THE THREAD OF ENERGY
Subtitle
Weaving the Tapestries of Our Lives
The Thread of Energy simplifies the world's complexity by discussing energy as the single most influential driver of human actions and decisions. It exposes fundamental influences of energy on our lives, our security, and our relationships with others in an ever-shrinking and complicated world. It examines the typical influence energy has on all human activities, ways of life, ambitions, and costs while illustrating the central role of energy in explaining how the world works and how it will influence the future we are creating. It reduces the myriad interlocking and inscrutable influences on human security and happiness and prepares us – in lay terms – for the coming energy transition. The Thread of Energy weaves a tapestry of all human activities. Energy is the premier driver of human actions, decisions, barriers, and opportunities. Acknowledging and acting upon this accumulated awareness is the first step in illuminating the path to the solutions we must achieve to survive. Once we do so, we will have accepted that Energy is a social issue with a technical component rather than the other way around.
Bio
Dr. Martin J. Pasqualetti is a Professor of Geography in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, and a Senior Global Futures Scientist in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, both at Arizona State University. He concentrates on matters of energy and society – especially energy landscapes. For his lifelong contributions to energy studies, he was honored with the Alexander and Ilse Melamid Gold Medal from the American Geographical Society (2015); Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the University of California (Riverside) (2018); and Elected Fellow of the American Association of Geographers (2019). He has advised several agencies and NGOs, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the U.S. Office of Technical Assessment, the National Academy of Sciences, the Arizona Office of Energy Policy, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. His latest books include The Renewable Energy Landscape (Routledge) and The Thread of Energy (Oxford).
Praise for this book
This book is an important and welcome addition to the field and would make for an excellent textbook in undergraduate energy courses in geography, environmental studies, and other related disciplines....The clear and engaging writing on what for most is an overly technical and inaccessible topic will extend its reach beyond academia to government policymakers (and perhaps even the energy industries). It will no doubt be essential reading for anyone interested in a bias-free account of the energy situation and how it affects everyone.
Barry D. Solomon Professor Emeritus, Michigan Technological University
Enhanced by many drawings, photographs, tables, and illustrations, overall, the book is well written; full of interesting information, both quantitative and qualitative; and suitable for a general audience.
A. M. Saperstein Wayne State University
