The Way The World Works

A book to challenge the status quo, spark a debate, and get people talking about the issues and questions we face as a country!

Bestselling author Baker, "who writes like no one else in America" ("Newsweek"), has assembled his best nonfiction writing over the last 15 years, a trove of original and provocative pieces.

An eye-opening introduction to the timelessly relevant ideas of Noam Chomsky, this book is a penetrating, illusion-shattering look at how things really work from the man The New York Times called “arguably the most important intellectual alive.” Offering something not found anywhere else: How the World Works is pure Chomsky, but tailored for those unfamiliar to his work. Made up of meticulously edited speeches and interviews, every dazzling idea and penetrating insight is kept intact and delivered in clear, accessible, reader-friendly prose. Originally published as four short books in the famous Real Story series—What Uncle Sam Really Wants; The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many; Secrets, Lies and Democracy; and The Common Good—they’ve collectively sold almost 600,000 copies. And they continue to sell year after year after year because Chomsky’s ideas become, if anything, more relevant as time goes by. For example, it was decades ago when he pointed out that “in 1970, about 90% of international capital was used for trade and long-term investment—more or less productive things—and 10% for speculation. By 1990, those figures had reversed.” As we know, high-risk speculation continues to increase exponentially as corporations continue to push the free market economy—but only for the power they offer to the wealthy, not to benefit all people. We’re paying the price now for not heeding him them.

The Way the World Works, as partially figured out by John R Carpenter establishes the compatibilities to settle long-standing disagreements between atheists and religious devotees. In his desire to demonstrate that science and religion can co-exist, the author pens an illuminating book that attempts to reconcile these two purportedly opposing concepts in The Way the World Works. A valuable volume, this book deals with the areas in which science and religion are too often seen to be in conflict with each other and will provide readers with examples of how existing controversies between science and religion do not have to end in either-or, but can often end in both-and. An established man of science and a Christian, Carpenter provides evidence that religion and science are two sources of inspiration and elucidation that are neither antithetical nor hostile to each other. Rather, they are synergistic and mutually advantageous, that when joined together, produces an effect greater than the sum than what they emit independently.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A new masterpiece from one of my favorite authors… [How The World Really Works] is a compelling and highly readable book that leaves readers with the fundamental grounding needed to help solve the world’s toughest challenges.”—Bill Gates “Provocative but perceptive . . . You can agree or disagree with Smil—accept or doubt his ‘just the facts’ posture—but you probably shouldn’t ignore him.”—The Washington Post An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible—a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. 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. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to 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, that globalization isn’t inevitable—the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world’s rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020—and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the book which helped launch the current economic miracle, Gateway Books is proudly repackaging and re-releasing The Way the World Works. Jude Wanniski's masterpiece defined the economic policies of the 1980s responsible for a booming stock market, the creation of thirty million new jobs, untold wealth, and unparalleled prosperity.