Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World

Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World - Paperback

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Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World
  • Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World
Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World - Paperback

Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World - Paperback

by Vaclav Smil
$19.00
$19.00

Book Overview

by Vaclav Smil (Author)

"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author... Numbers Don't Lie takes everything that makes his writing great and boils it down into an easy-to-read format. I unabashedly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning."--Bill Gates, GatesNotes

From the author of How the World Really Works, an essential guide to understanding how numbers reveal the true state of our world--exploring a wide range of topics including energy, the environment, technology, transportation, and food production.

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.

Author Biography

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of over forty books including How the World Really Works covering topics including energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, risk asssessment, and public policy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Member of the Order of Canada.

Number of Pages: 368
Dimensions: 0.9 x 8.2 x 5.4 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: May 04, 2021
ISBN9780143136224
Author Vaclav Smil
PublisherPenguin Books
GenreNews & politics and Education
FormatPaperback
PublishedMay 2021
LanguageENG- English
Pages368
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Mathematics Nonfiction Political Science Science

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More by Vaclav Smil

Energy and Civilization: A History

Energy and Civilization: A History - Paperback

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About Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of forty books, including Energy and Civilization, published by the MIT Press. In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2013 Bill Gates wrote on his website that "there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil."

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