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How the World Really Works
How the World Really Works
Oct 22, 2024 6:50 AM

Author:Vaclav Smil,Stephen Perring

How the World Really Works

Brought to you by Penguin.

We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity.From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check - because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.

In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable - the perils of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020 - and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, making their complete and rapid elimination unlikely. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato requires the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel oil for its production, and we still lack any commercially viable ways of making steel, ammonia, cement or plastics at required global scales without fossil fuels.

Vaclav Smil is neither a pessimist nor an optimist, he is a scientist; he is the world-leading expert on energy and an astonishing polymath. This is his magnum opus and is a continuation of his quest to make facts matter. Drawing on the latest science, including his own fascinating research, and tackling sources of misinformation head on - from Yuval Noah Harari to Noam Chomsky - 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.

© Vaclav Smil 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Reviews

Very informative and eye-opening in many ways

—— Ha-Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

It is reassuring to read an author so impervious to rhetorical fashion and so eager to champion uncertainty . . . Smil's book is at its essence a plea for agnosticism, and, believe it or not, humility - the rarest earth metal of all. His most valuable declarations concern the impossibility of acting with perfect foresight. Living with uncertainty, after all, "remains the essence of the human condition." Even under the most optimistic scenario, the future will not resemble the past

—— Nathaniel Rich , New York Times

A grumpy, pugnacious account that, I would argue, is intellectually indispensable in the run up to this year's COP27 climate conference in Egypt. In short, How the World Really Works fully delivers on the promise of its title. It is hard to formulate any higher praise

—— Simon Ings , New Scientist

You can agree or disagree with Smil - accept or doubt his 'just the facts' posture-but you probably shouldn't ignore him . . . In Smil's provocative but perceptive view, unrealistic notions about carbon reduction are partly, and ironically, attributable to the very productivity that societies achieved by substituting machine work, powered by fossil fuels, for draft animals and human laborers

—— Washington Post

This accessible and witty book cuts to the chase of what we need to know

—— Caroline Sanderson , The Bookseller, 'Editor's Choice'

If you are anxious about the future, and infuriated that we aren't doing enough about it, please read this book

—— Paul Collier, author of The Future of Capitalism

"I am neither a pessimist nor an optimist; I am a scientist," Smil writes in the introduction, with typically Smilian swagger. In fact, he is more of a numberist, a polymath with a gift for rigorously crushing complex data into pleasing morsels of information

—— Pilita Clark , Financial Times

Smil's meticulously researched words are for anyone who wants his priors reexamined and feathers ruffled

—— Joakin Book , AIER

Ambitious and eye-opening . . . provides valuable insight as opposed to the agenda-pushing rhetoric commonly found in mainstream scientific literature. Data-rich, informative and eye-opening, How the World Really Works is a captivating read

—— Lily Pagano , Reaction

A compelling, fascinating, and most important, realistic portrait of the world and where it's going

—— Steven Pinker, on Numbers Don’t Lie

Canadian polymath Vaclav Smil taught at the University of Manitoba for half a century. In this brilliant book, he does the hard work of crunching complicated data to present a clear and surprising picture of how our world - especially our physical world - really does work

—— Chrystia Freeland, Deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Canada , Bloomberg, 'Best Books of 2022'

This is a compelling read. It uses science and practical examples to clearly illustrate the kinds of resources we are consuming on this planet today - and the quantities, too. It lays bare how demanding the changes will be in our daily lives if the green transition in energy away from fossil fuels is to be achieved. It also makes clear how far humanity is lagging behind the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Getting China and India fully on board with this is absolutely critical if climate warming is to be even moderately tamed

—— Olli Rehn, Governor, Bank of Finland, and governing council member, European Central Bank , Bloomberg, 'Best Books of 2022'

Andy Saunders' remarkable digital imaging skills are rewriting space history. Saunders is doing for Project Apollo what the James Webb Space Telescope has done for astronomy: bringing our greatest adventure into sharp and arresting focus

—— George Leopold, author of The Supersonic Life & Times Of Gus Grissom

Andy Saunders' Apollo Remastered is utterly superb. Beyond beautiful -- it will take your breath away. Why did we go to the Moon? This explains everything...

—— Dallas Campbell

A peerless photographic masterpiece - almost as audacious as Apollo itself. If you only buy one Apollo book before the decade is out make sure it's this one! A total treasure to pore over for a lifetime

—— Dr Chris Riley - BAFTA nominated writer, filmmaker and co-producer of In The Shadow Of The Moon

I can already say with total confidence that this will go down in history as one of the greatest books about the Apollo missions ever published. Andy is a wizard, and has brought the missions' images to life in a whole new way.

—— Stuart Atkinson, author of A Cat’s Guide to the Night Sky

Andy Saunders has created the highest quality Apollo photographs ever produced. So much thought has gone into the design and production - they are genuinely breathtaking new visions of one of humankind's greatest endeavors.

—— Digital Camera World Magazine

A masterpiece

—— Tim Peake

Relive the wonder of the first humans on the Moon, now gloriously remastered and collected together in this gorgeous new book. The restored detail is astonishing, thanks to the wizardry of photo restorer Andy Saunders, who makes us feel like we are right there with them

—— IFLS

A wonderful volume on the whole Apollo program. As a geologist who worked closely with the astronauts and taught them how to photograph the Moon during the Apollo missions, I was amazed at the detail and clarity of these remastered versions Andy has produced, 50 years later. Also impressive is the research to produce such an accurate record. The information along with each photograph helps tell the story of the program in such an immersive way. He really has done a great deal for the legacy of the Apollo program

—— Dr Farouk El-Baz

A handsome volume. . . The digitally restored images in Apollo Remastered bring NASA's moon voyages to life as never before

—— Simon Ings , New Scientist, Best Books of the Year

In Mission Control, imagination pieced together grainy television images, crew voice reports and the flight plan, to portray mission events. Now, for the first time, APOLLO REMASTERED brings the glory of Apollo and the explorers into sharp focus. 50 years later, I can finally look over the shoulder of Mike Collins and Al Bean and see what they saw. I become part of the experience, as if I were a member of the crew.

—— Gene Kranz, Apollo Flight Director

Apollo Remastered is a fine collection of remastered photographs that depicts the real essence of the Apollo program. It brought back many memories of my time during the missions - an incredible book that will surely be enjoyed for many generations to come

—— Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander

Using cutting edge enhancement techniques, Andy Saunders has created the highest quality Apollo photographs ever produced. He's also produced the first ever clear image of the first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong. It's not surprising that his new book, Apollo Remastered has become a Sunday Times bestseller; showcasing photographs that are literally out of this world

—— ITV News

Read this book (praise for: The Sixth Extinction)

—— Independent

Elizabeth Kolbert's cautionary tale, The Sixth Extinction, offers us a cogent overview of a harrowing biological challenge. The reporting is exceptional, the contextualizing exemplary (praise for: The Sixth Extinction)

—— Barry Lopez, author of Arctic Dreams and Horizon

The Sixth Mass Extinction is the biggest story on Earth, period, and Elizabeth Kolbert tells it with imagination, rigor, deep reporting, and a capacious curiosity about all the wondrous creatures and ecosystems that exist, or have existed, on our planet. The result is an important book full of love and loss (praise for: The Sixth Extinction)

—— David Quammen, author of The Song of the Dodo and Spillover

Fascinating

—— Chris Fitch , Geographical

In Under a White Sky...Elizabeth Kolbert...[combines] curiosity with an acerbic wit to explore humanity's obsession with controlling nature... Kolbert's skill is in presenting compelling stories from the Anthropocene and letting us judge for ourselves

—— James Dacey , Physics World
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