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How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World
by Steven JohnsonFrom the New York Times-bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas. In this illustrated volume, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few) from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences. Filled with surprising stories of accidental genius and brilliant mistakes--from the French publisher who invented the phonograph before Edison but forgot to include playback, to the Hollywood movie star who helped invent the technology behind Wi-Fi and Bluetooth--How We Got to Now investigates the secret history behind the everyday objects of contemporary life. In his trademark style, Johnson examines unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields: how the invention of air-conditioning enabled the largest migration of human beings in the history of the species--to cities such as Dubai or Phoenix, which would otherwise be virtually uninhabitable; how pendulum clocks helped trigger the industrial revolution; and how clean water made it possible to manufacture computer chips. Accompanied by a major six-part television series on PBS, How We Got to Now is the story of collaborative networks building the modern world, written in the provocative, informative, and engaging style that has earned Johnson fans around the globe.
How We Hope: A Moral Psychology
by Adrienne M. MartinWhat exactly is hope and how does it influence our decisions? In How We Hope, Adrienne Martin presents a novel account of hope, the motivational resources it presupposes, and its function in our practical lives. She contends that hoping for an outcome means treating certain feelings, plans, and imaginings as justified, and that hope thereby involves sophisticated reflective and conceptual capacities. Martin develops this original perspective on hope--what she calls the "incorporation analysis"--in contrast to the two dominant philosophical conceptions of hope: the orthodox definition, where hoping for an outcome is simply desiring it while thinking it possible, and agent-centered views, where hoping for an outcome is setting oneself to pursue it. In exploring how hope influences our decisions, she establishes that it is not always a positive motivational force and can render us complacent. She also examines the relationship between hope and faith, both religious and secular, and identifies a previously unnoted form of hope: normative or interpersonal hope. When we place normative hope in people, we relate to them as responsible agents and aspire for them to overcome challenges arising from situation or character. Demonstrating that hope merits rigorous philosophical investigation, both in its own right and in virtue of what it reveals about the nature of human emotion and motivation, How We Hope offers an original, sustained look at a largely neglected topic in philosophy.
How We Teach Science: What’s Changed, and Why It Matters
by John L. RudolphDespite an enduring belief that science should be taught, there has been no enduring consensus about how or why. This is especially true when it comes to teaching scientific process. John Rudolph shows that how we think about and teach science will either sustain or thwart future innovation, and determine how science is perceived by the public.
How We Think
by John DeweyOne of America’s foremost philosophers, John Dewey (1859-1952) fought for civil and academic freedom, founded the Progressive School movement, and steadfastly promoted a scientific approach to intellectual development.In How We Think, Dewey shares his views on the educator’s role in training students to think well. Basing his assertions on the belief that knowledge is strictly relative to human interaction with the world, he considers the need for thought training, its use of natural resources, and its place in school conditions; inductive and deductive reasoning, interpreting facts, and concrete and abstract thinking; the functions of activity, language, and observation in thought training; and many other subjects.John Dewey’s influence on American education and philosophy is incalculable. This volume, as fresh and inspirational today as it was upon its initial publication a century ago, is essential for anyone active in the field of teaching or about to embark on a career in education.
How We Treat the Sick
by Michael MandelstamNo official statistics are kept for the number of hospital patients, in particular older people, who are subjected to neglect and abuse. That is, left malnourished and dehydrated, in pain, allowed to develop agonising and fatal pressure sores, not taken to the toilet, left to lie in their own bodily waste, cared for in a filthy environment and at risk of infection, ignored, allowed to fall over repeatedly, not spoken to, left naked or dressed in other patients' clothes - and discharged from hospital prematurely. This book bears witness to all these practices and more. Setting out a wealth of evidence not previously brought together, Michael Mandelstam shows beyond question that neglectful care is a systemic blight, rather than mere local blemish, within our health services. He analyses the causes and factors involved, reveals the widespread denial and lack of accountability on the part of those responsible - and spells out the political, moral, professional and legal implications of this failure to care for the most vulnerable of patients with humanity and compassion. Most important, Mandelstam points to the main obstacles to a solution - and to how they can be removed and change be accomplished. This book should be read by anyone concerned with the state of our health services, including National Health Service users, government policy makers and planners, public health practitioners and academics and researchers.
How We Understand Others: Philosophy and Social Cognition (Routledge Focus on Philosophy)
by Shannon SpauldingIn our everyday social interactions, we try to make sense of what people are thinking, why they act as they do, and what they are likely to do next. This process is called mindreading. Mindreading, Shannon Spaulding argues in this book, is central to our ability to understand and interact with others. Philosophers and cognitive scientists have converged on the idea that mindreading involves theorizing about and simulating others’ mental states. She argues that this view of mindreading is limiting and outdated. Most contemporary views of mindreading vastly underrepresent the diversity and complexity of mindreading. She articulates a new theory of mindreading that takes into account cutting edge philosophical and empirical research on in-group/out-group dynamics, social biases, and how our goals and the situational context influence how we interpret others’ behavior. Spaulding's resulting theory of mindreading provides a more accurate, comprehensive, and perhaps pessimistic view of our abilities to understand others, with important epistemological and ethical implications. Deciding who is trustworthy, knowledgeable, and competent are epistemically and ethically fraught judgments: her new theory of mindreading sheds light on how these judgments are made and the conditions under which they are unreliable. This book will be of great interest to students of philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, applied epistemology, cognitive science and moral psychology, as well as those interested in conceptual issues in psychology.
How We Used Saint Etienne to Live
by Ramzy AlwakeelThe essential guide to veteran British indie favourites Saint Etienne — the story of how they made music out of memories, and how we made memories out of them.Do you remember how we used to live? British indie favourites Saint Etienne do. But they also remember a load of other stuff that never happened, so maybe they aren&’t the best people to ask.Saint Etienne have spent three decades making music out of memories for people who make memories out of music. How We Used Saint Etienne to Live is the story of that reciprocal process, told in the wrong order but the right time. It&’s about the methods we use to remember, and what happens when those methods become outdated. It&’s a tale that involves tape splicing, town planning, Now compilations and Saint Etienne&’s 1995 UK singles chart peak, &‘He&’s On The Phone&’.Featuring original interviews with Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell, How We Used Saint Etienne To Live shows Saint Etienne&’s minds at work as they make and manipulate history and nostalgia. Expect to be shown the receipts. Expect selective recollections and shameless revisionism. Expect concrete facts and flights of fancy. Don&’t expect it to be immediately clear which is which.
How We Walk: Frantz Fanon and the Politics of the Body
by Matthew Beaumont"In this fascinating and wide-ranging book, Beaumont reminds us that walking is far from a neutral activity. With the help of Frantz Fanon, Beaumont locates freedom at the level of the body; free from the systems of oppression, exploitation, and harassment."–Lauren Elkin, author of FlâneuseHow race, class, and politics influence the way we moveYou can tell a lot about people by how they walk. Matthew Beaumont argues that our standing, walking body holds the social traumas of history and its racialized inequalities. Our posture and gait reflect our social and political experiences as we navigate the city under capitalism. Through a series of dialogues with thinkers and walkers, his book explores the relationship between freedom and the human bodyHow We Walk foregrounds the work of Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist and leading thinker of liberation, who was one of the first people to think about the politics of &‘walking while black&’. It also introduces us to the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, who wrote that one could discern the truth about a person through their posture and gait. For Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, the ability to walk upright and with ease is a sign of personal and social freedom.Through these excursions, Beaumont reimagines the canonical literature on walking and presents a new interpretation of the impact of class and race on our physical and political mobility, raising important questions about the politics of the body.
How Well Do Facts Travel?
by Peter Howlett Mary S. MorganThis book discusses how facts travel, and when and why they sometimes travel well enough to acquire a life of their own. Whether or not facts travel in this manner depends not only on their character and ability to play useful roles elsewhere, but also on the labels, packaging, vehicles, and company that take them across difficult terrains and over disciplinary boundaries. These diverse stories of travelling facts, ranging from architecture to nanotechnology and from romance fiction to climate science, change the way we see the nature of facts. Facts are far from the bland and rather boring but useful objects that scientists and humanists produce and fit together to make narratives, arguments, and evidence. Rather, their extraordinary abilities to travel well shows when, how, and why facts can be used to build further knowledge beyond and away from their sites of original production and intended use.
How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't: The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the ultimate political insider
by Ian DuntWhy do some prime ministers manage to get things done, while others miserably fail? What is a 'special adviser' and how did they take over British political life? And why is the House of Lords more functional than most people think?Most of us have a sense that our political system doesn't seem to work, but struggle to articulate exactly why. And for good reason: our political and financial institutions are cloaked in secrecy, archaic terminology, ancient custom and impenetrable jargon. Now, expert political journalist Ian Dunt is lifting the lid on British politics to expose every aspect of the setup in a way that can be understood and challenged. From Downing Street to Whitehall, the Commons to the Lords, this book is an indispensable guide to our political system - and how we might begin to fix it.
How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't: The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the ultimate political insider
by Ian DuntWhy do some prime ministers manage to get things done, while others miserably fail? What is a 'special adviser' and how did they take over British political life? And why is the House of Lords more functional than most people think?Most of us have a sense that our political system doesn't seem to work, but struggle to articulate exactly why. And for good reason: our political and financial institutions are cloaked in secrecy, archaic terminology, ancient custom and impenetrable jargon. Now, expert political journalist Ian Dunt is lifting the lid on British politics to expose every aspect of the setup in a way that can be understood and challenged. From Downing Street to Whitehall, the Commons to the Lords, this book is an indispensable guide to our political system - and how we might begin to fix it.
How Would a Patriot Act?: Defending American Values From a President Run Amok
by Glenn Greenwald[From the cover] Glenn Greenwald was not a political man. Not liberal, not conservative. To his thinking, the United States was generally on track and would remain forever centrist. But all that has changed. Over the past five years, a creeping extremism has taken hold of our federal government that is threatening to alter our system of government and our national character. This extremism is neither conservative nor liberal in nature, but is instead driven by the Bush administration's radical theories of presidential power. How Would A Patriot Act? is one man's story of being galvanized into action to defend our Constitution, and a penetrating analysis of what is at stake. If we are to remain true to America's founding principles, we cannot abide President Bush's claims of unlimited and unchecked power. Because when you answer to no one, you're not a president. You're a despot. In the spirit of the colonists who once mustered the strength to denounce a king, Greenwald asks: How would a patriot act today?
How and How Not to Be Happy
by J. BudziszewskiIt&’s Time to Start Asking the Right Questions About Happiness The West is facing a happiness crisis. Today, less than a quarter of American adults rate themselves as very happy—a record low. False views of happiness abound, and the explosion in &“happiness studies&” has done little to dispel them. Why is true happiness so elusive, and why is it so hard to define? In How and How Not to Be Happy, internationally renowned philosopher and happiness theorist, J. Budziszewski, draws on decades of study to dispel the myths and wishful thinking that blind people from uncovering lasting fulfillment. Could happiness lie in health, wealth, responsibility, or pleasure? Should we settle for imperfect happiness? What would it even mean to attain perfect fulfillment? Budziszewski separates the wheat from the chaff, exploring how to attain happiness—and just as importantly, how not to.
How the Court Became Supreme: The Origins of American Juristocracy
by Paul D. MorenoOver the course of its history, the United States Supreme Court has emerged as the most powerful judiciary unit the world has ever seen. Paul D. Moreno’s How the Court Became Supreme offers a deep dive into its transformation from an institution paid little notice by the American public to one whose decisions are analyzed and broadcast by major media outlets across the nation. The Court is supreme today not just within the judicial branch of the federal government but also over the legislative and executive branches, effectively possessing the ability to police elections and choose presidents. Before 1987, nearly all nominees to the Court sailed through confirmation hearings, often with little fanfare, but these nominations have now become pivotal moments in the minds of voters. Complaints of judicial primacy range across the modern political spectrum, but little attention is given to what precisely that means or how it happened. What led to the ascendancy of America’s highest court? Moreno seeks to answer this question, tracing the long history of the Court’s expansion of influence and examining how the Court envisioned by the country’s Founders has evolved into an imperial judiciary. The US Constitution contains a multitude of safeguards to prevent judicial overreach, but while those measures remain in place today, most have fallen into disuse. Many observers maintain that the Court exercises legislative or executive power under the guise of judicial review, harming rather than bolstering constitutional democracy. How the Court Became Supreme tells the story of the origin and development of this problem, proposing solutions that might compel the Court to embrace its more traditional role in our constitutional republic.
How the Force Can Fix the World: Lessons on Life, Liberty, and Happiness from a Galaxy Far, Far Away
by Stephen KentFrom widespread unemployment and mounting international hostilities, every day we are swept into more political chaos—so one brave man looks to the Star Wars universe for answers to our most urgent problems.&“You can&’t stop the change — anymore than you can stop the sun from setting.&” Anakin Skywalker was never able to live with this wisdom shared by his mother on the day he left home to train as a Jedi Knight. That failure led him to becoming the fearsome villain we all know as Darth Vader. We&’re living in a time of unprecedented and rapid change. An age of chaos. Democracies are in decline worldwide. Dictators are ascendant. Civic organizations are crumbling. People feel lonelier and more rudderless than in any other time in recent history. We&’ve tried to slow down, and in some cases we, like Anakin, have tried stop the change, but failed at every turn. The fears that come with living in an age of disruption have produced public anger, and that anger has swelled movements of hate. Author Stephen Kent believes part of the solution is hiding in plain sight. A story that binds together multiple generations with a common language, a moral framework, and a sense of wonder. It&’s Star Wars. What if we looked to Star Wars for more than just entertainment? How the Force Can Fix the World takes this challenge on by analyzing the core principles of the Star Wars franchise: HOPE, CHOICE, HUMILITY, EMPATHY, REDEMPTION, BALANCE and rejecting FEAR. Together, these are the Star Wars roadmap for living better lives, and maybe even fostering a better politics. The path that we&’re on — where fear leads to anger, and anger to hatred — will only end in suffering. But Star Wars shows us the way back from the brink. Shared stories of virtue that are beloved across cultures and political divides are hard to come by, but Star Wars is one such story. Turn on the news; things are pretty broken right now — but the Force can fix the world.
How the Good Guys Finally Won: Notes from an Impeachment Summer
by Jimmy BreslinAfter the Watergate scandal corrupted American democracy, it took a gang of honest politicians to restore honorNot long after burglars were caught raiding the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, Congressman Tip O'Neill noticed that Democratic fundraising efforts for the 1972 election had stalled. Major contributors were under IRS investigation, and Republican lackeys were threatening further trouble if those donors didn't close their checkbooks. O'Neill sensed a conspiracy coming from the Nixon administration, but it wasn't until the scandal broke that he connected the threatened donors with the Watergate burglary. In the boldest move of his career, he did something that would shock the nation: O'Neill decided to impeach the President. To his fellow members of the House of Representatives, this was an ugly idea. But as evidence mounted against Nixon and his cronies, O'Neill led the charge against the President. This blow-by-blow, conviction-by-conviction account is a gripping reminder of how O'Neill and his colleagues brought justice to those who abused their power, and revived America after the greatest political scandal in its history. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Jimmy Breslin including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.
How the Left Can Win Arguments and Influence People: A Tactical Manual for Pragmatic Progressives (Critical America #58)
by John K WilsonIf we were to rely on what the pundits and politicians tell us, we would have to conclude that America is a deeply conservative nation. Americans, we hear constantly, detest government, demand lower taxes and the end of welfare, and favor the death penalty, prayer in school, and an absolute faith in the free market. And yet Americans believe deeply in progressive ideas. In fact, progressivism has long been a powerful force in the American psyche. Consider that a mere generation ago the struggle for environmentally sound policies, for women's rights, and for racial equality were fringe movements. Today, open opposition to these core ideals would be political suicide. Drawing on this wellspring of American progressivist tradition, John K. Wilson has penned an informal handbook for the pragmatic progressive. Wilson insists that the left must become more savvy in its rhetoric and stop preaching only to the converted. Progressives need to attack the tangible realities of the corporate welfare state, while explicitly acknowledging that "socialism is," as Wilson writes, "deader than Lenin." Rather than attacking a "right-wing conspiracy," Wilson argues that the left needs one, too. Tracing how well-funded conservative pressure groups have wielded their influence and transformed the national agenda, Wilson outlines a similar approach for the left. Along the way, he exposes the faultlines of our poll- and money-driven form of politics, explodes the myth of "the liberal media," and demands that the left explicitly change its image. Irreverent, practical, and urgently argued, How The Left Can Win Arguments and Influence People charts a way to translate progressive ideals into reality and reassert the core principles of the American left on the national stage.
How the Mind Uses the Brain
by Natika Newton Ralph EllisThe nature of consciousness and the relationship between the mind and brain have become the most hotly debated topics in philosophy. This book explains and argues for a new approach called enactivism. Enactivism maintains that consciousness and all subjective thoughts and feelings arise from an organism's attempts to use its environment in the service of purposeful action. The authors admit that their perspective presents many problems: How does one distinguish real action from reaction? Is it scientifically acceptable to say that the whole organism can use its parts, instead of being a mere summation of their separate mechanical reactions? What about the danger that this analysis will imply that physical systems fail to be "causally closed"? How the Mind Uses the Brain tries to answer these questions and represents a sharp break with tradition, arguing that consciousness and emotions are aspects of an organism's ongoing self-organizational activity, driving information-processing rather than merely responding to it.
How the New World Became Old: The Deep Time Revolution in America (Princeton Modern Knowledge #1)
by Caroline WintererHow the idea of deep time transformed how Americans see their country and themselvesDuring the nineteenth century, Americans were shocked to learn that the land beneath their feet had once been stalked by terrifying beasts. T. rex and Brontosaurus ruled the continent. North America was home to saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths, great herds of camels and hippos, and sultry tropical forests now fossilized into massive coal seams. How the New World Became Old tells the extraordinary story of how Americans discovered that the New World was not just old—it was a place rooted in deep time.In this panoramic book, Caroline Winterer traces the history of an idea that today lies at the heart of the nation&’s identity as a place of primordial natural beauty. Europeans called America the New World, and literal readings of the Bible suggested that Earth was only six thousand years old. Winterer takes readers from glacier-capped peaks in Yosemite to Alabama slave plantations and canal works in upstate New York, describing how naturalists, explorers, engineers, and ordinary Americans unearthed a past they never suspected, a history more ancient than anyone ever could have imagined.Drawing on archival evidence ranging from unpublished field notes and letters to early stratigraphic diagrams, How the New World Became Old reveals how the deep time revolution ushered in profound changes in science, literature, art, and religion, and how Americans came to realize that the New World might in fact be the oldest world of all.
How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book
by Liel Leibovitz“I could not put it down.”—A. J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically A witty and wide-ranging exploration of a book that has perplexed and delighted people for centuries: the Talmud. For numerous centuries, the Talmud—an extraordinary work of Jewish ethics, law, and tradition—has compelled readers to grapple with how to live a good life. Full of folk legends, bawdy tales, and rabbinical repartee, it is inspiring, demanding, confounding, and thousands of pages long. As Liel Leibovitz enthusiastically explores the Talmud, what has sometimes been misunderstood as a dusty and arcane volume becomes humanity’s first self-help book. How the Talmud Can Change Your Life contains sage advice on an unparalleled scope of topics, which includes communicating with your partner, dealing with grief, and being a friend. Leibovitz guides readers through the sprawling text with all its humor, rich insights, compulsively readable stories, and multilayered conversations. Contemporary discussions framed by Talmudic philosophy and psychology draw on subjects ranging from Weight Watchers and the Dewey decimal system to the lives of Billie Holiday and C. S. Lewis. Chapters focus on fundamental human experiences—the mind-body problem, the power of community, the challenges of love—to illuminate how the Talmud speaks to our daily existence. As Leibovitz explores some of life’s greatest questions, he also delivers a concise history of the Talmud itself, explaining the process of its lengthy compilation and organization. With infectious passion and candor, Leibovitz brilliantly displays how the Talmud’s wisdom reverberates for the modern age and how it can, indeed, change your life.
How the Universe Operates: A Metaphysical Analysis
by M J BakerWhy do the heavenly bodies behave in a contrary fashion to what we are familiar with on earth? Before a wheel can turn, we must ensure rim is joined to axle; before a couple can dance in circle, their hands must be joined. In contrast, the planets circle the sun and the moons circle the planets without any securing mechanism, and so precisely that their movements can be predicted to a millisecond. Again, why is it that, released from the effects of gravity, emollient matter like water or molten lead forms spontaneously into tiny globes, copying the form found in stars, planets and the sun? Are the tides satisfactorily explained by the thesis of gravitational ‘pull’ of moon and sun? If so, why does modern science have such difficulty reconciling the relative influences of these two bodies? What sort of reality is light, and why is the speed of light fixed and not infinite, at least in space? Answers to these and other questions may be found through recourse to the philosophy of Aristotle. The thinkers of the Enlightenment chose to discard Aristotle’s limited natural science. That was understandable. But they chose to discard his philosophy as well. This was unwise, as fresh study of Aristotle’s thinking will show.
How the World Changed: Volume 1 1900-1939 (How the World Changed)
by John EppsteinFirst published in 1969, How the World Changed: Volume 1 1900-1939 is the first of two volumes that together outline the political history of the twentieth century up to 1968. This volume extends from 1900-1939 and explores life prior to, during, and after the First World War. In doing so, it covers significant political events and features of the period, including the Chinese Revolution and the rise of Japan, the different stages of the First World War, the peace process, the Russian Revolution, economic challenges, and the British Empire and Commonwealth.
How the World Changed: Volume 2 1939-1968 (How the World Changed)
by John EppsteinFirst published in 1969, How the World Changed: Volume 2 1939-1968 is the second of two volumes that together outline the political history of the twentieth century up to 1968. This volume covers the period from 1939-1968 and examines the history and politics of the Second World War and the state of the world in the years that followed it, including economic recovery, Soviet expansion, the Chinese People’s Republic, and shifts in world power.
How the World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy
by Julian BagginiFrom the bestselling author of How the World Thinks, an exploration of how we grow, make, buy and eat our food around the world—and a proposal for a global philosophy of food.How we live is shaped by how we eat. You can see this in the vastly different approaches to growing, preparing and eating food around the world, such as the hunter-gatherer Hadza in Tanzania whose sustainable lifestyle is under threat in a crowded planet, or Western societies whose food is farmed or bred in vast intensive enterprises. And most of us now rely on a complex global food web of production, distribution, consumption and disposal, which is now contending with unprecedented challenges. The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent. In this wide-ranging and definitive book, philosopher Julian Baggini expertly delves into the best and worst food practises in a huge array of different societies, past and present. His exploration takes him from cutting-edge technologies, such as new farming methods, cultured meat, GM and astronaut food, to the ethics and health of ultra processed food and aquaculture, as he takes a forensic look at the effectiveness of our food governance, the difficulties of food wastage and the effects of commodification. Extracting essential principles to guide how we eat in the future, How the World Eats is a thought-provoking and illuminating call for a pluralistic, humane, resourceful and equitable global food philosophy that will guide us towards a food system fit for the twenty-first century and beyond.
How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
by Vaclav SmilINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER&“A new masterpiece from one of my favorite authors… [How The World Really Works] is a compelling and highly readable book that leaves readers with the fundamental grounding needed to help solve the world&’s toughest challenges.&”—Bill Gates &“Provocative but perceptive . . . You can agree or disagree with Smil—accept or doubt his &‘just the facts&’ posture—but you probably shouldn&’t ignore him.&”—The Washington PostAn essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible—a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish.We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don&’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check—because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn&’t inevitable—the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world&’s rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020—and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. 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 guide 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.