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Harvesting the Biosphere is an interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistory to the present day. Vaclav Smil examines all harvests―from prehistoric man's hunting of megafauna to modern crop production―and all uses of harvested biomass, including energy, food, and raw materials. Smil makes a compelling case for harvesting as the driver of civilization.