'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? '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 'Vaclav Smil has led a
30-year career of interdisciplinary contrarianism, writing hundreds
of scientific articles and dozens of books attacking sacred cows of
Western environmental and geopolitical thought' Foreign Policy 'For
a couple of decades, Vaclav Smil has been on my go-to list when
questions arise about global trends and risks, and particularly
about energy. He is a distinguished professor on the environment
faculty at the University of Manitoba but really should be in the
department of everything' Andrew Revkin, The New York Times 'One of
the world's foremost experts on energy' Foreign Affairs 'An author
who does not allow facts to be obscured or overshadowed by
politics' New York Review of Books 'The man who has quietly shaped
how the world thinks about energy' Science Magazine 'A radical
thinker on energy and environmental issues' Financial Times '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.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
