How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

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:

• Energy and food production
• Our material world and its globalization
• 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:

• Globalization isn't inevitable.
• Our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, making their complete and rapid elimination unlikely.

Drawing on the latest science and tackling sources of misinformation head-on — from Yuval Noah Harari to Noam Chomsky — Smil ultimately answers the most profound question of our age:
Are we irrevocably doomed, or is a brighter utopia ahead?

Praise for the book:

• 'Very informative and eye-opening in many ways' — HA-JOON CHANG, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
• 'If you are anxious about the future, and infuriated that we aren't doing enough about it, please read this book' — PAUL COLLIER, author of The Future of Capitalism