A review by kingarooski
Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World by Vaclav Smil

4.0

Vaclav Smil has a way of taking complex data and making it accessible and easy-to-read. These articles are short and focused on a specific question or idea, and they contain a lot of information. Smil talks repeatedly about the inability to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and he brings up our need to switch to a more plant-based diet a few times. He is aware of the impact our actions have on the globe perhaps and is able to explain this in a simplified manner, but does not resort to scaring the reader; his duty is to inform. I learned quite a few things from this book including the fact that China has emplaced more concrete in the last two years than the US did in the whole of the 20th century. That one will stay with me for a while!