Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World

Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World

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  • Create Date:2021-08-04 08:53:35
  • Update Date:2025-09-07
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  • Author:Vaclav Smil
  • ISBN:0241454417
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Summary

'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?

'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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Reviews

James Mitchell

Recommend it as an interesting & enjoyable "sciencey" book。 Topics include global warming, effective health interventions, energy efficiency, food production & waste, among others。 I should re-read and take notes。 Recommend it as an interesting & enjoyable "sciencey" book。 Topics include global warming, effective health interventions, energy efficiency, food production & waste, among others。 I should re-read and take notes。 。。。more

Trung Nguyen Dang

What a delightful read that is informative, easy, short。 This is a departure from Professor Vaclav Smil's usual kinds of books, the lengthy, deeply analytical of just one topics (environment, energy, industry)。 The book is a collection of 71 short pieces (few pages each) that are categorised into 7 sections: People, Countries, Machines/Designs/Devices, Fuels/Electricity, Transport, Food, and Environment。 Each of this short piece tends to be something surprising about data, history and different What a delightful read that is informative, easy, short。 This is a departure from Professor Vaclav Smil's usual kinds of books, the lengthy, deeply analytical of just one topics (environment, energy, industry)。 The book is a collection of 71 short pieces (few pages each) that are categorised into 7 sections: People, Countries, Machines/Designs/Devices, Fuels/Electricity, Transport, Food, and Environment。 Each of this short piece tends to be something surprising about data, history and different from the common views that a casual readers of news would have。 The writing is also fun。 。。。more

Richard

I'd give 4。5 stars if I could。 The book is packed with interesting and relevant facts and comparisons。 Some sections will of course be more interesting than others to different people (for me the first and last sections were good but not the best), but all contain information that we should all be considering in the national and global discussions that we have, if only to highlight that there are different perspectives to these discussions that we probably haven't considered。 And as the author s I'd give 4。5 stars if I could。 The book is packed with interesting and relevant facts and comparisons。 Some sections will of course be more interesting than others to different people (for me the first and last sections were good but not the best), but all contain information that we should all be considering in the national and global discussions that we have, if only to highlight that there are different perspectives to these discussions that we probably haven't considered。 And as the author says in the epilogue, the information in the book may be interesting but it is only useful if we can figure out how to apply it。 。。。more

Patrick Pilz

A loosely connected Collection of science trivia。 Not his best work, but still listenable。

Montecristo

Un libro che affronta tanti argomenti, troppi, in modo molto superficiale e sbrigativo。 Mi sarei concentrato su meno temi, ma li avrei approfonditi meglio。 Comunque è molto scorrevole e offre buoni spunti di riflessione。

Patrick Hurley

I had really high expectations for this book and, while it didn't meet them, it ended up being a solid read。 The author provides a lot of really interesting statistics and graphics about a number of important topics。 Many of these cut against popular conceptions (e。g。, U。S。 superiority on a lot of measures when we really aren't), others are simply interesting (e。g。, changes in diets in different countries。。。for example, Italians now consume as much beer per capita as wine), and still others are I had really high expectations for this book and, while it didn't meet them, it ended up being a solid read。 The author provides a lot of really interesting statistics and graphics about a number of important topics。 Many of these cut against popular conceptions (e。g。, U。S。 superiority on a lot of measures when we really aren't), others are simply interesting (e。g。, changes in diets in different countries。。。for example, Italians now consume as much beer per capita as wine), and still others are downright scary (e。g。, how much food we waste globally, the effects and near inevitability of global warming)。 Many of the ideas the author presents are inextricably linked, whether explicitly or implicitly。 For explicitly linked topics, he does an excellent job of cross-referencing to the related chapters, which makes it easy for the reader to digest related information。 The layout of the book is really pretty short chapters (most are 3-5 pages) and running through them pretty quickly, but still hitting all of the necessary information。 I guess my only complaint is that some of the topics seemed less important/interesting, but still received equal billing to more important/interesting topics。 I think this is an area where the author could've broken a bit more with the "formula" for writing this book and made some sections shorter or longer。 Overall, this is a well-organized and fairly interesting read。 I disagree with the fundamental premise of the title (depending on how you measure things, the quality of the data, who is collecting it and their motivations, data and numbers can absolutely lie and mislead)。 However, the book was tougher to really get into than I thought it would be。。。it didn't grab me as super interesting all the way through, hence my longer-than-expected time to finish it。 I would give it a 3。25/5 and say it's not a bad option but you can probably find more interesting books that will be page turners for you。 。。。more

Pete

The Numbers Don’t Lie (2020) by Vaclav Smil is a collection of essays by the master of dense, number heavy well researched books。 It’s a collection of essays that were mostly published in IEEE Spectrum magazine。 Smil has a PhD in geography。 He writes fantastically dense books that are absolutely full of well researched numbers。 Bill Gates has read all his books and says that Smil is his favourite author。 Smil’s books are generally very hard going but are no doubt very solid references。 I’ve trie The Numbers Don’t Lie (2020) by Vaclav Smil is a collection of essays by the master of dense, number heavy well researched books。 It’s a collection of essays that were mostly published in IEEE Spectrum magazine。 Smil has a PhD in geography。 He writes fantastically dense books that are absolutely full of well researched numbers。 Bill Gates has read all his books and says that Smil is his favourite author。 Smil’s books are generally very hard going but are no doubt very solid references。 I’ve tried to read a number of Smil’s books and failed a number of times。 The Numbers Don’t Lie is the easiest Smil book to read that I’ve read。The Numbers Don’t Lie has sections that are on People, Countries, Machines and Devices, Fuels and Electricity, Transport, Food and the Environment。 Each consists of numerous short chapters on a particular topic。 The essays also have remarks that show what Smil thinks about various things。 The essays are full of really interesting statistics。Smil makes many interesting points。 For instance he asks the question as to why the modern bicycle only appeared around the time of the internal combustion engine rather than earlier even though it’s a considerably simpler machine。 The book also describes the monumental difficulty of the transition to low greenhouse gas emitting energy sources is。The Numbers Don’t Lie is a very good book that is a great introduction to Smil’s writing。 It’s definitely worth a read for anyone interested in well thought through, well researched statistical descriptions of what matters in the modern world。 。。。more

Pacho Dominguez

Easy to read。 3 minute chapters。 Lots of graphs。

Linda Lewis

What can I say? There were numbers and they didn't lie。 A book of interesting statistics。 What can I say? There were numbers and they didn't lie。 A book of interesting statistics。 。。。more

Duy

Đây không phải là một cuốn sách có cấu trúc mà là tập hợp của nhiều bài viết ngắn về nhiều thứ khác nhau。 Tạm được。

Adbala Mohan

Reading this book is more or less like having a conversation with the author。 His conclusions/opinions on the facts might seem cynical sometimes but he is being extremely realistic which we are not in the modern world in my opinion。 Also, in few chapters when he presents the facts about fundamental innovations(like electricity and transistors)it is extremely interesting because our all modern "innovations" are mere abstractions over those fundamentals and I see it the same way(I'm kind of biased Reading this book is more or less like having a conversation with the author。 His conclusions/opinions on the facts might seem cynical sometimes but he is being extremely realistic which we are not in the modern world in my opinion。 Also, in few chapters when he presents the facts about fundamental innovations(like electricity and transistors)it is extremely interesting because our all modern "innovations" are mere abstractions over those fundamentals and I see it the same way(I'm kind of biased here)。The author has tried to cram a lot of facts into 300 or so pages and has done it beautifully。The book is a very easy read and very fun in fact and a very good starting point。 。。。more

HAMZA IQBAL

A brilliant book giving you brief but informative accounts of various important things surrounding us we hardly notice, but impacting our lives immensely。 Vaclav Smil being one of Bill Gates's favourite writer is a testimony to his caliber and his phenomenal grasp on various subjects gives us rare accounts of how the world we live in works in tandem, and clears many biases and blind spots we may have been harbouring from the otherwise shallow and motivated accounts we read elsewhere A brilliant book giving you brief but informative accounts of various important things surrounding us we hardly notice, but impacting our lives immensely。 Vaclav Smil being one of Bill Gates's favourite writer is a testimony to his caliber and his phenomenal grasp on various subjects gives us rare accounts of how the world we live in works in tandem, and clears many biases and blind spots we may have been harbouring from the otherwise shallow and motivated accounts we read elsewhere 。。。more

Daniel

Smil is a polymath。 Many topics were discussed, and a few stood out:1。 Renewables can be very environmentally damaging requiring a lot of materials。 Then the energy provided is intermittent。 So batteries are required, but their capacity has not increased much。 So airplanes and container ships will be using diesel for a long time to come。 Maybe bio-diesel will be the answer。 (Maybe… but then it would affect food production, like the biofuel push in America chasing Mexican hunger) Nuclear is the b Smil is a polymath。 Many topics were discussed, and a few stood out:1。 Renewables can be very environmentally damaging requiring a lot of materials。 Then the energy provided is intermittent。 So batteries are required, but their capacity has not increased much。 So airplanes and container ships will be using diesel for a long time to come。 Maybe bio-diesel will be the answer。 (Maybe… but then it would affect food production, like the biofuel push in America chasing Mexican hunger) Nuclear is the best but rejected because of the small risk of catastrophe。 2。 Moderate meat consumption is compatible with long life。 3。 It is difficult to assess the severity of a pandemic 4。 America’s infant mortality is quite high, probably because of the lack of universal health care 。。。more

Jens Zett

Numbers don't lie, but choosing to present certain numbers and not others and thereby shifting the focus to whatever agends one wants to push also does not give a honest view of the world。 This is done throughout the book, so although a lot of the statistics are very interesting, it often does not show the whole picture。 Numbers don't lie, but choosing to present certain numbers and not others and thereby shifting the focus to whatever agends one wants to push also does not give a honest view of the world。 This is done throughout the book, so although a lot of the statistics are very interesting, it often does not show the whole picture。 。。。more

Juan Farfán

If you want to have a few numbers in your head to dimension our economic, social and environmental realities is a good book to start。 I give only 3 stars because is not the most pleasant book to read sometimes it is very arid

Shiyue

Really nice collection of essays telling cold or hot facts and statistics about our current world。 I enjoyed reading it for the following reasons。 (1) the selection of the essays fits what I have considered to be important facts to be interpreted justly and scientifically, in order to take right actions in our lifetime。 For example, Smil gives many many statistics on the four important products of the modern world that is so deeply entertwined with climate problems and welfare - ammonia, concret Really nice collection of essays telling cold or hot facts and statistics about our current world。 I enjoyed reading it for the following reasons。 (1) the selection of the essays fits what I have considered to be important facts to be interpreted justly and scientifically, in order to take right actions in our lifetime。 For example, Smil gives many many statistics on the four important products of the modern world that is so deeply entertwined with climate problems and welfare - ammonia, concrete, fossil fuel and plastics。 Although I knew fair amount about these from Smil's other books, Bill Gates' books, and many other environment/material related books, I still learned something new and concrete。 For example, I didn't know how difficult it is to employ and store biofuel and why it hasn't become a scalable energy substitute for the fossil fuel until I read the numbers presented in the book。 However, I'm biased, because I've been reading Smil and caring about the environment, modern technology and many interdisciplinary subjects。 This collection may not fit someone else, who may want more in-depth statistics of a specific topic (but Smil's other books serve that purpose) (2) Smil has wide range of scientific thinking tools that help you intelligently interpret these data, and I'm still not getting tired of those。 This book is not just a dump of random numbers。 Smil uses his broad prospectives and expertise in these topics to really convey some insights that are hard to come by。 For example, he carefully examines the measurement of happiness within each country, and addresses many issues with each measurement。 I found it quite interesting that when measured using suicide rates, the Catholic countries are wayy more happier than the nordic (I would expect that they are on par with one another)。 For another instance, I knew that flights are safer than most transportations, but didn't know they are soooo much safer, even during the deadliest years。 (3) There are facts that I just never knew, and I feel glad to learn about them。 For example, bikes are invented after engines, maybe due to a lack of imagination, or lack of luck in the early experiments of this delicate balancing sport。 This make me ponder upon how inventions really take off the ground。 For another example, many important modern technologies, like the elevator, gas turbines, electricity, and so on are either invented, or hugely improved during the 1880s。 It'll be really interesting to understand why it is the case in terms of historical events, our intellectual progression as a species。。。(3) Smil's writing in this one is such a delight! His other books tend to be long and dry and textbook-like -- but definitely not this one! He has this brand of humor that weirdly cracks me up。 The last sentence of each essay is certainly something that I look forward to when I start an essay。 One of the most important set of facts is how much food we waste as a civilization。 The rich countries are getting diabetes and obesities, while the poor countries are suffering from extreme famish, malnutrition and poverty。 In another book called "Doing Good Better", an important message is that one could do way more good by finding some neglected areas in our society。 I think food waste is definitely one of them that can promote public health and welfare of both rich and poor countries (and maybe relieve many energy problems)。 Same applies to "building insulation problems"。 。。。more

Laird Bennion

The author at his most accessible and comprehensible - strong ideas clearly distilled。

Byebyecarb

È un pratico riassunto che mostra gli ordini di grandezza dei fenomeni che riguardano l'umanità contemporanea。 Nel complesso il libro è scorrevole e si lascia leggere senza troppo impegno。È invece molto carente sul piano dell'originalità: quasi tutte le statistiche esposte sono già piu o meno note a qualunque persona mediamente informata, e le informazioni veramente nuove si contano sulle dita di una mano。 È un pratico riassunto che mostra gli ordini di grandezza dei fenomeni che riguardano l'umanità contemporanea。 Nel complesso il libro è scorrevole e si lascia leggere senza troppo impegno。È invece molto carente sul piano dell'originalità: quasi tutte le statistiche esposte sono già piu o meno note a qualunque persona mediamente informata, e le informazioni veramente nuove si contano sulle dita di una mano。 。。。more

Nick Harris

‘Four pillars of modern civilisation - ammonia, steel, cement, and plastic’

Udit Nair

First and foremost I really like the way the book is structured。 It consists of small articles which the author has written for various publications and now has been compiled here。 Since all of them are really short ones one can easily pick up the book from anywhere and start reading。 (And can leave in between and restart again at another time)。The main premise of the book is to make us understand the complexity of the world we live in through numbers。 It helps immensely in our pursuit of better First and foremost I really like the way the book is structured。 It consists of small articles which the author has written for various publications and now has been compiled here。 Since all of them are really short ones one can easily pick up the book from anywhere and start reading。 (And can leave in between and restart again at another time)。The main premise of the book is to make us understand the complexity of the world we live in through numbers。 It helps immensely in our pursuit of better understanding this world and hence make it a better place。 The author has stated in the introduction that the goal is to demonstrate not only that numbers do not lie, but to discover which truth they convey。 The book deals with diverse number of areas and hence it is surely a delightful read。 On the way one discovers new things and also understands the larger picture where the numbers are already known。 One can dive in to the book if they are wondering about these questions-1。 Which is the best indicator of quality of life?2。 How far can China go?3。 Why we shouldn't write diesel off just yet?4。 Why Nuclear electricity is am unfulfilled promise?5。 What's rational meat eating?6。 What's worse for the environment- your car or the phone? Again these are only 6 out of 71 interesting topics which are covered in this essential read。 I like how efficiently the author has conveyed very complex ideas in a simplistic manner。 Again when backed with statistics you cant really ignore the assertion even when its counterintuitive。 The only drawback I encountered while reading the book was that the articles ended too soon。 The fact that book covers 71 articles it became too short and a deeper and meaningful analysis was not possible。 I know the very strength of this book also makes for a weakness in my opinion。 。。。more

Sivakumar Thangavelu

71 interesting stories。 Enjoy!

Miguel

Not my favorite version of Smil as this is more like a bathroom book with miniscule chapters on some fairly weighty issues and didn’t think that he would author a ‘bathroom book’。 Though packed with a lot of facts and figures, it feels like a lot of filler especially when you know what he is capable of writing。 Still if it serves to introduce a wider audience to the topics of population trends, energy use, and environmental impact then it was a worthwhile endeavor。

Jaysen Huculak

An informative and thought provoking collection of essays about how our world works to how we could improve it, all from first principles。 This is like reading Malcolm Gladwell but for useful science rather than entertaining surprises。 The data isn't a surprising twist。 The data is just the data and we're often ignoring the obvious。So if you want to find out how many people it took to build the pyramids based off their potential energy, why you should consider triple pane glass or why our abilit An informative and thought provoking collection of essays about how our world works to how we could improve it, all from first principles。 This is like reading Malcolm Gladwell but for useful science rather than entertaining surprises。 The data isn't a surprising twist。 The data is just the data and we're often ignoring the obvious。So if you want to find out how many people it took to build the pyramids based off their potential energy, why you should consider triple pane glass or why our ability to sweat is what made us successful, this book has all that and more。 。。。more

Hamilton Carvalho

I wish Smil ventured outside his comfort zone and connected the dots he presented so well in some of the chapters。 The media, the political system and the general public need to understand how inertia in our socioeconomic systems and the energy requirements of our current unsustainable civilization are heading us to a catasthrophic scenario in (probably) less than a generation。 On a side note, I wish Amazon employed more female narrators -- I am tired of the male ones。

Jacob Vernon

Not a bad sample of interesting quantitative science。Highlights the importance of context。I would probably regard this more highly if I hadn't recently read overlapping books。 Not a bad sample of interesting quantitative science。Highlights the importance of context。I would probably regard this more highly if I hadn't recently read overlapping books。 。。。more

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

Sascha

Light read that covers a broad array of topics that the author has interest or knowledge about。 Since the takes are short, they can't be exhaustive, but they are still informative and mostly fun。 Occasionally feels like a blog, in that the author opines or editorializes which can be either good or bad depending, but I would have rather something more dry weirdly enough。 Light read that covers a broad array of topics that the author has interest or knowledge about。 Since the takes are short, they can't be exhaustive, but they are still informative and mostly fun。 Occasionally feels like a blog, in that the author opines or editorializes which can be either good or bad depending, but I would have rather something more dry weirdly enough。 。。。more

Becky L Long

Audiobook read by Ben Prendergast。 Loved this book。 Answers so many 。。。。 uh 。。。。。 seemingly random questions but does so in a logical manner with the numbers and research and math to back it up。 If you need one book outside of your normal genre this year, this one should be it。 So if you've ever wondered what's worse for the environment: your car or your cell phone or what height has to do with quality of life or how many of your modern conveniences were developed in the 1880s or how happiness i Audiobook read by Ben Prendergast。 Loved this book。 Answers so many 。。。。 uh 。。。。。 seemingly random questions but does so in a logical manner with the numbers and research and math to back it up。 If you need one book outside of your normal genre this year, this one should be it。 So if you've ever wondered what's worse for the environment: your car or your cell phone or what height has to do with quality of life or how many of your modern conveniences were developed in the 1880s or how happiness is measured, then pick up this book。 It's short and sweet with "potato chip" chapters。 We aren't quite halfway through the year yet, but this might turn into my #1 recommended book of 2021。 Vitally important information here。 。。。more

Saif AL Jahwari

Good book! It provides informative insights on the importance of reading numbers to truly understand reality and predict our future。 I do like more the first two sections of the book about people and countries。

TheVampireBookworm

I like informative books。 And what I like even more is when super smart people are able to write something even us mediocre people can understand。 And this book was just that。 Collected data put in bigger picture。 I won't lie, some charts in this black and white edition were hard to read because it was difficult to distinguish between similar shades of grey but it was explained in the text。 All the pieces of information were categorised into chapters with similar topic so, of course, when it cam I like informative books。 And what I like even more is when super smart people are able to write something even us mediocre people can understand。 And this book was just that。 Collected data put in bigger picture。 I won't lie, some charts in this black and white edition were hard to read because it was difficult to distinguish between similar shades of grey but it was explained in the text。 All the pieces of information were categorised into chapters with similar topic so, of course, when it came to energy I was a bit scared because that's something I only vaguely know about。 But there were other chapters to make up for it。 。。。more