Invention and Innovation

& Technology

"As an environmentalist and energy writer, Vaclav Smil is well placed to analyse the impact of past and promised inventions and innovations. He distinguishes between these concepts: innovation, he says, involves mastering new materials, products, processes and ideas . He focuses engagingly on three types of failed invention: welcomed but then unwelcome (for example, leaded petrol and the pesticide DDT); over-hyped (such as nuclear fission and supersonic flight); and undelivered (including travel by vacuum tube and controlled nuclear fusion)."
Nature

"The prolific Smil (emer., Univ. of Manitoba), whose 40 published titles include Energy and Civilization and Global Catastrophes and Trends, examines the history of innovation failure since the 1860s. Briefly distinguishing between invention and innovation (an outcome), he sorts the latter into three categories: those that failed to dominate, those that were disastrous, and those still promised but yet to appear. Topical examples include fuel additives, nuclear energy, supersonic flight, hyperloop (vacuum tube) transport, and nitrogen-fixing cereals... Smil deftly supports his arguments with rich details and sobering statistics, calling for the need to improve the life of the world's population while avoiding impacts to the biosphere."
CHOICE

"Smil, put a sharp focus on the hype cycle that drives so many tech innovations, like AI and biotech. For one example, he turns his lens on the often-promised microreactor revolution in nuclear power, scoffing that as of yet no nation has announced any specific, detailed, and binding commitment to what would have to be a multidecadal program of reactor construction. In other words as we ve noted here in DFD, the future might be coming, but it s often hard to build."
Politico