Why America Is Not a New Rome pdf

瓦茨拉夫微笑 目前是加拿大温尼伯曼尼托巴大学环境学院的特聘教授。他在布拉格卡罗林大学自然科学学院和宾夕法尼亚州立大学地球与矿物科学学院完成了研究生学习。他的跨学科研究兴趣涵盖能源、环境、食品、人口、经济、历史和公共政策研究等广泛领域，他还将这些方法应用于中国的能源、食品和环境事务。

他是加拿大皇家学会（科学院）的会员，也是第一位获得美国科学促进会公众对科学技术理解奖的非美国人。他在美国、加拿大、欧洲、亚洲和非洲的 250 多个会议和研讨会上受邀演讲，在北美、欧洲和东亚的多所大学讲学，并在美国、欧盟和许多国家担任顾问。国际机构。他的妻子伊娃是一名医生，他的儿子大卫是一名有机合成化学家。

Why America Is Not a New Rome pdf 瓦茨拉夫微笑

America's post--Cold War strategic dominance and its pre-recession affluence inspired pundits to make celebratory comparisons to ancient Rome at its most powerful. Now, with America no longer perceived as invulnerable, engaged in protracted fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, comparisons are to the bloated, decadent, ineffectual later Empire. In "Why America Is Not a New Rome," Vaclav Smil looks at these comparisons in detail, going deeper than the facile analogy-making of talk shows and glossy magazine articles. He finds profound differences.

Smil, a scientist and a lifelong student of Roman history, focuses on several fundamental concerns: the very meaning of empire; the actual extent and nature of Roman and American power; the role of knowledge and innovation; and demographic and economic basics--population dynamics, illness, death, wealth, and misery. America is not a latter-day Rome, Smil finds, and we need to understand this in order to look ahead without the burden of counterproductive analogies. Superficial similarities do not imply long-term political, demographic, or economic outcomes identical to Rome's.