Books like How the World Really Works

How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil reads as analytical, informative. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

Harvesting The Biosphere What We Have Taken From Nature

Vaclav Smil · 2012

Both explore energy & global systems

74% genome match

Limits to Growth

Donella H. Meadows · 1972

Both explore environment & population

70% genome match

Collapse

Jared Diamond · 2005

Both explore environment

50% genome match

The World Without Us

Alan Weisman · 2007

Same nonfiction feel

65% genome match

The Road Ahead

Bill Gates · 1995

Both explore technology

67% genome match

Environmental science

Bernard J. Nebel · 1987

Same nonfiction feel

63% genome match

The Wizard and the Prophet

Charles C. Mann · 2018

Both explore environment & technology

62% genome match

Sugar changed the world

Marc Aronson · 2010

Both explore economics

61% genome match

Why Nations Fail

Daron Acemoglu · 2012

Both explore economics

56% genome match

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari · 2018

Both explore technology

56% genome match

Foragers, farmers, and fossil fuels

Ian Morris · 2015

Both explore energy

62% genome match

Science and technology in world history

James E. McClellan III · 1999

Both explore technology

58% genome match