Growth

Why it’s on the list: Smil puts growth curves over everything — organisms, crops, engines, cities, economies — and shows that they all saturate. The argument against indefinite exponential anything, made with the data.

Where I heard about it

• Spotted at Powell’s City of Books, Portland — December 2022 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at San Mateo Public Library — August 2026 (Books photo album)

• Replies to @SpencrGreenberg — an answer when he asked “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world (or how humanity or society) really works?” in his thread, June 2025. The full list of answers is on A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet).

Connections

• Vaclav Smil — Author.
• Economic Growth — The thing the book is about and the thing it says cannot continue.
• Energy — Smil’s home subject and the constraint underneath the curves.
• Complexity — The systems the curves are drawn over.
• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.