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Endorsements from scientists
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Energy policy is crucial for the world, and a wide public should be engaged
in debate and decisions on these issues. But such debate must be grounded
in realistic numbers and good physics. All the key principles are clearly
and accessibly explained in this book. David MacKay has performed a great
service by writing it.
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Prof Martin Rees FRS
President of the Royal Society
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So much has been written about meeting future energy needs that it hardly
seems possible to add anything useful, but David MacKay has managed it.
His new book is a delight to read and will appeal especially to practical
people who want to understand what is important in energy and what is not.
Like Lord Kelvin before him, Professor MacKay realises that in many fields,
and certainly in energy, unless you can quantify something you can never
properly understand it. As a result, his fascinating book is also a mine
of quantitative information for those of us who sometimes talk to our
friends about how we supply and use energy, now and in the future.
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Dr Derek Pooley CBE,
former Chief Scientist at the UK Department of
Energy, Chief Executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and Member of the
European Union Advisory Group on Energy
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Fascinating, provocative, and realistic, this book lives
up to its name and gives us the tools for straight thinking about climate change.
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Sir John Sulston FRS
Nobel laureate
Chair, Institute of Science, Ethics and Innovation,
University of Manchester
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The choices that we make (or fail to make) in the coming years about
sustainable energy will determine what world future generations will
inherit. How do we arrive at rational decisions? In his book, David
MacKay does not tell us what to choose but how to.
He shows that
choosing between different energy options should never be a matter of
whom you believe:
basic
arithmetic is all it takes to distinguish
between viable strategies and pipedreams.
Understanding our options is
one thing. Acting upon this information is another. Therefore,
anybody
who feels responsible for the future of our society should read this book.
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Prof Daan Frenkel ForMemRS
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The climate is changing, and scientists are clear about why this is so.
This remarkable book from an expert in the energy field sets out, with
enormous clarity and objectivity, the various alternative low-carbon
pathways that are open to us. Policy makers, researchers, private sector
decision makers, and NGOs, all will benefit from these words of wisdom.
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Sir David King FRS
Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, 2000-08
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The need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and to find
sustainable sources of energy is desperate. But much of the
discussion has not been based on data on how energy is consumed and
how it is produced. This book fills that need in an accessible form,
and a copy should be in every household.
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Prof Robert Hinde CBE FRS FBA
Executive Committee, Pugwash UK
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Conversations, newspapers and committees often make me wonder "Is it only
physicists who care about how important or how big some issue is?". Here
are the numbers, in a form easy to digest, about energy use and
availability. A fantastic achievement.
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Prof. Volker Heine FRS
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withouthotair.com Site last modified Sun Jan 24 18:32:49 GMT 2010
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