Numbers Don't Lie by Vaclav Smil -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Page About the Author Introduction PEOPLE: The Inhabitants of Our World

What happens when we have fewer children? The best indicator of quality of life? Try infant mortality The best return on investment: Vaccination Why it’s difficult to predict how bad a pandemic will be while it is happening Growing taller Is life expectancy finally topping out? How sweating improved hunting How many people did it take to build the Great Pyramid? Why unemployment figures do not tell the whole story What makes people happy? The rise of megacities

COUNTRIES: Nations in the Age of Globalization

The First World War’s extended tragedies Is the US really exceptional? Why Europe should be more pleased with itself Brexit: Realities that matter most will not change Concerns about Japan’s future How far can China go? India vs. China Why manufacturing remains important Russia and the USA: How things never change Receding empires: Nothing new under the sun

MACHINES, DESIGNS, DEVICES: Inventions That Made Our Modern World

How the 1880s created our modern world How electric motors power modern civilization Transformers—the unsung silent, passive devices Why you shouldn’t write diesel off just yet Capturing motion—from horses to electrons From the phonograph to streaming Inventing integrated circuits Moore’s Curse: Why technical progress takes longer than you think The rise of data: Too much too fast Being realistic about innovation

FUELS AND ELECTRICITY: Energizing Our Societies

Why gas turbines are the best choice Nuclear electricity—an unfulfilled promise Why you need fossil fuels to get electricity from wind How big can a wind turbine be? The slow rise of photovoltaics Why sunlight is still best Why we need bigger batteries Why electric container ships are a hard sail The real cost of electricity The inevitably slow pace of energy transitions

TRANSPORT: How We Get Around

Shrinking the journey across the Atlantic Engines are older than bicycles! The surprising story of inflatable tires When did the age of the car begin? Modern cars have a terrible weight-to-payload ratio Why electric cars aren’t as great as we think (yet) When did the jet age begin? Why kerosene is king How safe is flying? Which is more energy efficient—planes, trains, or automobiles?

FOOD: Energizing Ourselves

The world without synthetic ammonia Multiplying wheat yields The inexcusable magnitude of global food waste The slow addio to the Mediterranean diet Bluefin tuna: On the way to extinction Why chicken rules (Not) drinking wine Rational meat-eating The Japanese diet Dairy products—the counter-trends

ENVIRONMENT: Damaging and Protecting Our World

Animals vs. artifacts—which are more diverse? Planet of the cows The deaths of elephants Why calls for the Anthropocene era may be premature Concrete facts What’s worse for the environment—your car or your phone? Who has better insulation? Triple-glazed windows: A see-through energy solution Improving the efficiency of household heating Running into carbon

Epilogue Further Reading Acknowledgments Index Copyright