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Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World
Is flying dangerous? How much do the world's cows weigh? And what makes people happy?
From earth's nations and inhabitants, through the fuels and foods that energize them, to the transportation and inventions of our modern world - and how all of this affects the planet itself - in Numbers Don't Lie, Professor Vaclav Smil takes us on a fact-finding adventure, using surprising statistics and illuminating graphs to challenge lazy thinking.
Packed with 'well-I-never-knew-that' information and with fascinating and unusual examples throughout, we see how it is too soon to judge shale gas, that vaccination yields the best return on investment, and why electric cars aren't as great as we think (yet). There's a wonderful mix of science, history and wit, all in bite-sized chapters on a broad range of topics.
Should you trust unemployment figures? Is China's rise unstoppable? And what's worse for the environment: your car or mobile phone?
Unclouded by pessimism or optimism and unafraid of big questions, Smil explains why calls for the Anthropocene era may be premature but why the Paris Agreement does not go far enough. These issues are not straightforward and progress takes longer than you think, but with Smil as our authoritative and entertaining guide we get a healthy shot of realism.
Urgent and essential, Numbers Don't Lie is a powerful rallying cry for interrogating what you take to be true in these significant times. Smil is on a mission to make facts matter, because after all, numbers may not lie, but which truth do they convey?
From earth's nations and inhabitants, through the fuels and foods that energize them, to the transportation and inventions of our modern world - and how all of this affects the planet itself - in Numbers Don't Lie, Professor Vaclav Smil takes us on a fact-finding adventure, using surprising statistics and illuminating graphs to challenge lazy thinking.
Packed with 'well-I-never-knew-that' information and with fascinating and unusual examples throughout, we see how it is too soon to judge shale gas, that vaccination yields the best return on investment, and why electric cars aren't as great as we think (yet). There's a wonderful mix of science, history and wit, all in bite-sized chapters on a broad range of topics.
Should you trust unemployment figures? Is China's rise unstoppable? And what's worse for the environment: your car or mobile phone?
Unclouded by pessimism or optimism and unafraid of big questions, Smil explains why calls for the Anthropocene era may be premature but why the Paris Agreement does not go far enough. These issues are not straightforward and progress takes longer than you think, but with Smil as our authoritative and entertaining guide we get a healthy shot of realism.
Urgent and essential, Numbers Don't Lie is a powerful rallying cry for interrogating what you take to be true in these significant times. Smil is on a mission to make facts matter, because after all, numbers may not lie, but which truth do they convey?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2020
About the author
Vaclav Smil
61 books3,896 followersVaclav Smil Ph.D. (Geography, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of Pennsylvania State University, 1971; RNDr., Charles University, Prague, 1965), is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2010 was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 838 reviews
November 9, 2020
This is a very informative book, approaching a diverse range of topics, from dietary habits, natality, engineering, to climate change factors and GDP. All data are statistics, but what is interesting is their interpretation.
As the author says, "numbers need to be seen in wider contexts", not just taken out from charts.
One example:
"And why do we measure the progress of economies by gross domestic products? GDP is simply the total annual value of all goods and services transacted in a country. It rises not only when lives get better and economies progress but also when bad things happen to people or the environment. Higher alcohol sales, more driving under the influence, more accidents, more emergency rooms admissions, more injuries, more people in jail - GDP goes up. More illegal logging in the tropics, more deforestation and biodiversity loss, higher timber sales - again, GDP goes up. We know better, but we still worship high annual GDP growth rate, regardless of where it comes from."
There are a lot of parallels between different external factors affecting life expectancy, dietary habits (diary fat, contrary to other beliefs, lower the risk of coronary diseases and strokes), energy efficiency, and so on.
If you hold an interest in such topics and statistics, this is a very good book. It is spiced here and there with a bit of dry humor, which makes the reading very pleasant, despite the numerous numbers.
It isn't groundbreaking, but it puts into a different perspective what we take for granted, and teaches us how to interpret those statistics correctly.
>>> ARC received thanks to Penguin General UK / Viking via NetGalley <<<
As the author says, "numbers need to be seen in wider contexts", not just taken out from charts.
One example:
"And why do we measure the progress of economies by gross domestic products? GDP is simply the total annual value of all goods and services transacted in a country. It rises not only when lives get better and economies progress but also when bad things happen to people or the environment. Higher alcohol sales, more driving under the influence, more accidents, more emergency rooms admissions, more injuries, more people in jail - GDP goes up. More illegal logging in the tropics, more deforestation and biodiversity loss, higher timber sales - again, GDP goes up. We know better, but we still worship high annual GDP growth rate, regardless of where it comes from."
There are a lot of parallels between different external factors affecting life expectancy, dietary habits (diary fat, contrary to other beliefs, lower the risk of coronary diseases and strokes), energy efficiency, and so on.
If you hold an interest in such topics and statistics, this is a very good book. It is spiced here and there with a bit of dry humor, which makes the reading very pleasant, despite the numerous numbers.
It isn't groundbreaking, but it puts into a different perspective what we take for granted, and teaches us how to interpret those statistics correctly.
>>> ARC received thanks to Penguin General UK / Viking via NetGalley <<<
March 11, 2021
Numbers Don’t Lie is an absolute delight for a reader like me. Vaclav Smil takes an engineer’s approach to dozens of everyday issues and shows how they work – or don’t – by the numbers. If we looked at more things this way, we would be dramatically better off.
The book is a collection of very short articles Smil wrote for an IEEE magazine. He has grouped them into categories like home, transport, energy and so on, so readers can explore the “well what about…” alternatives. This is the book that proves/disproves what people routinely toss off as factual. It is an air-clearer of real use to all and sundry.
And it’s entertaining. Along the way, Smil interjects the occasional plea for sanity, such as simply improving home insulation rather than trying to invent sic-fi geo-engineering brainstorms, which are at best unproven and at worst dangerous. But always technologically difficult and impossibly expensive.
Take education, for an example of disproving by the numbers. Smil says “Politicians may look far and wide for evidence of American exceptionalism, but they won’t find it in the numbers, where it matters.” In 2018, he says, the OECD test results showed American 15 year olds reading below those in Russia, Slovakia and Spain. In science, they ranked below the mean, and in reading, just two points above average, far from the top where Americans think they routinely place.
The stats also say Americans are more likely to die within a year of birth, live shorter lives and be less likely to learn. One of my favorite OECD stats, which Smil missed, is that American teens lead in just one category – self-esteem. They too think they’re all exceptional.
He can also take a fun side trip. He lauds the 1880s as a time of great innovation, something we never think about. The 1880s saw a bunch inventions and product launches that we still employ today: Quaker Oats, light rail, bicycles, the Wall Street Journal, revolving doors, elevators, cash registers, Coca Cola, vending machines, ballpoint pens, and Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, no matter what they intend calling it going forward.
It’s not all encompassing, however. Smil’s paean to the diesel engine is all about how efficient it is, how powerful, how its fuel is closer to raw and therefore less expensive, and on and on. But he totally neglects to mention that diesel exhaust is a listed carcinogen, dirtying the atmosphere far beyond its share of an already terrible situation.
In writing about energy, Smil cites nuclear fusion as “the most notorious example of an ever-receding innovative achievement. “ It is always the next big thing in clean, economical nuclear power, and like Donald Trump’s healthcare plan, is always just around the corner. Watch for it, you’ll see. But it never comes.
I very much appreciate the common sense he exhibits repeatedly throughout. He says we know airplane boarding does not work, but we “persist in proven failures”. We could board planes from the front and the back, we could abolish reserved seating or implement a pyramid system. Why not just fix boarding instead of dreaming of hyperloop trains, he asks.
He questions economic stats and forecasts. He says GDP “rises not only when lives get better and economies progress, but also when bad things happen to people or the environment. Higher alcohol sales, more driving under the influence, more accidents, more emergency room admissions, more injuries, more people in jail – GDP goes up. More illegal logging in the tropics, more deforestation and biodiversity loss, higher timber sales – again, GDP goes up. We know better, but we still worship high annual GDP growth rate, regardless of where it comes from.” In addition to all the things GDP gets wrong, the whole concept is misleadingly pointless by the numbers.
But then, there are times when Smil gets carried away, to the point where most readers will not be able to fathom what he’s writing about: “Under photopic conditions (that is, under bright light, which allows color perception), the luminous efficacy of visible light peaks at 683 lm/W at a wavelength of 555 nanometers. That’s in the green part of the spectrum – the color that seems, at any given level of power, to be the brightest.” I don’t know how many times I have read that, but I still couldn’t explain it anyone else. Or to myself.
On the other hand, his explanation of the perceptible differences in incandescent vs fluorescent vs LED vs sunlight describes exactly what about each one makes it uncomfortable or acceptable. Because the differences are measurable. Fluorescents are low pressure and produce only monochromatic yellow (they are too blue), so they aren’t used in homes. LEDs produce light for three to four hours a day for 20 years, a huge savings over incandescent bulbs, but “they still can’t match natural light’s spectrum.” Too much in the blue range, not enough in the red. Incandescent lights gave out too little blue, fluorescents too little red. “They don’t please the eye.” Sunlight wins top place, hands down and as yet unmatched.
He points out that a lumen of electric light costs 1/2500th of what it cost in early in the 20th century. So lights are everywhere, and far brighter than they have ever been.
Smil tackles fear of flying with stats from 2017, when he says he spent more than 100 hours in large jets. He says the four airlines that flew him had their last fatal accidents in 1983, 1993, 1997 and 2000. Who looks up stats like that? You are safer in the air than in an American hospital, he says, where deaths from viruses, bacteria and errors are increasing (to the point where the healthcare system is the second biggest cause of death in the USA). His advice to all: keep flying and avoid hospitals.
As to food, who but an engineer could come up with this analysis? Meat production breaks out as pork , 40%, chicken 37% and beef 23%. Their total was 300 million tons in 2018. But beef is by far the most expensive to get to market. It takes 11,0000 liters of water to produce one pound of beef. 60% of all crops go to raising beef. Horribly inefficient and wasteful. What if, he says, we adjust the mix to 40% pork, 50% chicken and 10% beef? We would then have 30% more chicken, 20% more pork, while halving the environmental burden. Yet total tonnage would then actually rise to 350 million tons, feeding far more people. This is doable and desirable. Just change the government incentives.
Disclosure: I freely admit I am predisposed to like this book, for a couple of reasons. One, I had a mentor who like Smil, was also a Czech refugee, also a scientist/engineer, also living in Canada. He, like Smil, not only taught me to look at the figures behind the “facts”, but assemble them properly to understand their context. He became my closest friend for a good two decades, and I helped him publicize a number of causes to promote the truth against the myths and outright lies. But where Smil became a professor emeritus and has published 40 books, Bohumil Jerabek earned himself a deck of patents on everything from vacuum cleaners to chainsaws, and had a lab so well equipped that engineers from the National Research Council came to play at his house on weekends. He would have loved this book,roared in laughter at many of the claims that are so true, and had he known Smil, they would have been best friends forever.
Two, Numbers Don’t Lie is very much like my own book, The Straight Dope, or what I learned from my first thousand nonfiction reviews. I too assembled a book around topics so it was more than just miscellaneous trivia. I too assembled it from reviews I had published over a ten year period. I too dragged the salient facts into the spotlight to promote knowledge beyond the rumors. And I too made it easy to read and digest in bite-sized chunks that stir the brainwaves.
So in my mind, the fast-reading and fun Numbers Don’t Lie is a wonderful experience that provides something for everyone.
David Wineberg
The book is a collection of very short articles Smil wrote for an IEEE magazine. He has grouped them into categories like home, transport, energy and so on, so readers can explore the “well what about…” alternatives. This is the book that proves/disproves what people routinely toss off as factual. It is an air-clearer of real use to all and sundry.
And it’s entertaining. Along the way, Smil interjects the occasional plea for sanity, such as simply improving home insulation rather than trying to invent sic-fi geo-engineering brainstorms, which are at best unproven and at worst dangerous. But always technologically difficult and impossibly expensive.
Take education, for an example of disproving by the numbers. Smil says “Politicians may look far and wide for evidence of American exceptionalism, but they won’t find it in the numbers, where it matters.” In 2018, he says, the OECD test results showed American 15 year olds reading below those in Russia, Slovakia and Spain. In science, they ranked below the mean, and in reading, just two points above average, far from the top where Americans think they routinely place.
The stats also say Americans are more likely to die within a year of birth, live shorter lives and be less likely to learn. One of my favorite OECD stats, which Smil missed, is that American teens lead in just one category – self-esteem. They too think they’re all exceptional.
He can also take a fun side trip. He lauds the 1880s as a time of great innovation, something we never think about. The 1880s saw a bunch inventions and product launches that we still employ today: Quaker Oats, light rail, bicycles, the Wall Street Journal, revolving doors, elevators, cash registers, Coca Cola, vending machines, ballpoint pens, and Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, no matter what they intend calling it going forward.
It’s not all encompassing, however. Smil’s paean to the diesel engine is all about how efficient it is, how powerful, how its fuel is closer to raw and therefore less expensive, and on and on. But he totally neglects to mention that diesel exhaust is a listed carcinogen, dirtying the atmosphere far beyond its share of an already terrible situation.
In writing about energy, Smil cites nuclear fusion as “the most notorious example of an ever-receding innovative achievement. “ It is always the next big thing in clean, economical nuclear power, and like Donald Trump’s healthcare plan, is always just around the corner. Watch for it, you’ll see. But it never comes.
I very much appreciate the common sense he exhibits repeatedly throughout. He says we know airplane boarding does not work, but we “persist in proven failures”. We could board planes from the front and the back, we could abolish reserved seating or implement a pyramid system. Why not just fix boarding instead of dreaming of hyperloop trains, he asks.
He questions economic stats and forecasts. He says GDP “rises not only when lives get better and economies progress, but also when bad things happen to people or the environment. Higher alcohol sales, more driving under the influence, more accidents, more emergency room admissions, more injuries, more people in jail – GDP goes up. More illegal logging in the tropics, more deforestation and biodiversity loss, higher timber sales – again, GDP goes up. We know better, but we still worship high annual GDP growth rate, regardless of where it comes from.” In addition to all the things GDP gets wrong, the whole concept is misleadingly pointless by the numbers.
But then, there are times when Smil gets carried away, to the point where most readers will not be able to fathom what he’s writing about: “Under photopic conditions (that is, under bright light, which allows color perception), the luminous efficacy of visible light peaks at 683 lm/W at a wavelength of 555 nanometers. That’s in the green part of the spectrum – the color that seems, at any given level of power, to be the brightest.” I don’t know how many times I have read that, but I still couldn’t explain it anyone else. Or to myself.
On the other hand, his explanation of the perceptible differences in incandescent vs fluorescent vs LED vs sunlight describes exactly what about each one makes it uncomfortable or acceptable. Because the differences are measurable. Fluorescents are low pressure and produce only monochromatic yellow (they are too blue), so they aren’t used in homes. LEDs produce light for three to four hours a day for 20 years, a huge savings over incandescent bulbs, but “they still can’t match natural light’s spectrum.” Too much in the blue range, not enough in the red. Incandescent lights gave out too little blue, fluorescents too little red. “They don’t please the eye.” Sunlight wins top place, hands down and as yet unmatched.
He points out that a lumen of electric light costs 1/2500th of what it cost in early in the 20th century. So lights are everywhere, and far brighter than they have ever been.
Smil tackles fear of flying with stats from 2017, when he says he spent more than 100 hours in large jets. He says the four airlines that flew him had their last fatal accidents in 1983, 1993, 1997 and 2000. Who looks up stats like that? You are safer in the air than in an American hospital, he says, where deaths from viruses, bacteria and errors are increasing (to the point where the healthcare system is the second biggest cause of death in the USA). His advice to all: keep flying and avoid hospitals.
As to food, who but an engineer could come up with this analysis? Meat production breaks out as pork , 40%, chicken 37% and beef 23%. Their total was 300 million tons in 2018. But beef is by far the most expensive to get to market. It takes 11,0000 liters of water to produce one pound of beef. 60% of all crops go to raising beef. Horribly inefficient and wasteful. What if, he says, we adjust the mix to 40% pork, 50% chicken and 10% beef? We would then have 30% more chicken, 20% more pork, while halving the environmental burden. Yet total tonnage would then actually rise to 350 million tons, feeding far more people. This is doable and desirable. Just change the government incentives.
Disclosure: I freely admit I am predisposed to like this book, for a couple of reasons. One, I had a mentor who like Smil, was also a Czech refugee, also a scientist/engineer, also living in Canada. He, like Smil, not only taught me to look at the figures behind the “facts”, but assemble them properly to understand their context. He became my closest friend for a good two decades, and I helped him publicize a number of causes to promote the truth against the myths and outright lies. But where Smil became a professor emeritus and has published 40 books, Bohumil Jerabek earned himself a deck of patents on everything from vacuum cleaners to chainsaws, and had a lab so well equipped that engineers from the National Research Council came to play at his house on weekends. He would have loved this book,roared in laughter at many of the claims that are so true, and had he known Smil, they would have been best friends forever.
Two, Numbers Don’t Lie is very much like my own book, The Straight Dope, or what I learned from my first thousand nonfiction reviews. I too assembled a book around topics so it was more than just miscellaneous trivia. I too assembled it from reviews I had published over a ten year period. I too dragged the salient facts into the spotlight to promote knowledge beyond the rumors. And I too made it easy to read and digest in bite-sized chunks that stir the brainwaves.
So in my mind, the fast-reading and fun Numbers Don’t Lie is a wonderful experience that provides something for everyone.
David Wineberg
December 25, 2021
A quick read whirlwind tour of a number of topics, at a pace of only about 2-3 pages per topic. Some fun notes and examples:
- 75% of all births between 2020 - 2070 will be in Africa
- vaccinations have an extraordinarily high benefit-cost ratio, an approx. ~44X return on investment
- estimated heritability of linespace is only ~15-30% (?)
- humans are sweating champions in the animal kingdom, very useful for thermoregulation and endurance even in hot weather
- synthesis of ammonia not only averted the Malthusian catastrophe, but also just in time allowed a blockaded Germany to continue manufacturing explosives and prolonged WWI by years.
- renewables only provided ~4.5% of electricity in 2017, and electricity is only 27% of global energy consumption ;s
- many large uses of fossil fuels have no clear non-carbon alternatives, including long-distance transport (air, water), production of primary iron, cement, synthesis of ammonia, plastics, space heating
- no other domesticated land animal can covert feed to meat as efficiently as broilers (chickens raised for meat production), at a feed-to-meat conversion efficiency of ~15% (pork 10%, beef 4%). The lives of these chicken are straight up unethical - they live 7 weeks (normal lifespan is ~8 years), have malformed bodies, spend life in dark confinement. But cost $2.94 / pound of boneless breast, great.
- in North America / Europe about 60% of total crop production is for animal feed, not human feed
- four pillars of modern civilization, allegedly: ammonia, steel, cement, plastics
This is a fun / quick read, though mostly a large collection of mostly disconnected cliff-notes style quick fact summaries that are dense in numbers and comparisons and can become a bit exhausting. Perhaps due to speed, some topics get a somewhat questionable, almost misleading treatment, for example I found the EV and GDP sections mildly annoying.
- 75% of all births between 2020 - 2070 will be in Africa
- vaccinations have an extraordinarily high benefit-cost ratio, an approx. ~44X return on investment
- estimated heritability of linespace is only ~15-30% (?)
- humans are sweating champions in the animal kingdom, very useful for thermoregulation and endurance even in hot weather
- synthesis of ammonia not only averted the Malthusian catastrophe, but also just in time allowed a blockaded Germany to continue manufacturing explosives and prolonged WWI by years.
- renewables only provided ~4.5% of electricity in 2017, and electricity is only 27% of global energy consumption ;s
- many large uses of fossil fuels have no clear non-carbon alternatives, including long-distance transport (air, water), production of primary iron, cement, synthesis of ammonia, plastics, space heating
- no other domesticated land animal can covert feed to meat as efficiently as broilers (chickens raised for meat production), at a feed-to-meat conversion efficiency of ~15% (pork 10%, beef 4%). The lives of these chicken are straight up unethical - they live 7 weeks (normal lifespan is ~8 years), have malformed bodies, spend life in dark confinement. But cost $2.94 / pound of boneless breast, great.
- in North America / Europe about 60% of total crop production is for animal feed, not human feed
- four pillars of modern civilization, allegedly: ammonia, steel, cement, plastics
This is a fun / quick read, though mostly a large collection of mostly disconnected cliff-notes style quick fact summaries that are dense in numbers and comparisons and can become a bit exhausting. Perhaps due to speed, some topics get a somewhat questionable, almost misleading treatment, for example I found the EV and GDP sections mildly annoying.
December 28, 2020
Finally gave up on this. It's just a series of rants. The most pessimistic, cynical and grouchy book I've read. Yes, there are facts, though mostly lacking reference and explanation, but they're often fairly common knowledge. There's a lot of contradiction too. I gave up after the chapter titled Being Realistic About Innovation. It was basically a rant asking why is humanity focussing on hyperloops when we can't even fix aeroplane boarding. It's just a facile argument. The latter is fixed, it's just airlines haven't implemented it for a variety of reasons. It has no bearing on the research going on in other areas. The same chapter talks about what a waste it has been researching breeder nuclear power plants, because they never worked out. Come on, Smil, if you're going to criticise failed promises maybe counter it with delivered innovation. True, breeders haven't quite provided what was 'promised', but show someone from the 1960s a smartphone, or AI, or Google, or a pic from the Hubble.
The whole book reads like someone who has lost faith in the modern world and no longer understands it. In 2020 the world doesn't need this book, it needs a way to examine these facts and determine how to make them work for us, or alter them so they do.
The whole book reads like someone who has lost faith in the modern world and no longer understands it. In 2020 the world doesn't need this book, it needs a way to examine these facts and determine how to make them work for us, or alter them so they do.
September 25, 2022
Niesamowicie interesująca, pełna ciekawostek! Nie podobał mi się jedynie rozdział „PAŃSTWA”, ale to dlatego, że polityka to zupełnie nie moja działka.
Ocena: 4,0.
Ocena: 4,0.
March 24, 2023
3.25/5 ★★★☆☆
It's not the book, it's me. I tend to find non-fics harder to finish and that's on me. Someone else might surely rate this book higher. I'll state my reasons here --
𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 : Non-fiction
𝙏𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙨 : Health, Nutrition, Happiness, Planet, Environment, Development, Technology, Globalization, Innovation, Efficient fuel use
𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩��𝙣𝙜 : ★★★★☆
The writing was good and succinct with chapters spanning 2-5 pages at max. There was no rambling nonsense to bore me to tears as usually happens in non-fic.
It was pithy and packed with good verifiable information!
𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 : ★★★☆☆
It was interesting, yes. Several topics had me hooked but there were many that didn't necessarily feel all that important to me.
The subtitle of the book states that it includes --- 71 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙉𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 and I'd say that it includes maybe only 30-40 things that we might find actually useful and/or interesting.
𝙐𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 : ★★★☆☆
Knowing more about the real world is always useful and I'm glad I picked this up because it did help me learn a great many things.
But will I be able to put them to any real use? Doubtful.
Maybe, just maybe, if some guy tries to "mansplain" some technological stuff to me, I might level the playing field by spouting some facts of my own. Haha.
𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 : 3.25/5 ★★★☆☆
I'd totally recommend it to anyone who enjoys non-fic. They might finish it in a day.
I'd also recommend it to someone like me who loves fiction and fantasy, primarily. To them, I'd say, read one or two chapters of this non-fic every day and you'd definitely be smarter and slightly better informed for it.
It's not the book, it's me. I tend to find non-fics harder to finish and that's on me. Someone else might surely rate this book higher. I'll state my reasons here --
𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 : Non-fiction
𝙏𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙨 : Health, Nutrition, Happiness, Planet, Environment, Development, Technology, Globalization, Innovation, Efficient fuel use
𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩��𝙣𝙜 : ★★★★☆
The writing was good and succinct with chapters spanning 2-5 pages at max. There was no rambling nonsense to bore me to tears as usually happens in non-fic.
It was pithy and packed with good verifiable information!
𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 : ★★★☆☆
It was interesting, yes. Several topics had me hooked but there were many that didn't necessarily feel all that important to me.
The subtitle of the book states that it includes --- 71 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙉𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 and I'd say that it includes maybe only 30-40 things that we might find actually useful and/or interesting.
𝙐𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 : ★★★☆☆
Knowing more about the real world is always useful and I'm glad I picked this up because it did help me learn a great many things.
But will I be able to put them to any real use? Doubtful.
Maybe, just maybe, if some guy tries to "mansplain" some technological stuff to me, I might level the playing field by spouting some facts of my own. Haha.
𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 : 3.25/5 ★★★☆☆
I'd totally recommend it to anyone who enjoys non-fic. They might finish it in a day.
I'd also recommend it to someone like me who loves fiction and fantasy, primarily. To them, I'd say, read one or two chapters of this non-fic every day and you'd definitely be smarter and slightly better informed for it.
October 1, 2020
An essential guide to understanding how numbers reveal the true state of our world and exploring a wide range of topics including energy, the environment, technology, transportation, and food production. Renowned polymath and statistician Vaclav Smil's mission is to make facts matter. An environmental scientist, policy analyst, and a hugely prolific author, he is Bill Gates' go-to guy for making sense of our world. In Numbers Don't Lie, Smil answers questions such as: What's worse for the environment--your car or your phone? How much do the world's cows weigh (and what does it matter)? And what makes people happy?
From data about our societies and populations, through measures of the fuels and foods that energize them, to the impact of transportation and inventions of our modern world--and how all of this affects the planet itself--in Numbers Don't Lie, Vaclav Smil takes us on a fact-finding adventure, using surprising statistics and illuminating graphs to challenge conventional thinking. Packed with fascinating information and memorable examples, Numbers Don't Lie reveals how the US is leading a rising worldwide trend in chicken consumption, that vaccination yields the best return on investment, and why electric cars aren't as great as we think (yet). Urgent and essential, with a mix of science, history, and wit--all in bite-sized chapters on a broad range of topics--Numbers Don't Lie inspires readers to interrogate what they take to be true.
Undoubtedly one of the most riveting and interesting nonfiction books of the past few years, Vaclav Smil has become a must-read author for me. His books are always so fascinating, informative, accessible and above all else, and what sets them apart from the rest, highly entertaining. Spanning a multitude of diverse topics, he provides answers to questions I didn't even know I needed, or wanted, the answers to. With humorous anecdotes, objective statistics and a wide-ranging set of examples to illustrate his points, Smil once again has created a fantastic, fun and eminently readable work which helps us to see a different perspective on the numbers that tell us all about the intriguing and enigmatic world in which we live. Many thanks to Viking for an ARC.
From data about our societies and populations, through measures of the fuels and foods that energize them, to the impact of transportation and inventions of our modern world--and how all of this affects the planet itself--in Numbers Don't Lie, Vaclav Smil takes us on a fact-finding adventure, using surprising statistics and illuminating graphs to challenge conventional thinking. Packed with fascinating information and memorable examples, Numbers Don't Lie reveals how the US is leading a rising worldwide trend in chicken consumption, that vaccination yields the best return on investment, and why electric cars aren't as great as we think (yet). Urgent and essential, with a mix of science, history, and wit--all in bite-sized chapters on a broad range of topics--Numbers Don't Lie inspires readers to interrogate what they take to be true.
Undoubtedly one of the most riveting and interesting nonfiction books of the past few years, Vaclav Smil has become a must-read author for me. His books are always so fascinating, informative, accessible and above all else, and what sets them apart from the rest, highly entertaining. Spanning a multitude of diverse topics, he provides answers to questions I didn't even know I needed, or wanted, the answers to. With humorous anecdotes, objective statistics and a wide-ranging set of examples to illustrate his points, Smil once again has created a fantastic, fun and eminently readable work which helps us to see a different perspective on the numbers that tell us all about the intriguing and enigmatic world in which we live. Many thanks to Viking for an ARC.
March 22, 2022
This book is a collection of short essays written by Vaclav Smil that explore various unrelated topics.
From a brief exploration of the history of bicycles, the consequences of some countries having increasingly older populations, and showing us how electricity costs us much less than it did decades ago, to some opinions such as the importance of dairy consumption and moderate meat eating not having any adverse health effects, this book has a little bit of everything.
However, after having finished it, I was left without retaining much information,
because the delivery was extremely dry.
I should've known better before picking up a book called "Numbers Don't Lie...", and in hindsight, it isn't that surprising, but I was hoping the information would be delivered in a more digestible and interesting way.
Instead, we get endless pages of facts and statistics being listed, and I was quite honestly bored.
A lot of topics were simply not that interesting, especially the section regarding fuels and electricity which was an absolute slog to get through, and the ones that were of slight interest to me didn't offer any new insights, simply regurgitating facts and figures in a robotic tone.
Definitely not what I like reading, so perhaps I shouldn't have picked this up to begin with.
However, if facts and numbers being delivered in a relatively dry and straightforward way would not bore you, this book might be an interesting read. Bill Gates states that this book is one of his favourites, which isn't what drew me to read this, but I thought I should mention it if it is at all relevant. As for me, I will be making sure to avoid these types of books in the future, and I prefer consuming this type of information through visual media.
“Numbers may not lie, but individual perceptions of them differ.”
“Numbers may not lie, but individual perceptions of them differ.”
April 22, 2021
In the pro- and epilogue Vaclav Smil mentions that the goal of the book is to show that numbers should always be looked at in the context both broader and narrower. Numbers might not lie, but their truth is not always immediately apparent. The book provides 72 example questions plus answers, limiting each question to only a few pages.
While not unexpected, all the examples come at the cost of detail. The author might show that numbers need to be examined from various angles, but, since only very few examples even include a minor discussion on the meaning, it is left to the reader to fill in the blanks: there is *n0* overarching narrative or argument. It also create a sense of contradictive examples especially in the chapter on technological development and the environment. The shortness of each chapter also means some things are provided as fact, but on what basis does the author concludes that milk drinking increases the age of death? There might be a correlation, but is not the same as it being the cause. Finally, the author is kind of negative in the far majority of his examples, especially when it comes to environment and technological developments. Are there really no positive examples on numbers except the occasional one in transportation? To be honest, when I read the author proudly proclaim he has never used a smartphone, and describes an average day of the life in an office worker that comes nowhere near my or that of my co-workers, he comes across as a bit behind the times.
All in all, it is an easily digestible book that provides some food for thought, but it lacks body, partially expected due to its setup and partially due to the chosen randomness of the subjects and negative/contradictive example. If you look for a quick read and some alternative points of view on various questions, it is the book for you. Otherwise, meh.
While not unexpected, all the examples come at the cost of detail. The author might show that numbers need to be examined from various angles, but, since only very few examples even include a minor discussion on the meaning, it is left to the reader to fill in the blanks: there is *n0* overarching narrative or argument. It also create a sense of contradictive examples especially in the chapter on technological development and the environment. The shortness of each chapter also means some things are provided as fact, but on what basis does the author concludes that milk drinking increases the age of death? There might be a correlation, but is not the same as it being the cause. Finally, the author is kind of negative in the far majority of his examples, especially when it comes to environment and technological developments. Are there really no positive examples on numbers except the occasional one in transportation? To be honest, when I read the author proudly proclaim he has never used a smartphone, and describes an average day of the life in an office worker that comes nowhere near my or that of my co-workers, he comes across as a bit behind the times.
All in all, it is an easily digestible book that provides some food for thought, but it lacks body, partially expected due to its setup and partially due to the chosen randomness of the subjects and negative/contradictive example. If you look for a quick read and some alternative points of view on various questions, it is the book for you. Otherwise, meh.
September 30, 2021
One of the rare times I did not enjoy a Bill Gates recommendation.
Book-reader mismatch: too broad, not deep enough (unlike Smil's thorough, challenging, and fantastic Energy and Civilization: A History). In the afterword Smil makes it clear this is mostly a collection of unrelated short essays he wrote for IEEE Spectrum.
In the intro, Smil says "this book is about getting the facts straight" yet some topics and conclusions venture into realms that seem like personal or political conclusions or judgements. I'm not opposed to that at all - but when you have some chapters that make the case for topics like vaccinations or home energy efficiency (which should be objectively measurable) and others that make the case for personal/political observations (like how well the EU functions), it doesn't really support the title.
Another gripe that triggered me as a disciple of Gary Taubes: in the section "Energizing Ourselves", it's clear Smil is writing about food and calories with an energy balance mental model, e.g. overeating causes obesity. Example: "Americans are still eating more [food] than is good for them" (p232). This danger of this type of statement, which feels intuitively true (and to be fair, in many respects is true), it does not leave room for discussion of metabolic issues, e.g. the idea the type of food you eat can impact your hormones (like insulin) which are responsible for "deciding" whether to store calories as fat, or burn them. (Just read Gary Taubes)
Book-reader mismatch: too broad, not deep enough (unlike Smil's thorough, challenging, and fantastic Energy and Civilization: A History). In the afterword Smil makes it clear this is mostly a collection of unrelated short essays he wrote for IEEE Spectrum.
In the intro, Smil says "this book is about getting the facts straight" yet some topics and conclusions venture into realms that seem like personal or political conclusions or judgements. I'm not opposed to that at all - but when you have some chapters that make the case for topics like vaccinations or home energy efficiency (which should be objectively measurable) and others that make the case for personal/political observations (like how well the EU functions), it doesn't really support the title.
Another gripe that triggered me as a disciple of Gary Taubes: in the section "Energizing Ourselves", it's clear Smil is writing about food and calories with an energy balance mental model, e.g. overeating causes obesity. Example: "Americans are still eating more [food] than is good for them" (p232). This danger of this type of statement, which feels intuitively true (and to be fair, in many respects is true), it does not leave room for discussion of metabolic issues, e.g. the idea the type of food you eat can impact your hormones (like insulin) which are responsible for "deciding" whether to store calories as fat, or burn them. (Just read Gary Taubes)
August 10, 2023
bardzo ciekawe, chociaż momentami nużące - zależy od tematu
December 18, 2021
الذي حفزني لقراءة الكتاب رؤيته ضمن توصيات "بيل غيتس" اطلعت على الكتاب وقرأته في أيام قليلة، فكرته طريفة وذكية.
الأرقام لا تكذب، قد تكون كليشهة مبتذلة لكنها حقيقة نغفل عنها، في العرض يقدّم لك المؤلف شيئاً آخر غير الأرقام، ألا وهو "سياق الأرقام" ويعني التاريخ الفعلي لما وراء الأرقام وما دلالتها.
يمكنني أن أخبرك ببساطة أن عدد سكان الأرض قبل 100 عام كانوا 4 مليار والآن هم 7 ونيّف لكن ماذا تستفيد من هذه المعلومة؟
هنا يأتي دور السياق لهذه الأرقام وكيف تستفيد منها بمعزل عن ورودها في برنامج للمقارنة.
الكتاب موزّع على فصول، وكل فصل منها يعالج قضية معينة من خلال دمج التاريخ بالمستقبل بدءاً بالكتابة والسيارات والغاز ووسائل النقل والإنترنت ومواد الطاقة وصولاً إلى الفضاء.
أجمل ما في الكتاب بساطة لغته وسهولتها وأن كل فصل فيه لا يتجاوز ال5 صفحات، وهذا أدعى للتركيز والتأمل والوصول للفكرة مباشرة دون حشو.
الأرقام لا تكذب، قد تكون كليشهة مبتذلة لكنها حقيقة نغفل عنها، في العرض يقدّم لك المؤلف شيئاً آخر غير الأرقام، ألا وهو "سياق الأرقام" ويعني التاريخ الفعلي لما وراء الأرقام وما دلالتها.
يمكنني أن أخبرك ببساطة أن عدد سكان الأرض قبل 100 عام كانوا 4 مليار والآن هم 7 ونيّف لكن ماذا تستفيد من هذه المعلومة؟
هنا يأتي دور السياق لهذه الأرقام وكيف تستفيد منها بمعزل عن ورودها في برنامج للمقارنة.
الكتاب موزّع على فصول، وكل فصل منها يعالج قضية معينة من خلال دمج التاريخ بالمستقبل بدءاً بالكتابة والسيارات والغاز ووسائل النقل والإنترنت ومواد الطاقة وصولاً إلى الفضاء.
أجمل ما في الكتاب بساطة لغته وسهولتها وأن كل فصل فيه لا يتجاوز ال5 صفحات، وهذا أدعى للتركيز والتأمل والوصول للفكرة مباشرة دون حشو.
September 19, 2022
I got interested in Vaclav Smil’s work after reading his book, ‘How the World really works’. He showed in that book how important quantitative analysis is in making judgments, decisions, and conclusions. Smil is more than a number cruncher. He insists it is important to view numbers in their pertinent contexts to understand what is indeed going on in our world. We must view them historically and in a global context. We must also view them in deeper and wider contexts, even if the numbers are reliable and accurate. If we are looking at absolute values, we need to see them in relative, comparative perspectives. Prof. Smil is a scientist and hence his books need us to focus and concentrate on the material to understand its full import. Data, graphs and the author’s interpretation of what they tell us guide most essays in this volume.
The book contains seventy-one short essays on varied subjects, each essay running into just three or four pages. Prof. Smil is an energy expert and hence, various essays are on fuel, electricity, food energy, energy in transportation, etc. However, it also has essays on globalization, human fertility, machines, inventions, and so on. The author challenges received wisdom through his analysis of data and gives fresh insights on issues we think we understand well. I shall highlight some essays as examples of what one can expect from this book. They captured my interest in their insights and exposition.
We often use the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the measure of progress and quality of life a society has accomplished. Not everyone is happy with this measure. Some want to use the average disposable income as a better measure. Since the 1990s, some economists have devised the HDI (Human Development Index) as yet another measure. Prof. Smil offers Infant Mortality as a single-variable measure for rapid and revealing comparisons of quality of life. Infant mortality (IM) is the number of deaths during the first year of life that occur per 1,000 live births. A lower IM rate signals better quality of life. A society needs to achieve a mix of several critical conditions defining a good quality of life to reach a low IM rate. They are, good healthcare, appropriate prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal care in particular, proper maternal and infant nutrition, adequate and sanitary living conditions, and access to social support for disadvantaged families. A low rate of IM suggests relevant government and private spending on infrastructures and incomes that can maintain usage and access. Thus, a single variable captures several prerequisites for the near- universal survival of the most critical period of life, the first year.
Will we reach a zero-carbon world by 2050? Will we have driverless taxis cruising California in a couple of years? Prof. Smil says, ‘not so fast’. “Moore’s Law” relates to the observation that Gordon Moore made in 1965 that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) would double every two years. This law gave rise to the breakneck speed of development in electronics, computers, and telecommunications. But it also raised hopes of accelerated growth in other areas of science and technology. Tech titans in Google and Tesla assured us that rapid progress will bring self-driving electric cars by 2020. Others promised individually tailored cancer cures, instant 3D printing of hearts and kidneys within a decade. Renewable energy and environmental gurus project a zero-carbon West by 2050 with no use of fossil fuels. But the reality is more sober. Other areas of life move at a non-electronic pace. America’s leading crop, the corn, has seen its average yields rising by only two percent a year since 1950. Outputs of rice, China’s largest staple, have been increasing by about 1.6 percent during the past fifty years. During the twentieth century, the efficiency with which steam turbogenerators convert thermal power to electricity rose by 1.5 percent. The energy cost of steel, speed of jetliners and other means of transportation show similar rates of slow growth. The author cautions that outside the microchip-dominated world, innovation does not obey Moore’s Law, proceeding at rates lower by an order of magnitude. We are likely to live with fossil fuels for a long time.
The flip side to the ‘Morre’s Law fixation’ is modern societies’ obsession with innovation. Prof. Smil criticizes the worship at the altar of innovation as wrong on two counts: It ignores big, fundamental quests that have failed after spending huge sums on research. And it says little about why we often stick to an inferior practice even when there is a superior course of action. The fast-breeder reactor development consumed over $100 billion in research over six decades with no commercial pay off. Maglev trains, hydrogen powered cars and thermonuclear energy are other ones the author feels as ever-receding innovations.
In the essay, “Why You Need Fossil Fuels to Get Electricity from Wind”, the author draws our attention to the hidden factors in wind energy. Let us assume wind-generated electricity would supply 25 percent of global demand by 2030. Then with a high average capacity factor of 35 percent, the aggregate installed wind power of about 2.5 terawatts would require around 450 million tons of steel. It would be the case without counting the metal for towers, wires, and transformers for the new high-voltage transmission links needed to connect it all to the grid. To make the steel required for wind turbines that might operate by 2030, we need fossil fuels equivalent to over 600 million tons of coal. The production, installation, and maintenance of wind turbines remain critically dependent on specific fossil energies. Prof. Smil cautions us that modern civilization will remain dependent on fossil fuels until all energies used to produce wind turbines and photovoltaic cells come from renewable energy sources.
‘Why EV cars aren’t as great as we think’ is another illuminating essay, bursting myths about electric vehicles. Prof. Smil begins with the statement that two factors have undermined the rational case for accepting EVs. One, unrealistic market forecasts and two, a disregard for the environmental effects involved in producing and operating electric vehicles. EVs would help reduce carbon emissions only if we do not charge their batteries with electricity generated by combusting fossil fuels. When you drive EVs in India, China or Poland today, they are driven mostly by coal power. In France, it would be 75% nuclear-fission driven. In Quebec, Canada, it would be 97% hydro powered. Even if EVs ran only on renewable sources of electricity, producing cement and steel for hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and manufacturing EV cars, would emit greenhouse gases. The author quotes a detailed comparative life-cycle analysis published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. It found producing EVs to involve substantially higher toxicity, both to human beings and to freshwater ecosystems. Considering a vehicle life of twenty years, manufacturing an EV creates three times the toxicity of a conventional vehicle. This is often because of the greater use of heavy metals.
The selective choice of essays here may create an impression that Prof. Smil is anti-renewable energy. His book looks at the numbers dispassionately and tells us the story behind those numbers. It so happens that most of the popular hypes about renewable energy do not stand up to his rigorous data-driven scrutiny. I have given here a sample of the seventy-one essays. The book is an education in interpreting and analyzing data and extracting knowledge.
I found it an easy, enjoyable, and informative read.
The book contains seventy-one short essays on varied subjects, each essay running into just three or four pages. Prof. Smil is an energy expert and hence, various essays are on fuel, electricity, food energy, energy in transportation, etc. However, it also has essays on globalization, human fertility, machines, inventions, and so on. The author challenges received wisdom through his analysis of data and gives fresh insights on issues we think we understand well. I shall highlight some essays as examples of what one can expect from this book. They captured my interest in their insights and exposition.
We often use the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the measure of progress and quality of life a society has accomplished. Not everyone is happy with this measure. Some want to use the average disposable income as a better measure. Since the 1990s, some economists have devised the HDI (Human Development Index) as yet another measure. Prof. Smil offers Infant Mortality as a single-variable measure for rapid and revealing comparisons of quality of life. Infant mortality (IM) is the number of deaths during the first year of life that occur per 1,000 live births. A lower IM rate signals better quality of life. A society needs to achieve a mix of several critical conditions defining a good quality of life to reach a low IM rate. They are, good healthcare, appropriate prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal care in particular, proper maternal and infant nutrition, adequate and sanitary living conditions, and access to social support for disadvantaged families. A low rate of IM suggests relevant government and private spending on infrastructures and incomes that can maintain usage and access. Thus, a single variable captures several prerequisites for the near- universal survival of the most critical period of life, the first year.
Will we reach a zero-carbon world by 2050? Will we have driverless taxis cruising California in a couple of years? Prof. Smil says, ‘not so fast’. “Moore’s Law” relates to the observation that Gordon Moore made in 1965 that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) would double every two years. This law gave rise to the breakneck speed of development in electronics, computers, and telecommunications. But it also raised hopes of accelerated growth in other areas of science and technology. Tech titans in Google and Tesla assured us that rapid progress will bring self-driving electric cars by 2020. Others promised individually tailored cancer cures, instant 3D printing of hearts and kidneys within a decade. Renewable energy and environmental gurus project a zero-carbon West by 2050 with no use of fossil fuels. But the reality is more sober. Other areas of life move at a non-electronic pace. America’s leading crop, the corn, has seen its average yields rising by only two percent a year since 1950. Outputs of rice, China’s largest staple, have been increasing by about 1.6 percent during the past fifty years. During the twentieth century, the efficiency with which steam turbogenerators convert thermal power to electricity rose by 1.5 percent. The energy cost of steel, speed of jetliners and other means of transportation show similar rates of slow growth. The author cautions that outside the microchip-dominated world, innovation does not obey Moore’s Law, proceeding at rates lower by an order of magnitude. We are likely to live with fossil fuels for a long time.
The flip side to the ‘Morre’s Law fixation’ is modern societies’ obsession with innovation. Prof. Smil criticizes the worship at the altar of innovation as wrong on two counts: It ignores big, fundamental quests that have failed after spending huge sums on research. And it says little about why we often stick to an inferior practice even when there is a superior course of action. The fast-breeder reactor development consumed over $100 billion in research over six decades with no commercial pay off. Maglev trains, hydrogen powered cars and thermonuclear energy are other ones the author feels as ever-receding innovations.
In the essay, “Why You Need Fossil Fuels to Get Electricity from Wind”, the author draws our attention to the hidden factors in wind energy. Let us assume wind-generated electricity would supply 25 percent of global demand by 2030. Then with a high average capacity factor of 35 percent, the aggregate installed wind power of about 2.5 terawatts would require around 450 million tons of steel. It would be the case without counting the metal for towers, wires, and transformers for the new high-voltage transmission links needed to connect it all to the grid. To make the steel required for wind turbines that might operate by 2030, we need fossil fuels equivalent to over 600 million tons of coal. The production, installation, and maintenance of wind turbines remain critically dependent on specific fossil energies. Prof. Smil cautions us that modern civilization will remain dependent on fossil fuels until all energies used to produce wind turbines and photovoltaic cells come from renewable energy sources.
‘Why EV cars aren’t as great as we think’ is another illuminating essay, bursting myths about electric vehicles. Prof. Smil begins with the statement that two factors have undermined the rational case for accepting EVs. One, unrealistic market forecasts and two, a disregard for the environmental effects involved in producing and operating electric vehicles. EVs would help reduce carbon emissions only if we do not charge their batteries with electricity generated by combusting fossil fuels. When you drive EVs in India, China or Poland today, they are driven mostly by coal power. In France, it would be 75% nuclear-fission driven. In Quebec, Canada, it would be 97% hydro powered. Even if EVs ran only on renewable sources of electricity, producing cement and steel for hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and manufacturing EV cars, would emit greenhouse gases. The author quotes a detailed comparative life-cycle analysis published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. It found producing EVs to involve substantially higher toxicity, both to human beings and to freshwater ecosystems. Considering a vehicle life of twenty years, manufacturing an EV creates three times the toxicity of a conventional vehicle. This is often because of the greater use of heavy metals.
The selective choice of essays here may create an impression that Prof. Smil is anti-renewable energy. His book looks at the numbers dispassionately and tells us the story behind those numbers. It so happens that most of the popular hypes about renewable energy do not stand up to his rigorous data-driven scrutiny. I have given here a sample of the seventy-one essays. The book is an education in interpreting and analyzing data and extracting knowledge.
I found it an easy, enjoyable, and informative read.
May 31, 2021
First and foremost I really like the way the book is structured. It consists of small articles which the author has written for various publications and now has been compiled here. Since all of them are really short ones one can easily pick up the book from anywhere and start reading. (And can leave in between and restart again at another time).
The main premise of the book is to make us understand the complexity of the world we live in through numbers. It helps immensely in our pursuit of better understanding this world and hence make it a better place. The author has stated in the introduction that the goal is to demonstrate not only that numbers do not lie, but to discover which truth they convey.
The book deals with diverse number of areas and hence it is surely a delightful read. On the way one discovers new things and also understands the larger picture where the numbers are already known. One can dive in to the book if they are wondering about these questions-
1. Which is the best indicator of quality of life?
2. How far can China go?
3. Why we shouldn't write diesel off just yet?
4. Why Nuclear electricity is am unfulfilled promise?
5. What's rational meat eating?
6. What's worse for the environment- your car or the phone?
Again these are only 6 out of 71 interesting topics which are covered in this essential read. I like how efficiently the author has conveyed very complex ideas in a simplistic manner. Again when backed with statistics you cant really ignore the assertion even when its counterintuitive.
The only drawback I encountered while reading the book was that the articles ended too soon. The fact that book covers 71 articles it became too short and a deeper and meaningful analysis was not possible. I know the very strength of this book also makes for a weakness in my opinion.
The main premise of the book is to make us understand the complexity of the world we live in through numbers. It helps immensely in our pursuit of better understanding this world and hence make it a better place. The author has stated in the introduction that the goal is to demonstrate not only that numbers do not lie, but to discover which truth they convey.
The book deals with diverse number of areas and hence it is surely a delightful read. On the way one discovers new things and also understands the larger picture where the numbers are already known. One can dive in to the book if they are wondering about these questions-
1. Which is the best indicator of quality of life?
2. How far can China go?
3. Why we shouldn't write diesel off just yet?
4. Why Nuclear electricity is am unfulfilled promise?
5. What's rational meat eating?
6. What's worse for the environment- your car or the phone?
Again these are only 6 out of 71 interesting topics which are covered in this essential read. I like how efficiently the author has conveyed very complex ideas in a simplistic manner. Again when backed with statistics you cant really ignore the assertion even when its counterintuitive.
The only drawback I encountered while reading the book was that the articles ended too soon. The fact that book covers 71 articles it became too short and a deeper and meaningful analysis was not possible. I know the very strength of this book also makes for a weakness in my opinion.
December 28, 2021
One of the most empowering books I have read in 2021.
The Scientist Vaclav Smil (78) is well regarded for his books in the field of Energy, Technology and Science.
His books happen to be a good source of specialised information.
Numbers Don’t lie is not that book. This book is a compilation of short summaries on 71 interesting topics based on Energy, People, Machines & Devices, Countries, Food etc. In these summaries he has managed to put factual numbers and raise important question which may never have occurred to us.
example
-What is the hypothesis and data behind humans growing taller?
-Engines are older than bicycles!
-Why electric container ships are a hard sail.
-The rise of Data: Too much too fast.
-Why upgrading house windows has better returns than upgrading the heating equipment.
etc.
By putting numbers on every topic in the book, readers get a better understanding of timeframe, improvement, cost, comparative analysis related to these topics.
The information provided by him is short & enlightening, something that’s difficult to achieve.
📌Negatives:-
Regardless of how well the author has documented the information, I have found some of it entertaining but I don’t see it being useful in anyway.
example
Total Mass of Cows as compared to total Mass of Humans on earth.
📌Verdict:-
Today, Information is easily available but it’s credibility is often in question.
“Numbers don’t lie” is a compilation of valid information that is processed by a good author to generate meaningful insights.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the following keywords
Keywords:- Technology, Energy, People, Transportation, Machines, Design, Devices, Food, Countries, Engineering, Science.
Rating - 4.6/5 ✨
The Scientist Vaclav Smil (78) is well regarded for his books in the field of Energy, Technology and Science.
His books happen to be a good source of specialised information.
Numbers Don’t lie is not that book. This book is a compilation of short summaries on 71 interesting topics based on Energy, People, Machines & Devices, Countries, Food etc. In these summaries he has managed to put factual numbers and raise important question which may never have occurred to us.
example
-What is the hypothesis and data behind humans growing taller?
-Engines are older than bicycles!
-Why electric container ships are a hard sail.
-The rise of Data: Too much too fast.
-Why upgrading house windows has better returns than upgrading the heating equipment.
etc.
By putting numbers on every topic in the book, readers get a better understanding of timeframe, improvement, cost, comparative analysis related to these topics.
The information provided by him is short & enlightening, something that’s difficult to achieve.
📌Negatives:-
Regardless of how well the author has documented the information, I have found some of it entertaining but I don’t see it being useful in anyway.
example
Total Mass of Cows as compared to total Mass of Humans on earth.
📌Verdict:-
Today, Information is easily available but it’s credibility is often in question.
“Numbers don’t lie” is a compilation of valid information that is processed by a good author to generate meaningful insights.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the following keywords
Keywords:- Technology, Energy, People, Transportation, Machines, Design, Devices, Food, Countries, Engineering, Science.
Rating - 4.6/5 ✨
December 9, 2020
Weak. Smil's 71 choices did not seem particularly original to me. I think I'd already heard all of the statistics, just from reading newspapers and magazines. Nothing surprised me, and Smil didn't add any insight. Maybe it is nice that Smil has collected them together, but … why do I need to read another article about declining US per capita dairy consumption?
> a dollar now buys nearly 38 times more electricity than it did in 1902. But, during that period, average (again, inflation-adjusted) manufacturing wages nearly sextupled, which means that in a blue-collar household, electricity is now more than 200 times more affordable … a lumen of electric light for a working-class household is now approximately 2,500 times more affordable than it was in the early 20th century
> While food balance sheets of virtually all affluent Western nations (be it the US or Spain, France or Germany) show a daily availability of 3,400–4,000 kilocalories per capita, the Japanese rate is now below 2,700 kilocalories, roughly 25 percent lower.
> a dollar now buys nearly 38 times more electricity than it did in 1902. But, during that period, average (again, inflation-adjusted) manufacturing wages nearly sextupled, which means that in a blue-collar household, electricity is now more than 200 times more affordable … a lumen of electric light for a working-class household is now approximately 2,500 times more affordable than it was in the early 20th century
> While food balance sheets of virtually all affluent Western nations (be it the US or Spain, France or Germany) show a daily availability of 3,400–4,000 kilocalories per capita, the Japanese rate is now below 2,700 kilocalories, roughly 25 percent lower.
January 3, 2023
معدل الخصوبة الإجمالي (TFR) هو عدد الأطفال المولودين لكل امرأة خلال حياتها. أكثر القيود الجسدية المؤثرة عليه ، هو طول فترة الخصوبة (من الحيض إلى سن اليأس). انخفض عمر الحيض الأول من حوالي 17 عامًا في مجتمعات ما قبل الثورة الصناعية إلى أقل من 13 عامًا في العالم الغربي اليوم ، بينما تقدم متوسط بداية سن اليأس قليلاً ، إلى ما يزيد قليلاً عن 50 عامًا ، مما أدى إلى فترة خصوبة نموذجية تبلغ حوالي 38 عامًا ، مقارنة بحوالي 30 عامًا في المجتمعات التقليدية.
تحدث من 300 إلى 400 عملية إباضة لدى الأنثى خلال فترة الخصوبة. بما أن كل حمل يستبعد عشر عمليات إباضة ولأنه يجب طرح 5-6 إباضة إضافية لكل حمل - بسبب انخفاض فرصة الحمل خلال فترة الرضاعة الطبيعية الطويلة تقليديًا - فإن الحد الأقصى لمعدل الخصوبة هو حوالي عشرين حالة حمل. مع بعض الولادات المتعددة ، يمكن أن يتجاوز المجموع 24 ولادة حية ، وقد أكدت السجلات التاريخية أن هناك نساء أنجبن أكثر من 30 طفلاً.
.
Vaclav Smil
Numbers Don't Lie
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
تحدث من 300 إلى 400 عملية إباضة لدى الأنثى خلال فترة الخصوبة. بما أن كل حمل يستبعد عشر عمليات إباضة ولأنه يجب طرح 5-6 إباضة إضافية لكل حمل - بسبب انخفاض فرصة الحمل خلال فترة الرضاعة الطبيعية الطويلة تقليديًا - فإن الحد الأقصى لمعدل الخصوبة هو حوالي عشرين حالة حمل. مع بعض الولادات المتعددة ، يمكن أن يتجاوز المجموع 24 ولادة حية ، وقد أكدت السجلات التاريخية أن هناك نساء أنجبن أكثر من 30 طفلاً.
.
Vaclav Smil
Numbers Don't Lie
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
August 17, 2021
This book helped me better understand a lot of little things I had been trying to wrap my head around.
Such as termal conductivity in different building materials and their cost to the environment.
Reading this book feels like having an ultra factual conversation on a bit of each of the most consequential practical technologies of our time with a team of of specialists, each getting 3 minutes to speak.
Such as termal conductivity in different building materials and their cost to the environment.
Reading this book feels like having an ultra factual conversation on a bit of each of the most consequential practical technologies of our time with a team of of specialists, each getting 3 minutes to speak.
October 11, 2021
Definitely a lot of interesting an insightful facts and figures about the world we live in. I however missed an overarching story line.
April 30, 2022
Pretty underwhelming.
No doubt the author knows his numbers and shit, but my issue with the book is how little insight there is outside just the numbers themselves. Now, I get that that's sort of the premise of the book, but dear lord, the numbers and graphs are out there in the world, why am I investing my money and time reading this if you're not going to provide much insight beyond mere info dump. For example, the chapter about insulation and how we could focus on solving those issues and investing our time and resources on that (because there's not much more wiggle room when it comes to making more efficient heating devices, we're already at the top of our game) in order to help reduce emissions. That was really insightful, and I only wish the book contained more suggestions and ideas like that. Unfortunately, it's just an exception and a fleeting moment of lucidity.
I can only compare it to a musician that knows music theory really well but invests their whole time in the theory itself and fails to create a single work of beautiful music with all that knowledge. And that's such a shame. I can only find solace in that there are a lot of smart folks out there investing their energy and intelligence in coming up with solutions, rather than just focusing on the difficulties and stopping there.
No doubt the author knows his numbers and shit, but my issue with the book is how little insight there is outside just the numbers themselves. Now, I get that that's sort of the premise of the book, but dear lord, the numbers and graphs are out there in the world, why am I investing my money and time reading this if you're not going to provide much insight beyond mere info dump. For example, the chapter about insulation and how we could focus on solving those issues and investing our time and resources on that (because there's not much more wiggle room when it comes to making more efficient heating devices, we're already at the top of our game) in order to help reduce emissions. That was really insightful, and I only wish the book contained more suggestions and ideas like that. Unfortunately, it's just an exception and a fleeting moment of lucidity.
I can only compare it to a musician that knows music theory really well but invests their whole time in the theory itself and fails to create a single work of beautiful music with all that knowledge. And that's such a shame. I can only find solace in that there are a lot of smart folks out there investing their energy and intelligence in coming up with solutions, rather than just focusing on the difficulties and stopping there.
August 30, 2021
A bit overrated.
All the facts are quite well documented and the overall reasoning is good, but I can't honestly say that there was any 'wow effect' ('OMG! I didn't know that, this changes my perspective on X and Y soooo much!'). Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was all obvious and there were no surprises - far from that.
The chapter(s) I found most interesting? Probably the one about the energy cost of production and maintenance of personal electronics (phone) VS car. And the one about the economics of wind farms. Honestly, I can't recall any other ones that have stuck in my memory until now.
2.7 stars.
All the facts are quite well documented and the overall reasoning is good, but I can't honestly say that there was any 'wow effect' ('OMG! I didn't know that, this changes my perspective on X and Y soooo much!'). Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was all obvious and there were no surprises - far from that.
The chapter(s) I found most interesting? Probably the one about the energy cost of production and maintenance of personal electronics (phone) VS car. And the one about the economics of wind farms. Honestly, I can't recall any other ones that have stuck in my memory until now.
2.7 stars.
January 30, 2021
I am hesitating between 4 and 5 stars. This book really made me realise I don't know that much about the world. It also made me less optimistic about the future. So I learned a lot (like the world most important stuff if ammonia, steel, cement and plastics) but I lost some as well (my believe in green energy).
December 21, 2022
O Vaclav Smil é uma figura meio difícil de classificar. Não sei se é um geógrafo, analista político, especialista em geopolítica ou um pouco de tudo isso. Isso não é um problema. Talvez até seja uma vantagem ao lhe dar uma visão ampla sobre o mundo atual.
São 71 capítulos – pequenos, entre 3 e 5 páginas – dividimos em alguns temas: pessoas; países; máquinas, projetos e aparelhos; combustíveis e eletricidade; transporte; alimentos e meio ambiente.
Longe de ser um livro acadêmico, nem por isso abandona o rigor com os dados e fatos.
É bastante sóbrio, voltado para um público leigo, mas interessado nas grandes questões que atormentam o futuro nosso e do planeta.
Gostei particularmente das partes em que ele trata de energia, transportes e alimentos.
Ele sabe muito bem – e expõe isso – que a nossa sociedade industrial é mais complexa do que os ativistas ambientais pensam. Aliás, foi essa sociedade industrial que permitiu a expansão demográfica e o bem-estar de bilhões de pessoas.
Qualquer mudança brusca implicaria na miséria – e muito provavelmente na morte de milhões, talvez bilhões, de seres humanos.
Eis alguns trechos que grifei e que parecem exemplificar bem o pensamento dele:
“(...) não temos substitutos não fósseis prontamente disponíveis para utilização em grande escala comercial que sirvam para a maioria dessas energias”
“Até que todas as energias usadas para produzir as turbinas eólicas e células fotovoltaicas venham de fontes de energia renováveis, a civilização moderna permanecerá fundamentalmente dependente de combustíveis fósseis”.
“As transições de energia em escala global levam tempo.”
“um lúmen de luz elétrica para uma residência da classe trabalhadora é hoje aproximadamente 2.500 vezes mais acessível do que era no começo do século XX.”
“Em 1992. Naquele ano, os combustíveis fósseis (usando a conversão de combustíveis e eletricidade segundo um denominador comum preferido pela BP em seu relatório estatístico anual) forneceram 86,6% da energia primária do mundo. Em 2017, esse percentual foi de 85,3%, uma redução de mero 1,5% em 25 anos.”
“Em contraste, diversos setores econômicos fundamentais dependem fortemente de combustíveis fósseis, e não temos nenhuma alternativa ao carbono que possa substituí-los com agilidade e nas grandes escalas necessárias.”
“A busca por soluções técnicas não testadas é a maldição da política energética.”
“Isso não é impossível, mas é muito improvável. Atingir essa meta exigiria nada menos que uma transformação fundamental da economia global em uma escala e uma velocidade sem precedentes na história humana, tarefa que seria inviável sem grandes deslocamentos econômicos e sociais.”
“Mas, até o momento, não temos nenhuma alternativa ao carbono que pudesse ser empregada com celeridade e em escala massiva para bancar a produção de enormes quantidades do que chamei de quatro pilares da civilização moderna—amônia, aço, cimento e plástico—, que serão necessários na África e na Ásia nas décadas vindouras. Os contrastes entre as preocupações sobre aquecimento global, a contínua liberação de carbono em volumes recordes e nossa capacidade de mudar isso no curto prazo não podiam ser mais rígidos.”
Por fim, ele sugere algo simples, ao invés de soluções rocambolescas, “(...) por que não começar com o que está provado?”. Sendo um morador do Canadá, ele dá especial importância ao aquecimento das habitações. Segundo ele, a troca dos vidros comuns por triplos, resultaria em um economia em larga escala porque reteria muito melhor o calor dentro dos prédios.
Enfim, um livro que se lê com prazer. Ainda há intelectuais na praça por aí querendo levar esclarecimento ao grande público.
São 71 capítulos – pequenos, entre 3 e 5 páginas – dividimos em alguns temas: pessoas; países; máquinas, projetos e aparelhos; combustíveis e eletricidade; transporte; alimentos e meio ambiente.
Longe de ser um livro acadêmico, nem por isso abandona o rigor com os dados e fatos.
É bastante sóbrio, voltado para um público leigo, mas interessado nas grandes questões que atormentam o futuro nosso e do planeta.
Gostei particularmente das partes em que ele trata de energia, transportes e alimentos.
Ele sabe muito bem – e expõe isso – que a nossa sociedade industrial é mais complexa do que os ativistas ambientais pensam. Aliás, foi essa sociedade industrial que permitiu a expansão demográfica e o bem-estar de bilhões de pessoas.
Qualquer mudança brusca implicaria na miséria – e muito provavelmente na morte de milhões, talvez bilhões, de seres humanos.
Eis alguns trechos que grifei e que parecem exemplificar bem o pensamento dele:
“(...) não temos substitutos não fósseis prontamente disponíveis para utilização em grande escala comercial que sirvam para a maioria dessas energias”
“Até que todas as energias usadas para produzir as turbinas eólicas e células fotovoltaicas venham de fontes de energia renováveis, a civilização moderna permanecerá fundamentalmente dependente de combustíveis fósseis”.
“As transições de energia em escala global levam tempo.”
“um lúmen de luz elétrica para uma residência da classe trabalhadora é hoje aproximadamente 2.500 vezes mais acessível do que era no começo do século XX.”
“Em 1992. Naquele ano, os combustíveis fósseis (usando a conversão de combustíveis e eletricidade segundo um denominador comum preferido pela BP em seu relatório estatístico anual) forneceram 86,6% da energia primária do mundo. Em 2017, esse percentual foi de 85,3%, uma redução de mero 1,5% em 25 anos.”
“Em contraste, diversos setores econômicos fundamentais dependem fortemente de combustíveis fósseis, e não temos nenhuma alternativa ao carbono que possa substituí-los com agilidade e nas grandes escalas necessárias.”
“A busca por soluções técnicas não testadas é a maldição da política energética.”
“Isso não é impossível, mas é muito improvável. Atingir essa meta exigiria nada menos que uma transformação fundamental da economia global em uma escala e uma velocidade sem precedentes na história humana, tarefa que seria inviável sem grandes deslocamentos econômicos e sociais.”
“Mas, até o momento, não temos nenhuma alternativa ao carbono que pudesse ser empregada com celeridade e em escala massiva para bancar a produção de enormes quantidades do que chamei de quatro pilares da civilização moderna—amônia, aço, cimento e plástico—, que serão necessários na África e na Ásia nas décadas vindouras. Os contrastes entre as preocupações sobre aquecimento global, a contínua liberação de carbono em volumes recordes e nossa capacidade de mudar isso no curto prazo não podiam ser mais rígidos.”
Por fim, ele sugere algo simples, ao invés de soluções rocambolescas, “(...) por que não começar com o que está provado?”. Sendo um morador do Canadá, ele dá especial importância ao aquecimento das habitações. Segundo ele, a troca dos vidros comuns por triplos, resultaria em um economia em larga escala porque reteria muito melhor o calor dentro dos prédios.
Enfim, um livro que se lê com prazer. Ainda há intelectuais na praça por aí querendo levar esclarecimento ao grande público.
January 9, 2024
Książke czyta się bardzo szybko i przyjemnie bo ma strukturę 71 krótkich podrozdziałów. To skarbnica ciekawostek bazowanych na wyliczeniach matematycznych przekazanych przystępnie dla każdego czytelnika opowiadająca o ważnych tematach jak wpływ na środowisko, rozwój nauki i środków transportu czy marnotrawstwo żywności.
September 28, 2023
Although billed as an "essential" guide to the constraints hemming in policy decisions in terms of production and energy use, this collection of essays by the noted polymath Vaclav Smil mostly exists to have provided him with amusement; having been given a platform by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. As for the overarching theme, you can say that it's about achieving efficiencies in modern industrial society, the constraints to doing so, and how restraint in consumption is highly underrated. One thing that I can say is that even just dipping at random into this collection will probably make you feel smarter.
December 3, 2022
The GR blurb of this book pretty much nails both the good and the bad with this book. Sure, "Numbers Don't Lie," but "which truth do they convey?
Smil is of course correct in that we should all actually bother with looking at the numbers. He is just as obviously correct in that things are complicated, numbers too; context is the proverbial king. Personally, I sorely miss seeing these very simple truths reflected in the contemporary societal and political discourse. So I'm with the author so far, and I applaud him for trying to simplify the complex for us.
At times, I think he's hitting heads on nails. Other times it doesn't feel like he himself has considered the context of the numbers he cite, which is reflected in some straight-up flabbergasting conclusions. In aggregate it's an ok book, but it's not the truth-bible it claims to be. The greatest service Smil does us in this book is the emphasis on not just buying something because it sounds good, the greatest disservice he's serving up is his own truth (that would have had humanity stuck in the dark ages had people always followed his approach - never-mind where we'll end up if we follow him down his rabbit hole).
The general message is a good one, check the data before jumping to conclusions. But it's very much worth keeping in mind that we generally don't get far by only looking to past best practices. Today, we definitely won't get where we need to go fast enough.
Oh, and this book is so ridiculously dull and dry, that too is worth keeping in mind. If you want to read something more engaging - but in the same spirit as this book - I suggest picking up Rosling's "Factfulness" instead.
Smil is of course correct in that we should all actually bother with looking at the numbers. He is just as obviously correct in that things are complicated, numbers too; context is the proverbial king. Personally, I sorely miss seeing these very simple truths reflected in the contemporary societal and political discourse. So I'm with the author so far, and I applaud him for trying to simplify the complex for us.
At times, I think he's hitting heads on nails. Other times it doesn't feel like he himself has considered the context of the numbers he cite, which is reflected in some straight-up flabbergasting conclusions. In aggregate it's an ok book, but it's not the truth-bible it claims to be. The greatest service Smil does us in this book is the emphasis on not just buying something because it sounds good, the greatest disservice he's serving up is his own truth (that would have had humanity stuck in the dark ages had people always followed his approach - never-mind where we'll end up if we follow him down his rabbit hole).
The general message is a good one, check the data before jumping to conclusions. But it's very much worth keeping in mind that we generally don't get far by only looking to past best practices. Today, we definitely won't get where we need to go fast enough.
Oh, and this book is so ridiculously dull and dry, that too is worth keeping in mind. If you want to read something more engaging - but in the same spirit as this book - I suggest picking up Rosling's "Factfulness" instead.
March 24, 2023
l should have know this book was going to be as infuriating as it turned out to be… I mean who thinks they have 71 important things to share with the world?
This book is 71 chapters that all have a handful of pages and go by the exact same structure. He starts out by citing some random “common misconception” out of thin air (rarely says how many people hold this belief, why it is wrong or why he included it in his list), and then challenging it with another vaguely related but really not that comparable statement. For example: People think the internet changed the world. Well, I think light bulbs are great. Ciao, see you in the next chapter. Like ??? I was looking forward to learning a bunch of new little fun facts, but he doesn’t even really present that many facts. More like random thoughts that really should have been developed more.
And don’t get me started on the title. Numbers can lie. The secret lies in how data is collected and presented, but he doesn’t mention this in the slightest or challenge the data he uses at all. He really doesn’t even present that much data?! His only point is that one stat does not tell the whole story - fair enough - but unfortunately neither does he. God this book made me angry. Do yourself a favour and read “The Gender Data Gap” instead.
This book is 71 chapters that all have a handful of pages and go by the exact same structure. He starts out by citing some random “common misconception” out of thin air (rarely says how many people hold this belief, why it is wrong or why he included it in his list), and then challenging it with another vaguely related but really not that comparable statement. For example: People think the internet changed the world. Well, I think light bulbs are great. Ciao, see you in the next chapter. Like ??? I was looking forward to learning a bunch of new little fun facts, but he doesn’t even really present that many facts. More like random thoughts that really should have been developed more.
And don’t get me started on the title. Numbers can lie. The secret lies in how data is collected and presented, but he doesn’t mention this in the slightest or challenge the data he uses at all. He really doesn’t even present that much data?! His only point is that one stat does not tell the whole story - fair enough - but unfortunately neither does he. God this book made me angry. Do yourself a favour and read “The Gender Data Gap” instead.
March 10, 2021
The content is interesting, but each subject is covered too lightly. Wikipedia covers everything in more detail. I won't remember this book.
April 9, 2023
It is important to read books that capture the remarkable advancements and progress the world has experienced over the past two centuries. This exercise allows us to adopt a rational and optimistic worldview, while also enabling us to impartially evaluate and scrutinize critical issues. In this book, with data-driven analysis and simple and lucid exposition, Smil provides a wealth of information on a range of topics, including fertility rates, mortality rates, vaccines, the importance of cities and manufacturing in development, the innovations that shaped the modern world, the future of broiler chickens, and the relationship between meat consumption and longevity.
Among the many chapters that I found interesting, there are a few that stood out to me. For instance, "How safe is flying?" provides a reassuring analysis that air travel is the safest mode of transportation. "Multiplying wheat yields" takes a look back at the Green Revolution and its impact on agriculture. "Nuclear electricity – unfulfilled promise" provides a rational take on nuclear energy and its potential to meet the world's growing energy demands. "The rise of megacities" examines how cities have shaped the modern world. "The inexcusable magnitude of global food waste" highlights the problem of food waste and its consequences, which not only affect nutrition but also entail a significant waste of labor and energy used in food production.
In summary, reading books like these broadens our perspectives, deepens our knowledge, and equips us to better understand the world we live in. In today's world, where misinformation and narrow-mindedness abound, it is more important than ever to seek out well-researched and thought-provoking literature. By doing so, we can cultivate a deeper appreciation for the complexities of our world and perhaps even inspire ourselves to take action towards a brighter future.
Among the many chapters that I found interesting, there are a few that stood out to me. For instance, "How safe is flying?" provides a reassuring analysis that air travel is the safest mode of transportation. "Multiplying wheat yields" takes a look back at the Green Revolution and its impact on agriculture. "Nuclear electricity – unfulfilled promise" provides a rational take on nuclear energy and its potential to meet the world's growing energy demands. "The rise of megacities" examines how cities have shaped the modern world. "The inexcusable magnitude of global food waste" highlights the problem of food waste and its consequences, which not only affect nutrition but also entail a significant waste of labor and energy used in food production.
In summary, reading books like these broadens our perspectives, deepens our knowledge, and equips us to better understand the world we live in. In today's world, where misinformation and narrow-mindedness abound, it is more important than ever to seek out well-researched and thought-provoking literature. By doing so, we can cultivate a deeper appreciation for the complexities of our world and perhaps even inspire ourselves to take action towards a brighter future.
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