![](https://nsfepscor.unit.ku.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Walter.jpg)
Dr. Walter Dodds, University Distinguished Professor of Biology and the Edwin G. and Lillian J. Brychta chair at Kansas State University (KSU) as well as the Co-PI of the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) project has published a new book titled The World’s Worst Problems. His book applies a scientific to evaluating global problems and details why certain issues humanity is facing are more severe than others. Using scientific means provides an accountability of how people are dying and suffering from those issues that is void of bias and emotion. By taking a scientific approach, Dodds was able to quantify, categorize and rank each world problem based on the danger it presented, the probability of death resulting from it and the level of human suffering caused by it. In addition, he looks at the economic costs to solving each problem and also proposes possible solutions form a social science perspective. He hopes the book will help people quantify global problems and provide a guide to figuring out possible solutions that will make the world a better place and possibly lead to creation of policy.