How the World Really Works
How Science Can Set Us Straight on Our Past, Present and Future
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How the World Really Works
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Perring
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By:
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Vaclav Smil
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
We have never had so much information at our fingertips, and yet most of us simply don't understand how our world really works. Professor Vaclav Smil is not a pessimist or an optimist, he is a scientist, and this book is a much-needed reality check on topics ranging from food production and nutrition, through energy and the environment, to globalisation and the future. For example, the carbon footprint of meat is well known, but did you know that the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel fuel goes into the production of each greenhouse-grown, medium-size, supermarket-bought tomato? The gap between belief and reality is vast.
Drawing on the latest science, tackling sources of misinformation head-on and championing a rational, fact-based approach, in How the World Really Works Smil shows, for example, why the planet isn't 'suffocating' (even burning all the planet's fossil fuels would reduce oxygen levels by just 0.25 per cent) and that globalisation isn't 'inevitable' and nor should it be (the stupidity of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020).
Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed, or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary masterpiece finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.
©2021 Vaclav Smil (P)2021 Penguin AudioWhat listeners say about How the World Really Works
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark Wever
- 10-06-2024
A master on the subject of energy and our material world
Everybody who wants to seperate truth from fiction about sustainability transitions needs to read or listen to this book.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Antony
- 30-01-2024
vast pessimism
This is a meandering diatribe of various criticisms. it culminates in saying "Fukushima and Boeing 737s are bad, therefore, we can't say the future is good".
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 01-04-2024
just common sense
if you have a good grasp of general common sense, there's unlikely anything new for you in this book. it's probably good for teenagers.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rafael Bautista
- 18-02-2022
Numbers!
It’s a very interesting take of how the world is and what it really takes to save it. A must read for everyone, especially policy makers.
Although the performance was great, a fair bit of numerical figures are presented in this so it’s not easy to appreciate the gravity of the message just through audio. A book may have been a better medium for me.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mike
- 23-11-2023
An important book for long flights and drives
It’s a take on the world from an energy economics POV. … It confirms how popular views about saving the planet from warming are flawed, … a very important 9 hours of every policy makers life post COVID.
The presentation is a bit dense in places for an audiobook … lots of shuffles back 30 seconds to comprehend the messages in the numbers
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joel Oates
- 04-03-2024
Great book
Excellent book if you want to know find some truths about modern times. Easy to listen too and understand.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Marc Fearby
- 27-08-2022
Mind-numbingly boring
If you like listening to statistics being rattled off ad nauseam to lend weight to whatever point is being made, then this audiobook is for you. I regret wasting a credit on it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- billy
- 27-02-2022
good information but very very dull
unbelievably dull to listen to has lots of good information but will put U to sleep as presentation is just so boring
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