How the World Really Works

How Science Can Set Us Straight on Our Past, Present and Future

By: Vaclav Smil

Narrated by: Stephen Perring

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 Audio

Great but too many numbers

It's an enjoyable look at the world but for an audio book there are too many numbers given in succession for one example or case. It makes it difficult to grasp the comparisons. You know, there are examples in two orders of magnitude more numerous than in other books. Also, in some cases, the examples are not illustrative to a regular person. You know, the number of words in this audio book is two point seven to the power of six, which is one point seven times more than in other audio books while a regular listener consumes about 5 hours of audio content per week.
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!

Grounded in physical realities, yet accessible

Highly recommended. For once a book on energy and climate that is grounded in the reality of how agriculture, construction and other human activities are really conducted and what these processes require at physical level.

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.

Best book in long time

This book is a must for every person that used phrase common sense i their daily lives

Tedious

This book is a good primer for aliens visiting planet Earth for the first time. Humans who have been living here for the last few decades and have been paying reasonable attention to what's going on will find the workings described here less revealing.

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.