How the World Really Works

Why I'd hand it to you

Vaclav Smil explains what keeps modern life running: energy, food production, and materials like cement, steel, plastics and ammonia. His main point is how much of it still depends on fossil fuels, and how hard and slow it will be to change that. He is neither a doomsayer nor a cheerleader, and the book is a useful reality check on big promises. Be ready for numbers, lots of them. It can read like a lecture, and readers who want a story will find it dry. Climate activists may also find his skepticism about fast timelines frustrating. It is clarifying all the same.

— Matt Jordan