The Book Issue
Volume 4, Series 1
Week of January 13, 2020
The book excerpts selected for this issue of Energy Today reflect the unique complexities of humanity’s most daunting challenge: the pursuit of abundant, affordable and safe energy. There is a common thread that connects all of the books: in Superpower, one man’s quixotic dream to build a massive renewable energy grid is part of the larger story told in Power Trip, which describes the evolutionary march of modern energy sources; and, one woman’s struggles with a family farm in The Fate of Food can be seen as a microcosm of The Dreamt Land, a story of drought and plenty in California’s agricultural empire. And, in Signs On the Earth, we see the impact that energy has on individuals, faith and whole civilizations.
Together these five books powerfully illustrate the impact of energy. All that is fundamental to human life—food, water, faith, modernity— is changing on a scale and at a pace never before seen. No doubt these five books will raise a lot of questions, many of which won’t have answers. But perhaps there is some comfort, and even inspiration, in recognizing that in the age-old quest to solve our energy challenges, we are not taking this journey alone.
- Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy, by Russell Gold
- The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World, by Amanda Little
- Powertrip: The Story of Energy, by Michael E. Webber
- The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California, by Mark Araz
- Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change, by Daniel B. Poneman
- Bonus Book for Premium Members (by request only): Signs on the Earth: Islam, Modernity and the Climate Crisis, by Fazlun Khalid
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Energy Today, an independent online trade magazine, is the official e-magazine of the American Energy Society.
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