A review by achromachrono
The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World After an Apocalypse by Lewis Dartnell

informative medium-paced

3.5

In terms of doing what the book says it sets out to do, there are some flaws. Take the one off line about using urine as fertilizer because it is sterile. It is true that one can do this, but it isn't true that urine is sterile. I can't be too harsh on it because that was the prevailing scientific word on the matter, albeit with some reservations going back many years. (the existence of the UTI gives pause) It was contrasted with solid waste as feriltilizer when both have e coli. Not to the same degree, to be fair. But they both need to be treated, through dilution and fermentation. Not to mention the problem of plant miconutrients but that is too niche for such a guide.

On the other hand, the later chapters going over star navigation and timing i would say is a stronger example. It has something that one could actually refer to.

Overall, this book functions well as entertainment in the popular science catagory. It has an interesting framing, one that can and is being expanded upon with some projects like wikiciv.org . Actually i believe this book and the story about the toaster from scratch are mentioned in these. Start of a movement.