Following his New York Times bestseller How the World Really Works, Vaclav Smil returns with a mind-opening exploration of how size defines life on Earth (and beyond) - from microbes to economies and the expanding universe To answer the most important questions of our age, and secure our future, we must understand size. Neither bacteria nor empires are immune to its laws. Measuring it is challenging, especially where complex systems like economies are concerned, yet mastering it offers rich rewards. Grounded in history and drawing on the latest science, with much recourse to art and classic literature, Size explains the regularities - and peculiarities - of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages). We learn, for example, the rules governing beauty, why a biosphere needs diversity, how to predict the size of a cou