Reading List Week 27

Published on Sun 12 July 2026 in Reading Lists

How France achieved the world's fastest nuclear buildout

  • How could we build nuclear reactors more quickly?

Why high speed rail hasn’t caught on

  • Why the beleaguered California high-speed rail project might never work out.

What’s So Special About Uruguay

  • Janan Ganesh once described Uruguay as the place Economist readers would identify as a successful country that other countries should aspire to emulate, why?

REVIEW: Energy and Civilization, by Vaclav Smil

  • Lots of people (such as Bill Gates) like Vaclav Smil. This is a review of Vaclav Smil's history of how energy consumption has shaped human society.