'How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to our Past, Present and Future' by Vaclav Smil

How the World Really Works, Vaclav Smil (3.5)

Hyped as a book for non-scientists that helps to explain some of the basics of how humans use fossil fuels and supports the author’s contention that it is not possible to rid them from our lives anytime soon (or at as soon as many climate activists would like to see), this book is quite technical and filled with an inordinate number of numbers! I rarely complain about data, but Smil’s explanations swim in data- more than most people care about or can tolerate. As a Materials Engineer, I did enjoy a good illustration of the basics – that there are four major materials that our modern society cannot go without: steel, concrete, plastics and ammonia, all of which have a high level of fossil fuel involvement. The ammonia surprised me the most. I didn’t realize how prevalent it was in farming and general food production. Our dependence on these materials coupled with the exponential rise of middle class in China (and their subsequent use of them) is not something that can be replaced with solar panels and wind farms. I knew this book would be depressing – the problem is hard and will take coordination that is hard to imagine happening. He gives some ideas of improvements, but the book is to be read more to remind oneself of the basic facts, which can be difficult given our current media environment. Sadly, I agree with most of his data and theories.