"How the world really works" - a book review
Smil's deep dive into energy, food, and materials finally made me understand why we can't just flip a switch on climate change—every decision has complex consequences.
I have to admit, I picked up Vaclav Smil's "How the World Really Works" expecting a lighter read than what I got. I was wrong. This book is dense — like "reading-a-textbook-on-the-MRT-in-Singapore" dense — but in the best possible way :P
Smil covers an absurd breadth of topics — energy, food production, cement, steel, population growth, viruses, globalization — and somehow ties them all together into a coherent picture of how our world actually functions. He's not trying to sell you on any ideology. He's just laying out the numbers and letting you draw your own conclusions. I think that's what I appreciated most about it.
His writing can get pretty technical in places (I won't pretend I followed every calculation), but he also drops in these surprisingly funny anecdotes that keep you going. I found myself laughing out loud a couple of times, which is not something I expected from a book about ammonia production and concrete :D
Here's the part that really changed my thinking: through the first few chapters, I finally understood why we can't just shut down coal and natural gas power plants overnight. Every decision we make to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has this complex web of consequences that most casual observers (myself included, until reading this) completely overlook. Smil is particularly scathing towards "scientific" work that builds models out of thin air to suit the author's narrative, without any regard for feasibility or actual economic cost when it comes to energy transition. From my experience in advertising, I know a thing or two about people cherry-picking data to support a predetermined conclusion, and Smil's frustration really resonated with me.
I think this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to have an informed opinion about climate, energy, or really any of the big global challenges we're facing. Even if you disagree with Smil on some points (and he'd probably welcome that), you'll come away with a much more nuanced understanding of the trade-offs involved.
Have you read anything by Smil before, or is there another book that changed how you think about the world? I'd love to hear about it.
Cheers,
Chandler
P.S. You can get the book here if you're interested.
