Contrary to public opinion, a nuclear winter caused by brief nuclear war would not destroy all life on earth. During the first month, approximately 60% of the earth's population would die. Remote places would not be unaffected, but the effects experienced would be less than that in urban areas. Over time, more people would die off of starvation and long term effects of the radiation. In the end, only 10% or less of the world's original population would survive. The survivors would be indigent peoples on remote areas of the earth and most would probably have a primitive knowledge of mathematics, language, and astronomy. The world would be set back a few thousand years and some knowledge might be lost forever. Someone actually wrote a story describing what would likely happen to the world after a nuclear war. It is entitled By the Waters of Babylon.