Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. His interdisciplinary research embraces the interaction of energy, food, environment, population, technical innovation, and public policy. Smil has published more than 40 books and about 500 papers on these topics. He is a member of the Order of Canada and a fellow of the Academy of Science in the Royal Society of Canada.

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Medicine History and Risk [long_description] The 1918–1919 flu pandemic is not the best point of reference as the world deals with the COVID-19 outbreaks. And Vaclav Smil warns that when the current crisis is resolved, the West will likely—again—not make adequate provisions for the next pandemic. We did not take any resolute steps after the pandemics of 1958–1959, 1968, and 2009. Why should we assume it will be different this time?
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Economics Good Eats [long_description] Affluent countries currently produce far more food than they need, or could ever hope to consume. Vaclav Smil examines the enormity of this waste and its effects on health. The solution that he recommends is simple, but perhaps unbearable. It would require a fundamental shift of priorities, from growth to deliberately managed retreat—an antithetical move for modern economies.

ISSN #2576–4403