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

  • Downloads：1520
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-05-17 03:19:02
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Vaclav Smil
  • ISBN：B08GJVP3GK
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

"There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil。"--Bill Gates

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。

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Reviews

Nilendu Misra ，

This book will make you sound smart in a very bookish kind of way。 You will for sure gloat knowing only about 30% of longevity is heritable， and - in reality - perhaps less so because we marry people like ourselves， a phenomenon known aa “assortative mating”。 Or， that bipedalism’s deal thrust to humanity was our ability to breathe more than once per locomotive cycle， unlike a tiger whose chest must absorb the impact on the front limbs。 In short， this kind of book will make you rattle facts like This book will make you sound smart in a very bookish kind of way。 You will for sure gloat knowing only about 30% of longevity is heritable， and - in reality - perhaps less so because we marry people like ourselves， a phenomenon known aa “assortative mating”。 Or， that bipedalism’s deal thrust to humanity was our ability to breathe more than once per locomotive cycle， unlike a tiger whose chest must absorb the impact on the front limbs。 In short， this kind of book will make you rattle facts like above， thus shunned by most normal people so you can read more books like this！ Oh， drinking more milk in childhood is the best predictive variable for a kid’s adult height。 。。。more

Courtney ，

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review。 This book explored the world--its people， cultures， technologies， and challenges， by examining quantitative data。 It does so through the presentation of brief vignettes。 Overall， the book is compelling and had several interesting facts and revelations， but there were also some weaknesses in its presentation。 Smil has made a clear choice to emphasize breadth over depth here， which allows him to cover a lot of g I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review。 This book explored the world--its people， cultures， technologies， and challenges， by examining quantitative data。 It does so through the presentation of brief vignettes。 Overall， the book is compelling and had several interesting facts and revelations， but there were also some weaknesses in its presentation。 Smil has made a clear choice to emphasize breadth over depth here， which allows him to cover a lot of ground。 However， the vignettes are uneven in their degree of development。 Some are fully realized stand-alone tableaus， with a beginning， middle， and end。 Others lack finesse and present info without sufficient explication or interpretation and feel unfinished。 They're still satisfying as a series of amuse-bouches， but not as fully realized vignettes throughout。 Smil's often acerbic and harsh tone in criticizing other nations and cultures is at once incisive and off-putting， sometimes detracting from the data being presented。 In other vignettes， a moralistic sanctimony bleeds through what is otherwise an objective presentation of data and evidence， resulting in an uneven voice and tone at times。 Finally， the theme of uneven presentation is also apparent in the way the book's theme manifests in the different vignettes。 The thesis of the book is that quantitative data elucidates these various aspects of our world。 Some vignettes demonstrate this elegantly and clearly。 Others have almost no quantitative data in them and seem to only lightly touch on the book's primary theme。 In all， this book is fascinating and worth the read， but there are certainly some inconsistencies in execution and style。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0