Vaclav Smil is a phenomenon with an appetite for facts over prejudice and fashion. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future -- eminent architect, Lord Norman Foster

An endlessly entertaining career through fascinating territory -- Simon Ings - Daily Telegraph

Both informative and entertaining . . . I suspect that many Physics World readers would be delighted to find this book waiting for them under the Christmas tree. Indeed, it would be perfect reading material for anyone who enjoys a mathematical analysis of the world around them - Physics World

In a world of specialized intellectuals, Smil is an ambitious and astonishing polymath who swings for fences . . . They're among the most data-heavy books you'll find, with a remarkable way of framing basic facts - Wired

There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil - Guardian

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of over forty books on topics including energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, risk assessment, and public policy. No other living scientist has had more books (on a wide variety of topics) reviewed in Nature. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.