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What if water defines humanity? It is a tall order to argue that something as mundane and malleable as water has played a critical defining factor of history, civilization, landscape, weather, and it's fates. Yet this book is exactly that. More than a descriptive biography, it's a thrilling narrative that travels across space and time, indeed from the big bang to the end of the universe, and from China to Irak and Europe.

I feel science fiction plots rarely mix, like this book does, real history, extremely accurate predictions, far extrapolation of technology, and a captivating plot through and through. To be far the very end of the book was a bit underwhelming, but overall 5* :)

Amazing book. So timeless and timely at once. April uses her long broad and deep experience scouting the world, people, cultures and places, to distill the essence of what we need to navigate our fluid, uncertain, sometimes scary and sometimes exciting world that we live in. It's structured on themes, or superpowers, but also around stories and real examples. It also comes with questions to reflect at the end of each chapter. Bonus, the audiobook is narrated by her

Fascinating idea, and plot. 10/10 in the first half. Loved the way the author unfolds the first decades. Also loved some of the very technical but also very well explained solutions proposed. Disappointed but not disagreeing that we will need increasingly negative incentives alongside leadership and economic invectives to tackle climate change. My interest in the book dropped significantly towards the end, but if you think about it it's an extremely hard book, plot and story to wrap up.

This is a fantastic mapping and prioritization of climate emissions, and how mature technologies on each case to engineer out the "green premium" so we can "get to zero" (net emissions). It also makes connections to several fields. Worth noting that it leaves as secondary "nature based solutions", non-climate benefits or non-tech interventions. E.g. the value and benefits of ecological diversity by strengthening forests beyond their carbon stock potential, or policy-only interventions. If you want a complementary view, I recommend "the nature of nature" by Enric Sala.

Absolutely loved the beginning. It's a fantastic view of history through the lense of governance, with many stops to help understand the background and connections. E.g. how monarchy pushback in England helped drive democracy in America. The book also has millions of very interesting little anecdotes. The author says this is the material for a course, and I think this book would greatly benefit from pointers of what to read, and when to go in what level of detail. Without it, the book seemed at times too detailed without purpose (or I missed it). I think I'll go back to it via the index if I want to read more, but I ended up choosing specific sections and leaving big sections unread.

What a fantastic book! In an age of polarization, of seeing so much trouble, evil and bad news, this book is not only extremely well timed, but you read it dearly hoping to be true, to be solidly argued, to lift your hopes for humankind and the world. It does all of this.
Now, it´s a quick book. Don´t expect a solid foundation of a new philosophy, or a lengthy review how this "human kind" confronts reality, but it does cover a few key cases beautifully. It also disarms some of the key studies that defend our egoist and evil nature (all of which I knew as valid arguments for evil).
It is a fantastically uplifting book, and I´ve found myself stopping to think and reflect how what I was reading changes my attitude to life. I believe it has. I won´t attribute the change just to this book, but it has helped me gain tools to seek kindness in the world.

An extremely inspiring and powerful person doing an account of her life circumstances, motivation, and path (so far!). She is a great living example of the grit of an extremely motivated immigrant girl path to the most powerful public places.

The book itself is a great narrative of all historical events she has lived and influence so far. 5/5 stars. IMHO it slows down too much towards the end, perhaps is the same kind of work, or more details than earlier pages. Nonetheless, a fantastic book.

Can't wait to see what she does at the head of USAID, and whatever comes next! The world needs Power.

I read this book as I was researching for my book on "Impact Science". It has been a fantastic resource to showcase that science is fundamentally shaped by society, not just the opposite. The author is really good exposing how misogynistic prejudging scientists has shaped our research and therefore our knowledge. For example forgoing medical trials of medicines in women until recently because the menstrual period makes it harder to analyze (and then years later discover women had different needs of doses and have different symptoms).

It is at times uncomfortable to read how biased science has been. It is therefore a must read for any scientist to reflect and learn.