71 Fascinating Facts About Our World: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Numbers

renhoren: Really like the books. Keep coming back to the book because of its breadth as well as the "good enough" depth to start think about the world.

Germany on Nov 25, 2023

Janice Hartwell: This book is so well written and clearly illustrated with graphs, it is a revaluation on the challenges of our times. I will read parts of it again as I need to remind myself.

United States on Nov 20, 2023

Burak Ersoy: I started reading after I found that this book was one of Bill Gates favorite. It brought fresh perspectives on some topics I have an understanding and new ideas that I wasn’t aware.

United States on Nov 08, 2023

SidharthSidharth: A brilliant book which will blow your mind and make you see things differently. PACKING IS PATHETIC AND POOR. Book pages and covers were folded and the colour faded at several spots.

India on Oct 19, 2023

Wolfgang Sch.: Dank an den Autor für seinen Recherche- und Rechenfleiss. Vieles könnte man sich selbst erarbeiten, aber so geht es bequemer und schneller. Vielleicht gibt's in naher Zukunft ein Update? Zur Zeit passiert doch recht viel, das die Daten altern lässt.

Germany on Oct 12, 2023

Srinath: This book is Great for both beginners and veterans packed with facts and statistics and presented in a interesting way even non readers would find it interesting (in my view).

India on Oct 10, 2023

Kindle Customer: Un libro sencillo y entretenido. Con mucha ingeniería contada fácil. Revela cambios y tendencias en el mundo que no son muy evidentes y otras que si pero con órdenes de magnitud sorprendentes

United States on Jul 29, 2023

Michael B.: "Numbers Don't Lie" is a very informative book on a wide range of topics written in an approachable and direct format. Some of my favorite insights include the following:
*Once a country's fertility rate slips below 1.5 reversals of population decline are unlikely. Gradual population decline in Japan and many European countries seem inevitable while 75% of all births between 2020-2070 are expected to be in Africa;
*For every $1.00 invested in vaccinations $16.00 is expected to be saved in healthcare costs;
*Greater consumption of animal protein (meat, eggs and especially milk) is associated with a taller population, which is associated with longer life expectancy, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, higher cognitive abilities higher lifetime earnings and higher social status. Countries with the tallest populations include the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia and Denmark;
*Gas turbines are the ideal/most affordable suppliers of peak power and the best backups for wind and solar generation. The cost of new capacity in 2023 is expected to be $60 per megawatt-hour(MWh) for coal, $48 for solar photovoltaic, $40 for onshore wind, $30 for conventional gas turbines, and...

United States on Aug 29, 2022

Jonathan D.: I feel like this is Vaclav Smil's greatist hits album at the end of a monolithic anthology.
None of the depth I'm used to from this excellent author, more like headlines and short articles.
I'm already a fan of Smil, so I trusted the numbers he quoted and the context in which they were presented, even though they went against my previously held principles. For example, we learn here that eating meat is ok in moderation, electric cars aren't a good idea unless your country's electricity grid is green-powered. Wind turbine generators use almost as much carbon to manufacture as they produce.
However, he still asserts current global warming is on an unprecedented scale and caused by humans. There are 71 such assertions made here.
This is an excellent entre into Smil's work. Any of these topics can be seen is massive detail in his previous works.

United Kingdom on Nov 14, 2021

CC: Numbers Don't Lie is a collection of thought-provoking short discussions by Professor Vaclav Smil, a brilliant teacher and prolific author. There are 71 short pieces about data and information, mostly focusing on trying to make sense of numerical information by analyzing the historical and international context; and thinking about different ways to understand the data.

Even in just the Introduction, there were already some surprising facts and comparisons that got me thinking. For example I was surprised to learn that Nigeria, as Africa’s most populous country, only uses 35 gigajoules of energy per year; while France was using 35 gigajoules per year by 1880. There are comparisons like this throughout the book, with the goal of putting raw data into a more digestible context, or helping you see numerical comparisons from a different perspective.

The book is divided into seven sections sections: People, Countries, Machines/Designs/Devices, Fuels/Electricity, Transport, Food, and Environment. In each section, Smil has several chapters that are each only a few pages. The chapters are each isolated stories about data, and don't really flow into each other like one...

United States on Jun 13, 2021