The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World |  | Author: Phillip F. Schewe
Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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as of 7/29/2010 21:15 CDT details
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Seller: krs-books
Rating:  24 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 030910260X
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.7932
EAN: 9780309102605
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Product Description
The electrical grid goes everywhere - it's the largest and most complex machine ever made. Yet, the system is built in such a way that the bigger it gets, the more inevitable its collapse. Named the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century by the National Academy of Engineering, the electrical grid is the largest industrial investment in the history of humankind. It reaches into your home, snakes its way to your bedroom, and climbs right up into the lamp next to your pillow. At times, it almost seems alive, like some enormous circulatory system that pumps life to big cities and the most remote rural areas.Constructed of intricately interdependent components, the grid operates on a rapidly shrinking margin for error. Things can - and do - go wrong in this system, no matter how many preventive steps we take. Just look at the colossal 2003 blackout, when 50 million Americans lost power due to a simple error at a power plant in Ohio; or the one a month later, which blacked out 57 million Italians. And these two combined don't even compare to the 2001 outage in India, which affected 226 million people. "The Grid" is the first history of the electrical grid intended for general readers, and it comes at a time when we badly need such a guide. As we get more and more dependent on electricity to perform even the most mundane daily tasks, the grid's inevitable shortcomings will take a toll on populations around the globe. At a moment when energy issues loom large on the nation's agenda and our hunger for electricity grows, "The Grid" is as timely as it is compelling.
Book Description
The electrical grid goes everywhere—it's the largest and most complex machine ever made. Yet the system is built in such a way that the bigger it gets, the more inevitable its collapse.
Named the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century by the National Academy of Engineering, the electrical grid is the largest industrial investment in the history of humankind. It reaches into your home, snakes its way to your bedroom, and climbs right up into the lamp next to your pillow. At times, it almost seems alive, like some enormous circulatory system that pumps life to big cities and the most remote rural areas.
Constructed of intricately interdependent components, the grid operates on a rapidly shrinking margin for error. Things can—and do—go wrong in this system, no matter how many preventive steps we take. Just look at the colossal 2003 blackout, when 50 million Americans lost power due to a simple error at a power plant in Ohio; or the one a month later, which blacked out 57 million Italians. And these two combined don't even compare to the 2001 outage in India, which affected 226 million people.
The Grid is the first history of the electrical grid intended for general readers, and it comes at a time when we badly need such a guide. As we get more and more dependent on electricity to perform even the most mundane daily tasks, the grid's inevitable shortcomings will take a toll on populations around the globe. At a moment when energy issues loom large on the nation's agenda and our hunger for electricity grows, The Grid is as timely as it is compelling.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 Puzzled by negative reviews March 24, 2008
Allan Mazur (Syracuse University, NY)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I came to this site to write a 5-star review and was puzzled to see that a number of less enthusiastic reviewers had panned "Grid." I suppose readers have highly variable expectations. I came to the book with a lot of knowledge of the subject, looking for clear and lively reading for my undergraduate students in a course on energy policy, and for that Schewe's book is admirably suited. Unlike some negative reviewers, I thought the book an excellent overview of the grid, its history, its technology, and some of its major problems and prospects. Schewe likes word play, providing a chuckle per chapter, but perhaps others find his embedded jokes corny -- or miss them altogether. Anyway, my thumbs are up. This is an intelligent book, well researched and well written.
Fantastic June 12, 2008
Katie Wickswat (Potsdam, NY)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read this book while I was working at a nuclear power plant. It really opened my eyes to the world of electricity - who makes it and how it get transferred to our homes.
This book opens the eyes to the past, present and future of an industry everyone in developed countries is dependent on. It's not dry or technical, but delightfully relates the people and the events in a way which is interesting to any layman.
After reading this book, I did some calculations and found that 17.5% of our energy produced is lost between the grid and our homes. There's a lot of room for improvement there; many of the topics discussed in "The Grid" are useful and relevant to our current energy problems.
The Grid was so good I passed the book on to my father, who loved it, and then passed it on to my 14-year-old brother. I hope you all enjoy reading this book as much as I and my family did.
Everything I hoped for and so much more. July 28, 2007
Sharon E. Jensen (The Woodlands, Texas)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
I didn't intend to write a customer review today until I saw the few really negative reviews. I couldn't pass by without trying to remedy the damage some of these might do in terms of turning people away from reading this excellent book.
Not everybody has an in-depth understanding of electricity, nor even a superficial knowledge of the people involved in unraveling its mysteries. "The Grid" is a great way to close that gap in one's knowledge. Another recent book that dovetails nicely with "The Grid" is Jill Jonnes "Empire of Light: The Story of Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla." While not as in depth as "Empire," Schewe covers a little bit of everything with fascinating anecdotes about the evolution of the grid.
Serendipity rules also, I had just finished reading the riveting "Lights Out" by T.S. Wiley detailing how the advent of electricity was responsible for our general decline in health. Primarily by distancing us from the natural rhythms of light that from time immemorial had ruled our lives. These three books together did more to promote my understanding of how the world works than thirty years of my constant immersion in the literary and non-fiction world.
As a bonus, not only is Schewe a particle physicist, but he's also a dramatist whose command of language, whose ability to search out the perfect simile or analogy to bring to life the arcane world of "The Grid," charmed the pants off of me. His reverence for his subject and for what our greedy demands for electricity are doing to the environment brought tears to my eyes. Ignore the bad reviews, this is is a great book.
learning can be just fun December 7, 2008
Amy S. Vastola (Delmar, NY)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a terrific read about electricity, that invisible power that we are totally dependent upon and generally unconscious about. Schewe makes this lively and informative, a social history as well as a scientific primer for us novices, since he explains the scientific pieces so artfully (he is eminently qualified, check out his background), and gave us a great romp that I would highly recommend. Switch on your reading light, and pick up this book..
THE GRID - a fascinating look at power -- and the power behind the power! July 6, 2009
F. M. Langner (Albuquerque, NM)
Ever since the first widespread east coast power outage, I've been interested in how the electricity gets to us. With continued outages here and there, all the government talk about a Smart Grid, and the dependance we place on electric power, this book perfectly informs the consumer about how power grids work, how they got started, the wheeling-and-dealing by wealthy interests, and the triumph of technology that today's electrical copper web presents.
The story of the people is fascinating. If you not of a technical bent, just skip the "volts and amps" and follow the intrigue, the jockeying-for-position, the political paybacks, and the fascinating story behind our ability to turn on a light bulb.
If you liked James Burke's "Connections," you'll really enjoy THE GRID.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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