This has an intriguing title and an intriguing concept. If you had to pick the seven elements that influenced the world the most (from a human development standpoint) what would they be? How did they change the world? Yeah, kinda neat.

But, that's not really what we get. The more you read, the more the book becomes an autobiography about the author, who is a former CEO of BP. If he wasn't there, forget the silly idea of research/insight. There is nothing in-depth or worthwhile except his own experiences. The majority of pictures are pictures with him. The majority of the stories are stories about him. I've read books where the author's experiences are the central focus, and I enjoyed them. I just don't like the feeling of being presented with one thing, and slid into another.

I give this two stars for a clever idea and marketing prowess. I would have never read this if it had been accurately labeled "John Browne Shares Ventures as BP CEO." You got me. ( )

I picked this up because I thought it would be a sort of scientific history. I should have read the author note to discover this is written by a former BP executive. I went back to look at the notes when I had read about thirty pages and was beginning to be concerned by the author's "rah rah for progress" tone. This is a book that makes greed and environmental destruction sound like laudable activities. The description of fracking which is called "enhanced oil recovery" in this book) makes it sound harmless and even hygienic. While there is some interesting info here is reads more like a clumsy attempt to snow the reader with cheerfully oblivious patter. ( )