Numbers Tell Stories

A$37 · Offered by Harry Hartog Rare Books

From the internationally bestselling author, a revealing look at the surprising numbers that uncover the hidden forces shaping our world From the internationally bestselling author, a revealing look at the surprising numbers that uncover the hidden forces shaping our world What do marriage, milk and the black market tell us about the state of humanity? Most people would say, not much at all. But the numbers reveal startling truths about who we are, how we live and where we're headed. For centuries we've told ourselves stories about how the world works - yet the data often point to a very different reality. In Numbers Behind Stories, Vaclav Smil shows how statistics challenge conventional thinking and illuminate the hidden forces shaping our lives. Take marriage. Weren't people in the past married off as children? In fact, in eighteenth-century France, the median age was 29 for men and 27 for women - not that different to today. Or longevity. Should we look to Japan to unlock the secrets of a long, healthy life? Perhaps - but only one in five Japanese men and women retains full independence in old age. Even the world's healthiest nation still has far to go. And waste. It sounds absurd, but discarded electronics contain more gold per ton than gold ore itself - our rubbish is richer than our mines. Climate change is another challenge we know is huge - but the real shock is the scale of the economic effort required to act in time. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions on the recommend

• Binding: Hardcover

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