Dust jacket notes: "Buried in distant archives and deep in the memories of a few old-timers lies the evidence that solar energy is not an exotic new energy source. Greek cities faced south to catch winter sunlight, Roman villas and communal baths were solar heated, and nineteenth-century European greenhouses provided winter heat as well as food. Solar water-heater industries thrived in California in the early 1900's and flourished in Florida two decades later. These are but a few of the early applications of solar energy examined in A Golden Thread, whose authors trace the evolution of solar architecture and technology through 2500 years of Western civilization. Not surprisingly, solar energy has been used repeatedly - usually when such 'conventional' fuels as wood and coal were in short supply. During those age-old times of 'energy crisis,' the sun proved to be an economical and practical alternative. Thus, this book serves as a mirror for our own times, when oil and gas supplies are dwindling and people once again clamor for energy from the sun. But A Golden Thread is much more than a historical survey of solar energy applications. The energy used by a society is closely tied to its economic, cultural and political life, and Butti and Perlin have not ignored this human element. Their carefully researched narrative is told through the eyes and words of its actual participants - architects, inventors, scientists and visionaries who advocated a solar society long before the present day. It is this emphasis on the human side of technological innovation that distinguishes this hopeful book. History not only proves the possibility of solar energy; it also gives us a glimpse of the future society that might come to depend on the sun for a large part of its heat, light and motive power. A Golden Thread should be read by solar advocates, policymakers and the concerned public alike."

A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology

Arts & Photography

Butti, Ken & John Perlin

Architecture

Cheshire Books

The Solar Home Book: heating, cooling and designing with the sun

The Solar Home Book: Heating, cooling, and designing with the sun

Bruce Anderson

Michael Riordan

The Solar Home Book: Heating, Cooling and Designing with the Sun, by Bruce Anderson with Michael Riordan. Art direction by Linda Goodman. Illustrations by Edward A. Wong. Pencil drawings by Rachel Dutton. 297 pages with index, plus biographical notes. Hardback with jacket. Copyright 1976 by Cheshire Books. ISBN 0 917352 02 5 (cloth). [from the book]

The Solar Home Book: Heating, cooling, and designing with the sun by Bruce Anderson, Michael Riordan (1976) Hardcover

Anderson, Bruce

A detailed look at the technology of wind generated power includes a comparison of various system designs, advice on assembling a wind power system, and an analysis of wind power availability in each state

Wind Power Book

Science & Math

Park, Jack

Technology

A Golden Thread is a 2500 year history of solar energy, richly illustrated throughout.

Golden Thread: Twentyfive Hundred Years of Solar Architecture and Technology

Perlin, John

Butti, Ken

Almost 2,500 years ago, the ancient Greeks began designing their homes to capture winter sunlight. This book describes the major advances in solar architecture and technology that have occurred since that time. Its emphasis is on developments occurring in Western civilization, but it also touches on important work from China and Japan. In writing this book, we took an evolutionary approach. We have tried to show the step-by-step development of solar architecture and technology, and to describe the process of discovery and the popularization of these applications. Thus, technological developments are always discussed within the economic, political, social and cultural milieu of each period.

Ken Butti

John Perlin

The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy

“The very notion of the domination of nature by man stems from the very real domination of human by human.” With this succinct formulation, Murray Bookchin launches his most ambitious work, The Ecology of Freedom. An engaging and extremely readable book of breathtaking scope, its inspired synthesis of ecology, anthropology and political theory traces our conflicting legacies of hierarchy and freedom from the first emergence of human culture to today’s globalized capitalism, constantly pointing the way to a sane, sustainable ecological future. Murray Bookchin, cofounder of the Institute for Social Ecology, has been an active voice in the ecology and anarchist movements for more than 40 years. The author of numerous books and articles, he lives in Burlington, Vermont.

Politics & Social Sciences

MURRAY BOOKCHIN

Philosophy

“The very notion of the domination of nature by man stems from the very real domination of human by human.” With this succinct formulation, Murray Bookchin launches his most ambitious work, The Ecology of Freedom. An engaging and extremely readable book of breathtaking scope, its inspired synthesis of ecology, anthropology and political theory traces our conflicting legacies of hierarchy and freedom from the first emergence of human culture to today’s globalized capitalism, constantly pointing the way to a sane, sustainable ecological future. Murray Bookchin, cofounder of the Institute for Social Ecology, has been an active voice in the ecology and anarchist movements for more than 40 years. The author of numerous books and articles, he lives in Burlington, Vermont.

The Ecology of Freedom

History

BOOKCHIN, MURRAY

Paul Avrich Collection (Library of Congress)

World

The Day After Midnight: The Effects of Nuclear War

Riordan, Michael

Military

Famous Potatoes

Cottonwood, Joe

Literature & Fiction

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