
How the World Really Works
How Science Can Set Us Straight on Our Past, Present and Future
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Perring
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By:
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Vaclav Smil
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
We have never had so much information at our fingertips, and yet most of us simply don't understand how our world really works. Professor Vaclav Smil is not a pessimist or an optimist, he is a scientist, and this book is a much-needed reality check on topics ranging from food production and nutrition, through energy and the environment, to globalisation and the future. For example, the carbon footprint of meat is well known, but did you know that the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel fuel goes into the production of each greenhouse-grown, medium-size, supermarket-bought tomato? The gap between belief and reality is vast.
Drawing on the latest science, tackling sources of misinformation head-on and championing a rational, fact-based approach, in How the World Really Works Smil shows, for example, why the planet isn't 'suffocating' (even burning all the planet's fossil fuels would reduce oxygen levels by just 0.25 per cent) and that globalisation isn't 'inevitable' and nor should it be (the stupidity of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020).
Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed, or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary masterpiece finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.
©2021 Vaclav Smil (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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It may work in print version, or at least it's easier to ignore or skip, but in audio version it's just too much. Other than that, a great book and food for thought!
Great but too many numbers
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Smil clearly says Earth is warming, which to him is very old news. At the same time, he shows how woefully uninformed many vocal activists and politicians are.
Grounded in physical realities, yet accessible
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Best book in long time
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brilliant book to help you think more clearly about the world
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The first two chapters on energy and food production are interesting. The following chapters get increasingly tedious, as they are largely a rehash of known facts. A good sprinkling of numbers from statistical yearbooks helps the reader maintain some interest. But don't expect to find anything new here, if you've been keeping up with science and non-fiction literature in the past.
Tedious
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Wouldn’t recommend
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