Out of gas : the end of the age of oil / David Goodstein.

By:

Goodstein, David L, 1939-

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: New York : Norton, 2005.Description: 148 p. : ill. ; 21 cmISBN:

0393326470 (pbk.)
9780393326475 (pbk.)

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

622.1828 GOO

Contents:

Future -- Energy myths and a brief history of energy -- Electricity and radiant energy -- Heat engines and entropy -- Technological fixes -- Envoy; the future revisited.

Summary: Over the past century, we have developed a civilization rooted in the promise of an endless supply of cheap oil. But our rate of oil discovery worldwide has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; it is certain to decline forever forward. David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face, and the closely related peril to the earth\'s climate. With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization.

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	Moylish Library Main Collection	622.1828 GOO (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		39002100348029

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Our rate of oil discovery has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; rather, it is certain to decline'erhaps rapidly'orever forward. Meanwhile, over the past century, we have developed lifestyles firmly rooted in the promise of an endless, cheap supply. In this book, David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face. He outlines the drastic effects a fossil fuel shortage will bring down on us. And he shows that there is an important silver lining to the need to switch to other sources of energy, for when we have burned up all the available oil, the earth's climate will have moved toward a truly life-threatening state. With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization.

With a new postscript--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Future -- Energy myths and a brief history of energy -- Electricity and radiant energy -- Heat engines and entropy -- Technological fixes -- Envoy; the future revisited.

Over the past century, we have developed a civilization rooted in the promise of an endless supply of cheap oil. But our rate of oil discovery worldwide has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; it is certain to decline forever forward. David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face, and the closely related peril to the earth\'s climate. With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

David Goodstein, vice provost and Frank J. Galloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor at the California Institute of Technology, is the author of Feynman's Lost Lecture, among other works. He lives with wife Dr. Judith R. Goodstein in Pasadena.