How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future Paperback – 6 October 2022

This book should be read by all who believe that facts should be backed by data.

Interesting read

For the sheer depth and width of research, background facts and analysis, this book surpasses anything one has read to date, including books by even the most erudite of scientists and analysts. The amount of information and facts about our everyday life that Smil presents is truly mind boggling. He also dispels common myths and theories, very convincingly, especially those concerning global climate change mitigation strategies. Instead, he provides realistic, well-researched and plausible ideas to at least reduce our carbon footprint significantly while asserting that there is currently no evident or even plausible way to achieve the kind of goals nations are setting for themselves with respect to carbon neutrality (net zero by 2035 or 2050, etc). In other words, governments and multilateral institutions are misleading us, and probably themselves too. Still, there is cause for optimism as human ingenuity, while rarely following a predictable path, has always found a way out. In terms of downsides, the one major point that comes to mind is that the book often becomes tedious - droning on with statistics and facts that sometimes feel excessive. Still, given today’s age of misinformation and baseless assertions, too much fact/data should be considered preferable to too little.

Vaclav Smil is a realist.In this book, the author simplifies his previous research into seven easily digestible chapters that allows us to think about the future rationally while avoiding hyperbole and biasHighly recommended

This book along with ‘The rational optimist’ significantly increased my respect for fossil fuels. It is packed with data and interesting facts.

For someone trying to het a sense of where we stand today as a civilization, this book offers the most clear picture.

A very detailed account of multifarious things that to seeuch upon our daily lives that we are completely oblivious of. Must read for all generations, a great source knowledge

Book is full of facts and figures about the past and present and provides insight to the improvements made in energy and , material consumption and building blocks of modern human civilisation. Remains very rational about the future.