Of all the books I've bought over the years, I think I've gone back to this one for data and charts more than any other, which makes sense, because it's a huge meta-data compendium, or basically, Bjorn Lomborg (who made his rep with this book) leveraging hundreds of other people's studies to give the reader a realistic appraisal of the world's state, the amazingly positive trends that got us here, and what's likely to happen going forward.
It is like a bible to me, and I've read everything Bjorn Lomborg has written since.
I like to note that I did my rank-ordering of environmental dangers with an expert group a few years before Lomborg did his own with the "Copenhagen Consensus" crowd of Nobel winners, but that's just my way of unsubtly insinuating that great minds think alike.
And yeah, I wish I had a mind as sharp as Lomborg's when it comes to data. He really is amazing and always provocative.
Best still: the guy's optimism.
Not had the pleasure of meeting the guy yet, but hope to someday.
Coolest factoid: his book was published the day before 9/11, and has remained an antidote to end-times pessimism every since.