This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
This weekend, I rediscovered the work of David J.C. MacKay, a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. Dr. MacKay has a PhD in Computation and Neural Systems (from Cal Tech) and conducts research in machine learning, information theory and communication systems. He currently serves as the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change in the UK.He also wrote the book “Sustainable Energy – without the hot air.”
In this book, Dr. MacKay steps through the numbers – presenting a clear and well thought-out discussion of what it means to progress to a low-carbon economy, and what pathways the UK might take to get there. For a brief introduction to his thought process, check out the following 6 minute video:
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Dr. MacKay’s book (all 383 pages of it) is available for free online at his website. Because, in his own words:
I didn't write this book to make money. I wrote it because sustainable energy is important. If you would like to have the book for free for your own use, please help yourself to any of the electronic versions on this website. There's pdf and html versions (thanks to William Sigmund!); we are working on other formats.
If you find yourself with a free moment, I’d strongly recommend that you add this book to your reading list.