Category Archives: Books

Fantasyland Part 1. How America Went Haywire. A 500-Year History.

Posted on August 2, 2018 by

        Preface. The next 8 posts will review the book “Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire.  A 500-Year History” because it’s one of the most important, and fun to read, books I’ve read in a long time.  A … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Critical Thinking, Critical Thinking and Scientific Literacy, Human Nature, Religion, Social Disorder | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Battling the Inland Sea, the history of why and how the levee system was built in California’s delta

Posted on July 7, 2018 by

[ When settlers first moved to farm the central valley, they found it was often flooded with water, not the “desert” people often claim California to be.  A vast swamp over 100 miles long of half a million acres of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Dams, Floods, Floods | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Battling the Inland Sea, the history of why and how the levee system was built in California’s delta

From wood to fossil fueled civilizations — the greatest tragedy mankind will ever know

Posted on April 23, 2018 by

[ These are my notes from this book about how we went from an organic sustainable economy to a temporary fossil-fueled one.  It’s one of the few books I’ve found that explains what life was like before fossil fuels in … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Experts, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

How horses changed native cultures after 1492

Posted on April 2, 2018 by

[ This is a very brief overview of Peter Mitchel’s “Horse Nations”.  As oil and other fossils decline, will we will almost certainly return to using more horse “muscle power” as we did in the past. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Muscle Power | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (excerpts)

Posted on March 20, 2018 by

Preface. Here are some excerpts to give you a taste of how delightful and well written this book is, hope it inspires young women to go into science.  And something good to read when the grid goes down… Warning: these … Continue reading →

Posted in (Auto)biography | Tagged , | 4 Comments

American Arsenal: A Century of Waging War by Patrick Coffey

Posted on January 8, 2018 by

Source: www.compoundchem.com/2014/05/17/chemical-warfare-ww1 Preface. These are my notes from “American Arsenal: A Century of Waging War” (2013) by Patrick Coffey . Absolutely horrifying, especially chemical warfare. Here’s the publishers weekly blurb of what this book is about: “Science historian Coffey surveys … Continue reading →

Posted in War | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mining: Waste, Pollution, Destruction from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Posted on November 15, 2017 by

[ I’ve reworded/shortened some of the wording at times from this excellent book. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts:  KunstlerCast … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemicals, Coal Ash, Mercury, Nuclear, Pollution, Ugo Bardi | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Fossil and Nuclear Energy Reading List

Posted on October 28, 2017 by

[ Books and articles related to fossil fuels and nuclear energy.  More comments after the list.  Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and … Continue reading →

Posted in Book List | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Book review of “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last days of the War on Drugs”

Posted on October 25, 2017 by

[ The founder of the War on Drugs, Harry Anslinger, wanted to build as large a bureaucracy as possible. But a war on narcotics alone—cocaine and heroin, outlawed in 1914—wasn’t enough. They were used only by a tiny minority, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Drug wars and the prison system | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Why didn’t any white collar corporate criminals go to jail after the crash?

Posted on October 16, 2017 by

[ This is a book review with excerpts of “The Chickenshit club: Why the justice department fails to prosecute executives”.  Here is how the author Eisinger summarizes the problem and consequences: “Businesses now have privileges not seen since the Gilded … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Mortgages, No Jail for Bankers & Wall St execs | Tagged , , | 1 Comment