'There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav
Smil' Bill Gates 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 find out how many
people it took to build the Great Pyramid, 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. Urgent and essential, Numbers Don't Lie inspires readers to
interrogate what they 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? 'Smil's title
says it all: to understand the world, you need to follow the
trendlines, not the headlines. This is a compelling, fascinating,
and most important, realistic portrait of the world and where it's
going' Steven Pinker 'The best book to read to better understand
our world. Once in a while a book comes along that helps us see our
planet more clearly. By showing us numbers about science, health,
green technology and more, Smil's book does just that. It should be
on every bookshelf!' Linda Yueh, author of The Great Economists 'He
is rigorously numeric, using data to illuminate every topic he
writes about. The word "polymath" was invented to describe people
like him' Bill Gates 'Important' Mark Zuckerberg, on Energy 'One of
the world's foremost thinkers on development history and a master
of statistical analysis . . . The nerd's nerd' Guardian 'There is
perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like
Smil' Guardian 'In a world of specialized intellectuals, Smil is an
ambitious and astonishing polymath who swings for fences . . .
They're among the most data-heavy books you'll find, with a
remarkable way of framing basic facts' Wired 'He's a slayer of
bullshit' David Keith, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics
& Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University Vaclav Smil is
Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He
is the author of over forty books on topics including energy,
environmental and population change, food production and nutrition,
technical innovation, risk assessment and public policy. No other
living scientist has had more books (on a wide variety of topics)
reviewed in Nature. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in
2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global
Thinkers. This is his first book for a more general readership.
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