- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books (28 Dec 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0465031161
- ISBN-13: 978-0465031160
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,455,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Bottomless Well
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"This is the only book I've seen that really explains energy, its history, and what it will be like going forward." Bill Gates"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
A myth-shattering book that explains why energy is not scarce, why the quality of energy is more important than quantity, and why "waste" of energy is both necessary and desirable The sheer volume of talk about energy, energy prices and energy policy at both ends of the political spectrum suggests that we must know something about energy. But according to Peter Huber and Mark Mills, the things we "know" are mostly myths. In The Bottomless Well, Huber and Mills debunk the myths and show how a better understanding of energy will radically change our views and policies on a number of very controversial issues. They explain why demand will never go down, why most of what we think of as "energy waste" actually benefits us, why greater efficiency will never lead to energy conservation and why the energy supply is infinite - it's quality of energy that's scarce and expensive. The Bottomless Well will also revolutionize our thinking about the automotive industry (gas prices don't matter and the hybrid engine is irrelevant), coal and uranium, the much-maligned power grid (it's the worst system we could have except for the others), what energy supplies mean for jobs and GDP, and many other hotly debated subjects.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
WHAT MOST FRUSTRATES those who feel passionate about energy is that most Americans don't. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
WHAT MOST FRUSTRATES those who feel passionate about energy is that most Americans don't. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
A guest speaker to the university department where I am studying recommended this book. I wasn't too impressed with the speaker: he said climate change was massive conspiracy. He also said all energy comes from the sun, which is not entirely true because there's nuclear, tidal and geothermal. Then I saw one of the authors being interviewed on a YouTube clip and he didn't seem like a complete idiot. I gathered the book was a bit on the right of centre, politically speaking, but you shouldn't just read stuff that confirms your biases, so I decided to read it.
I thought much of it was superb. Especially good were the descriptions of how it is not merely the quantity of energy, but the quality that is so important. For example, laser light is a higher quality form of energy form than electricity, which is a higher form of energy than heat. I'm not sure there is a term that decribes the quality of an energy form. There's a term called entropy, but that describes the disorder of a system, not its quality. I also liked the section that explained how knowledge, for example in the form of digital communications or logic circuits, and power, for example in power electronics, were separate sides of the same coin.
Although, the thermodynamics part of the book was great, I was not so sure of the economics. The authors quote Einstein saying to the effect that Sadi Carnot's ideas of thermodynamics was a theory that would never be overturned. Well, you can't say the same thing about any economic theory. The book seemed to argue that politicians should just leave market forces to sort out society's energy problems without interfering - yeah, right. In one particularly infuriating passage, the authors say no responsible capitalist would bet their auto industry on new greener technology just to please environmentalists. Then I noticed the book was written in 2005 before the economic crisis, when the manufacturers of those SUVs the authors seemed to love so much went cap in hand to the government for a bale out. In fact, much of the book seems to read as a defence of an American's right to consume as much energy as he/she likes without being made to feel guilty about it.
I was also not totally convinced that market forces would automatically come up with new sources of energy. This seems to be an assumption of economic theory. The authors seems to think the sources would be uranium and coal. Could be, my supervisor thinks they will have a big part to play. I recently heard they were getting somewhere with nuclear fusion using lasers. I am sure the authors would love the prospect of lasers, a very high quality form of energy, being used to induce fusion.
I thought much of it was superb. Especially good were the descriptions of how it is not merely the quantity of energy, but the quality that is so important. For example, laser light is a higher quality form of energy form than electricity, which is a higher form of energy than heat. I'm not sure there is a term that decribes the quality of an energy form. There's a term called entropy, but that describes the disorder of a system, not its quality. I also liked the section that explained how knowledge, for example in the form of digital communications or logic circuits, and power, for example in power electronics, were separate sides of the same coin.
Although, the thermodynamics part of the book was great, I was not so sure of the economics. The authors quote Einstein saying to the effect that Sadi Carnot's ideas of thermodynamics was a theory that would never be overturned. Well, you can't say the same thing about any economic theory. The book seemed to argue that politicians should just leave market forces to sort out society's energy problems without interfering - yeah, right. In one particularly infuriating passage, the authors say no responsible capitalist would bet their auto industry on new greener technology just to please environmentalists. Then I noticed the book was written in 2005 before the economic crisis, when the manufacturers of those SUVs the authors seemed to love so much went cap in hand to the government for a bale out. In fact, much of the book seems to read as a defence of an American's right to consume as much energy as he/she likes without being made to feel guilty about it.
I was also not totally convinced that market forces would automatically come up with new sources of energy. This seems to be an assumption of economic theory. The authors seems to think the sources would be uranium and coal. Could be, my supervisor thinks they will have a big part to play. I recently heard they were getting somewhere with nuclear fusion using lasers. I am sure the authors would love the prospect of lasers, a very high quality form of energy, being used to induce fusion.
Format:Paperback
I've read a number of the other reviews, and wondered whether the other readers actually read the same book. The premise of the book is very simply that energy production relies on harvesting suitable fuels, and that even with the twilight of oil production there are still a plethora of alternative fuels to power modern economies for many years to come. The point that other reviewers have alerted us to is that we will continue to use increasing stocks of fuel to exploit ever more new fuel sources with even higher calorific values. Whilst these already exploitable sources are theoretically finite, they are so abundant that in relation to our foreseeable level of consumption, they are to all intents and purposes infinite.
The point that other reviewers have alerted us to is that the authors suggest we will continue to use increasing stocks of fuel to exploit ever more new fuel sources with even higher calorific values. This is not as some people suggest, blind faith in the power of technology to save mankind from a Malthusian nightmare, but simply a summary of man's historical relationship with energy production and his ability to increasingly harness his understanding of physics and chemistry to exploit new energy fuel sources. Whilst they do look into a future where miracle technologies will exploit the power of nuclear fusion, they actually mostly concentrate on the ability of existing fuel sources to power the future.
The book does give very scant attention to the environmental damage that might accrue from the continuing consumption of fossil fuels, but one could argue that that subject deserves another book in it's own right. Their mission is simply to tell us that the planet has plenty of fuel resources, if we care to exploit them. The authors may refer to energy markets and a right wing agenda in other books, but I think to condemn this book in the context of their others works is to miss the central "largely optimistic" points that it raises.
The point that other reviewers have alerted us to is that the authors suggest we will continue to use increasing stocks of fuel to exploit ever more new fuel sources with even higher calorific values. This is not as some people suggest, blind faith in the power of technology to save mankind from a Malthusian nightmare, but simply a summary of man's historical relationship with energy production and his ability to increasingly harness his understanding of physics and chemistry to exploit new energy fuel sources. Whilst they do look into a future where miracle technologies will exploit the power of nuclear fusion, they actually mostly concentrate on the ability of existing fuel sources to power the future.
The book does give very scant attention to the environmental damage that might accrue from the continuing consumption of fossil fuels, but one could argue that that subject deserves another book in it's own right. Their mission is simply to tell us that the planet has plenty of fuel resources, if we care to exploit them. The authors may refer to energy markets and a right wing agenda in other books, but I think to condemn this book in the context of their others works is to miss the central "largely optimistic" points that it raises.
Format:Paperback
The book does an excellent job of explaining energy in ways we don't realize. Also, it is the case that the human race has always and will always continue to use more energy. If you expect anything different you are in for disappointment. Even if the 1st world countries start conserving in ways we cannot begin to imagine, the world is CHOCK full of people who feel entitled to the kind of life that we have been privy to all these years. If technology does not sort this out, we're in for it, big time.
I don't agree with everything in the book. The two authors are anti environment if I remember correctly. They believe markets will sort out everything, and I being a knee-jerk liberal my whole life believe that proper and substantial investments by governments can help pave the way. E.g., the ARPAnet paved the way to the internet.
Give the book a read, whether you are liberal (like I) or a right-winger.
I don't agree with everything in the book. The two authors are anti environment if I remember correctly. They believe markets will sort out everything, and I being a knee-jerk liberal my whole life believe that proper and substantial investments by governments can help pave the way. E.g., the ARPAnet paved the way to the internet.
Give the book a read, whether you are liberal (like I) or a right-winger.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Magnificent ...
Fascinating and unique book ... growing in influence every year since it was written.
Warning: if you are an enviro or greenie, don't even bother reading it. Read more
Warning: if you are an enviro or greenie, don't even bother reading it. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by John-Paul May
The thinking person's guide to energy and its environmental impact
Buy this book if you want to understand the real importance of energy to the way our world works.
This book sets out to give perspective on the current environmental... Read more
This book sets out to give perspective on the current environmental... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2008 by Richard Murphy
Nice to see something optimistic for a change.
I'm currently in the middle of reading this book, though even though I'm only about half way through I have learned a great deal. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2007 by Book fan
What planet do these guys live on?
This is undoubtedly a very interesting book even if its tone is horribly smug and patronising and its conclusion monumentally wrong-headed. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2007 by Uncle Travelling Mac
Makes you think differently about energy
The Bottemless Well is a very optimistic book. At the moment there are lots of scare stories regarding energy - energy supplies running out and people telling us to be energy... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2006 by richyrich78
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
