{"product_id":"numbers-tell-stories-how-data-can-reveal-the-surprising-truths-about-our-world-from-the-bestselling-author-paperback","title":"Numbers Tell Stories: How Data Can Reveal the Surprising Truths about Our World from the Bestselling Author (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the internationally bestselling author, a revealing\nlook at the surprising numbers that uncover the hidden forces shaping our world\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures\nwith numbers like Smil’ Guardian\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhat do marriage, milk and the black market tell us about\nthe state of humanity? Most people would say, not much at all. But the numbers\nreveal startling truths about who we are, how we live and where we’re headed.\nFor centuries we’ve told ourselves stories about how the world works – yet the\ndata often point to a very different reality. In \u003ci\u003eNumbers Tell Stories\u003c\/i\u003e,\nVaclav Smil shows how statistics challenge conventional thinking and illuminate\nthe hidden forces shaping our lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eTake marriage. Weren’t people in the past married off as\nchildren? In fact, in eighteenth-century France, the median age was 29 for men\nand 27 for women – not that different to today. Or longevity. Should we look to\nJapan to unlock the secrets of a long, healthy life? Perhaps – but only one in\nfive Japanese men and women retains full independence in old age. Even the\nworld’s healthiest nation still has far to go. And waste. It sounds absurd, but\ndiscarded electronics contain more gold per ton than gold ore itself – our\nrubbish is richer than our mines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eClimate change is another challenge we know is huge – but\nthe real shock is the scale of the economic effort required to act in time.\nCutting greenhouse gas emissions on the recommended timescale would demand 15\nto 20 per cent of annual GDP in wealthy countries – roughly equivalent to the\nresources mobilised by the Allies to win the Second World War. Numbers on that\nscale are not abstract: they would transform daily life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eBehind every familiar story, Smil uncovers the statistics\nthat can reframe the past, jolt our view of the present, and change how we\nthink about the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eVaclav Smil\u003c\/b\u003e is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at\nthe University of Manitoba. He is the author of over forty books on topics\nincluding energy, environmental and population change, food production and\nnutrition, technical innovation, risk assessment, and public policy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eNo other living scientist has had more books (on a wide\nvariety of topics) reviewed in \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eA Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in 2010 he was\nnamed by \u003ci\u003eForeign Policy\u003c\/i\u003e as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TIMES DISTRIBUTION PTE LTD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46424781291727,"sku":"9780241758854","price":39.19,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0574\/5662\/3823\/files\/download_b1b68f63-9445-40fc-b2da-b8450af4a8f5.webp?v=1793594082","url":"https:\/\/popular.baby\/products\/numbers-tell-stories-how-data-can-reveal-the-surprising-truths-about-our-world-from-the-bestselling-author-paperback","provider":"Popular Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}