Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology by Alexis Madrigal (Author). Few today notice that electric cabs dominated Manhattan’s streets in the 1890s; that Boise, Idaho, had a geothermal heating system in 1910; or that the first megawatt turbine in the world was in-built 1941 by the son of publishing magnate G. P. Putnam–a feat that will not be duplicated for one more forty years. Likewise, whereas many remember the oil embargo of the 1970s, few are aware that it led to a corresponding explosion in green-know-how research that was only derailed when energy costs later dropped.
In different words: We’ve been right here before. Although we may have failed, America has had the chance to put our world on a more sustainable path. Individuals have, the truth is, been inventing inexperienced for more than a century.
Half compendium of lost alternatives, half hopeful look toward the longer term, Powering the Dream tells the tales of the brilliant, typically irascible inventors who foresaw our current problems, tried to invent low-cost and energy renewable options, and drew the blueprint for a green future.
An ideal learn, very gratifying and I learned a lot. A nice balance of stories and treatment of the technology. I by no means felt overwhelmed with the engineering element that you simply typically get in histories of expertise, all kinds of topics and opinions preserve context and web page-turning. The prose are fun and very readable. One commentary is that Presidentital administrations are likely to get the reward and blame for funding, however we won’t neglect who controls the purse strings. My understanding is that plenty of the nice put up seventy three’ oil crisis power legislation originated in a very active Home Science & Know-how committee.
Highly recommend to anybody interested in the historical past of harnessing the energy of the sun.
I discovered this ebook to be effectively organized, with the 288 numbered pages of text divided into 27 chapters and grouped into 5 sections, making it simple to read a chapter at a time. A 19-page index allows the reader to search out the complete title and introduction to characters later referred to by final identify solely, and 26 pages of finish-notes pointing to 31 pages of bibliographic info indicate the amount of sources used compiling the stories.
Don’t let the title “Thermodynamics” discourage you from reading chapter 17, which is a very readable account of how a physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, after 27 years studying subatomic particles corresponding to quarks, grew to become considering how Europeans acquired alongside utilizing half the power that we did, and began exploring how Americans could avoid building new power vegetation by increasing efficiency of family appliances comparable to refrigerators.
Additionally of curiosity are chapters describing how inconsistencies in American energy insurance policies have contributed to the failure of efforts to develop inexperienced power sources resembling photo voltaic, wind, and biofuels.
Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology
Alexis Madrigal (Author)
400 pages
Da Capo Press (March 29, 2011)
No comments:
Post a Comment