.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'China's expanding population aond huge developmental needs have put enormous demands on the environment. This is one of the most factual and comprehensive discussions on those environmental pressures currently available.' - China Information

'This is an excellent book that summarises many of the arguements and research that has stimulated Professor Smil's work. It provides a particularly useful summary of some of the main trends in China's food, energy and environmental use and, as such, should appeal not only to Sinologists but also to non-specialists and those wanting an overview of China's recent and current environment and society.'

- James Beattie, University of Otago

About the Author

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Manitoba, Canada. He is widely recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the biosphere and China's environment. He is the author of many books including The Earth's Biosphere, Enriching the Earth, Feeding the World and China's Environment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415314992
• ISBN-13: 978-0415314992
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Vaclav Smil is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He completed his graduate studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Carolinum University in Prague and at the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of the Pennsylvania State University. His interdisciplinary research interests encompass a broad area of energy, environmental, food, population, economic, historical and public policy studies, and he had also applied these approaches to energy, food and environmental affairs of China.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Science Academy) and the first non-American to receive the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology. He has been an invited speaker in more than 250 conferences and workshops in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa, has lectured at many universities in North America, Europe and East Asia and has worked as a consultant for many US, EU and international institutions. His wife Eva is a physician and his son David is an organic synthetic chemist.

Official Website: www.vaslavsmil.com