Customer Reviews

Alternative Energy (Essential Science)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

- transition to a more sustainable energy production would be much easier. I bought this book(let) because it had nice graphics and was cheap. Maybe because of that I was thrilled to find such goldmine of explanation about energy technology. The text is very introductory, yet covers all the basic topics. As someone with a degree in energy technology and quite a bit of knowledge about alternative energy, I would say the book strikes a perfect balance between being correct and easy to read.

Once I read it, what I thought was nice graphics turned out to be stunning! The best I have ever seen in a book. All illustrations look very similar which elevates the overall impression of this little gem.

If you want to know a little about everything in energy technology, I cannot think of a better book than this one. I would highly recommend everyone with any amount of interest in energy technology to read this book.

I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the books in this series :-)

I purchased this book in hopes of using it in a course I am teaching on alternative energies. If I could rip out the first 30 pages and cross off a few sentences in the remaining pages the book would be a good resource for students to understand alternative energy. However, with the first 30 pages in the book it is nothing more than a book written by Al Gore and all the left wing agendas that go with that. Chapters titled "Energy Addicts" and "Nuclear Power A Failed Promise" do not belong in a book that is supposed to be introducing the subject of alternative energy. Don't waste your money like I did on this book

Although this is marketed to adults, this would be appropriate for middle graders. It is clearly written and provides an overview of some of the most important alternative, particularly hydropower, wave power, wind power, solar power, nuclear power and biofuels. It also provides some possible consumer design solutions for homes and automobiles.

It could have done a better job laying out what some of the issues around the alternatives are, particularly the potential for "peak uranium" (it did a thorough job explaining the concepts of limited carbon sources) and the potential economic consequences of using crops and cropland for fuel. Still, this will provide enough information to begin exploring the topics in greater depth.