How the World Really Works cover art

How the World Really Works

How Science Can Set Us Straight on Our Past, Present and Future

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

How the World Really Works

By: Vaclav Smil
Narrated by: Stephen Perring
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

We have never had so much information at our fingertips, and yet most of us simply don't understand how our world really works. Professor Vaclav Smil is not a pessimist or an optimist, he is a scientist, and this book is a much-needed reality check on topics ranging from food production and nutrition, through energy and the environment, to globalisation and the future. For example, the carbon footprint of meat is well known, but did you know that the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel fuel goes into the production of each greenhouse-grown, medium-size, supermarket-bought tomato? The gap between belief and reality is vast.

Drawing on the latest science, tackling sources of misinformation head-on and championing a rational, fact-based approach, in How the World Really Works Smil shows, for example, why the planet isn't 'suffocating' (even burning all the planet's fossil fuels would reduce oxygen levels by just 0.25 per cent) and that globalisation isn't 'inevitable' and nor should it be (the stupidity of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020).

Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed, or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary masterpiece finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.

©2021 Vaclav Smil (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Environment Food Science World Thought-Provoking
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Energy and Civilization cover art
Grand Transitions cover art
Power Density cover art
Growth cover art
The End of the World Is Just the Beginning cover art
The World for Sale cover art
Fossil Future cover art
Power Trip cover art
The Price of Tomorrow cover art
AI Superpowers cover art
Apocalypse Never cover art
Not Zero cover art
Upheaval cover art
Climate Change and the Road to Net-Zero cover art
False Alarm cover art
Renewable Energy cover art

What listeners say about How the World Really Works

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    144
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    128
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    103
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The author’s attempt is disarmingly impressive!

The book tackles a few things:
- the central role of energy (in its many forms) through the many civilisations we have experienced
- This role seats at the foundation of today’s complex world therefore replacing it (by 2050) won’t be as easy (or is probably unnecessary) and points to realistic actions we are overlooking
- Efforts should focus on facts and not forecast by the Ecoworriors (Armageddons) or the Technoworriors (Cornucopians)
- using relatable units of measurements such as the number of teaspoons of crude oil needed to produce bread or tomatoes to aid comparisons and understanding
- You’d be left with an impressive command of knowledge or what seems like an unbeatable quest to amass all forms of knowledge.

I think it is a solid contribution writings needed to understand how life in today’s society impacts the planet and some high yielding actions that can start making a dent on reversing some of the negative impacts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

How the World Really Works According to an Old White Man

The title should really be "How the World Really Works According to an Old White Man." Want to listen to a 10-hour lecture about how things really are from your dad? Or are you someone living in the US Midwest, hating vegans and looking for justification for your way of life? This is the book for you. While provocative and at times cutting corners when arguments become more subjective, it's an interesting read overall with some solid points of view.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book lots of figures

Great book for grounding yourself with realistic expectations for the future and climate change as a whole, sometimes in this book it does feel like you are looking through a figure sheet, but overall great.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A balanced account of where we stand

If you want a balanced account that takes a non-religious view of climate and the future of the world given where we stand now on our reliance upon fossil fuels, this is your book.

Also, I really appreciate the way the author addresses poor nations rights to using their own natural resources to improve their situation, something largely ignored by most of academia.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

this book definitely fires up economic thinking

interesting read, hard to remember any of the numbers mentioned. definitely open yourself up to economic thinking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Full of numbers

Great reading I did in long time. Great eye opener, everyone that need oxygen to breath must listen to this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Data-led Observation with a healthy dose of reality.

An neutral approach to quantifying the world we live in and the materials we rely on everyday. Neither pro-cornucopian or fatalistic, but a stark reality check.

It would be fantastic if world leaders dictating our future had even the slightest grasp on this data before composing their rallying-cry’s and furling polarisation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Huge gain of information in this read !

I’ve read few books that impart such knowledge in a clear and concise way. Nicely written and read. I feel hugely better informed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant book

worth a very close listen. Smil debunks all the guff that we read and hear on energy, the climate and human progress

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Insightful, but grumpy

I enjoyed the book, it was highlighting some important facts and misconceptions about the current world. However, even though the author is repeating that he is no optimist, nor pessimist, in some parts of the book the sentiment is quite pessimistic, ignoring some of the recent developments. I also think that the author is underestimating the importance of some technologies like AI and its role in solving some of humanity's problems, eg. quicker finding of vaccines for new species of viruses.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!