From the movement of planets to the delivery of a package at your doorstep, speed plays a fundamental role in shaping the world around us. Vaclav Smil, author of “Speed: How It Explains the World,” examines the science, history and consequences of humanity’s relentless drive to move faster.
Drawing on examples from biology, agriculture, industry, and transportation, Smil traces how speed has influenced life on Earth for billions of years. He discusses how organisms evolved to gain advantages through speed, how technological advances transformed human societies and why efficiency has become one of the defining goals of modern civilization.
