tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402218131027936406.post2276485310163187912..comments2019-06-28T03:49:55.175-04:00Comments on Coffee Break Science: Earth Day #2: Energy & OilUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402218131027936406.post-91840031578191047492010-04-21T12:58:21.501-04:002010-04-21T12:58:21.501-04:00It's true that the website for "Sustainab...It's true that the website for "Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air" comes off as being too busy and difficult to approach. This is a shame, because it's a remarkably clear and useful book. It's also ironic, because the print version is gorgeous.<br /><br />A few hints might help for approaching the website version of the book. First, it's hard to get a sense for what the book really offers from the website's main page. It could really use an executive summary, maybe building on this quote from the book:<br /><br />"I’m going to assume we are motivated to get off fossil fuels. Whatever your motivation, the aim of this book is to help you figure out the numbers and do the arithmetic so that you can evaluate policies [for balancing energy demand with energy supply]; and to lay a factual foundation so that you can see which proposals add up." (<a href="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c1/page_16.shtml" rel="nofollow">Page 16</a>)<br /><br />Also, the colors in the table of contents don't make sense until you've actually red the book, so it would be useful to have a brief legend. Chapters highlighted in red look at how much energy something uses. Chapters highlighted in green look at how much energy something provides. Chapters highlighted in blue provide discussion.<br /><br />One of the great things about this book is that Professor MacKay has published the book under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/" rel="nofollow"> a Creative Commons license that allows sharing</a>, which means that if we were sufficiently motivated, we could republish the work online with a more elegant and useful presentation.John L. Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11799082222127859256noreply@blogger.com