Energy: Its Use and the Environment [Paperback]

Roger A. Hinrichs (Author), Merlin H. Kleinbach (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0030318343 | ISBN-13: 978-0030318344 | Publication Date: March 28, 2001 | Edition: 3

ENERGY: ITS USE AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Third Edition is an introductory textbook that emphasizes the physical principles behind energy and its effects on our environment. It can be used in physics, technology, physical science, and environmental science courses for non-science majors. Many of the standard topics found in introductory physics textbooks are included. As a result, this book can be used as the text in a conceptual physics course with energy as the central theme. Much of the pedagogy used comes from a one-semester general education course the authors have taught at State University of New York (SUNY) College at Oswego, over the past 20 years. No math or other science prerequisite is necessary.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roger Hinrichs has been Professor of Physics and department chair at SUNY-Oswego, where he has taught energy related courses for over 25 years. His training is in experimental nuclear physics, and his research involves studies of trace materials in environmental and biological samples using PIXE with Oswego's Van de Graaff particle accelerator. He has an interest in energy use in developing countries, and spent time in Kenya and India as well as a year as Fulbright Scholar in the sultanate of Oman. He co-directs the Institute in Energy Education, a program for secondary school science and technology teachers. In its 20 years, this program has impacted over 500,000 students and has won numerous awards. Dr. Hinrichs also supports active inquiry-based learning in the classroom; some of the activities in this text come from, or are part of, his course "Physics for Elementary Education Majors." He has worked as a consultant at local, state, and national levels on matters of energy policy and energy technologies. Presently, he is a visiting professor at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

Merlin H. Kleinbach received his Bachelor's degree from Westmar College, IA; his Masters degree from Colorado State College, 1955 and Ed.D from the University of Missouri in 1959. He has taught high school science and industrial arts in Colorado; college courses in woodworking technology, metals technology, and basic electronics as well as Professional Education graduate courses for seven years at Wayne State College in Nebraska. Given an opportunity to teach and travel overseas, he took a position at Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa Ethiopia for four years (1966-1970), assisting in developing a teacher education program to prepare technology teachers for the newly developed comprehensive school program there. The University employed faculty from several dozen different countries from around the world, providing real insights into other cultures their concerns and potential. During this period, he and his family traveled extensively to countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Brooks Cole; 3 edition (March 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030318343
• ISBN-13: 978-0030318344
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #564,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars solid intro to energy, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Energy (Saunders golden sunburst series) (Paperback)

Energy provides comprehensive information on basic energy principles, electricity, fossil energy resources, nuclear power, renewable energy resources, energy conservation, and the impacts of energy use on the environment. While it contains all the requisite equations and problem sets, the concise, clear coverage of the environmental and policy issues surrounding our energy use really distinguishes this book from other energy texts.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Textbook, February 3, 2008

By 

Patricia A. Ballentine "Green Teacher" (Lansing, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Energy: Its Use and the Environment (Paperback)

I've been teaching at a community college for 16 years in the field of energy efficiency, Passive solar, building science, healthy homes, sustainability, green issues. I have used this book and its earlier versions in my classes because it gives the best science basis for energy. It is also written by a physics professor as a textbook, with review and questions at the end of each chapter.

This book shows the "systems efficiency" of energy sources, which is the correct way to examine any proposed alternative energy. This is the way many of these topics is presented in other books. I like the book also because it starts at the beginning--physics--in the discussion of energy.

5.0 out of 5 stars text review, February 20, 2011

By 

gin - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Energy: Its Use and the Environment (with InfoTrac) (Paperback)

This text is a great intro to the physics of energy and renewable energy. I do wish the text had been printed in color but, it is overall an excellent resource.