Books

I have been a avid reader my whole life. In high school, I enjoyed re-reading Shakespeare over the summer. Geeky, I know. Lately I have been reading a lot of non-fiction books and blogs in particular those that deal with global warming, peak oil and resource wars and Christian history.

Here is what I have been reading lately. (The links on the left are books I have read in the past that I have particularly enjoyed.)

Book - Profit from the Peak

Posted by: Max Dunn on August 27, 2008 12:43:35

Profit from the Peak: The End of Oil and the Greatest Investment Event of the Century (Angel Series)
by Brian Hicks

While this book is outwardly about what stocks to buy to profit from peak oil, it actually a very good primer on peak oil, peak fuels in general and renewable energy. The authors also do a good job of explaining why a hydrogen economy will never happen, why tar sands and oil shale will never produce enough to make much of a difference and why conservation is a necessity. So even if you aren't interested in the investment aspect of this book, I would still highly recommend reading it for the knowledge you will gain about these subjects.

 

Book - Sustainable Energy

Posted by: Max Dunn on August 26, 2008 11:34:59

Sustainable Energy: Choosing Among Options
by Jefferson W. Tester

Wow, talk about a big book! This was over 800 pages long and contained some dense reading on all sorts of subjects related to sustainable energy. This was my text book for my Sustainable Energy class and was certainly the only one needed. This book wasn't perfect; it assumed that global warming was a bigger problem than peak oil (and actually had some strange passages about never running out of oil) and some of the numbers were plain wrong. But overall, I learned a lot from this book and it has a lot of very useful information that I am sure I will keep going back to for reference.

 

Book - High Noon For Natural Gas

Posted by: Max Dunn on August 21, 2008 09:25:10

High Noon for Natural Gas: The New Energy Crisis
by Julian Darley

There are two types of peak oil (or in this case "peak gas") people: those that think we will need to go back to the way the world was 100 years ago, and those that think we can move forward with sustainable energy. The author of this book, Julian Darley, is certainly in the first camp. While he points out some problems with natural gas - in particular that gas consumption is growing but liquifying gas and shipping by boat is expensive and difficult - his real agenda is to rally against suburbs, globalization, politicians, television and growth.  His solution?  "We need to have subzero growth, in other words, we need to begin to contract human activities until they match the earth's carrying capacity."

There is some good information in this book and his plea for conservation and developing sustainable energy sources are well placed. However, since 2004 when this book was published, some additional natural gas deposits have been discovered and they are increasing recovery rates from existing fields, so it is likely that natural gas will last longer than he projected - at least longer than oil will. So in the end, I found this book to be more alarmist than helpful.

 

Book - Gods Problem

Posted by: Max Dunn on July 20, 2008 21:55:49

God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer
by Bart D. Ehrman

Wow, this is quite an intense book. It is written by a biblical scholar who once was a once a devout and committed Christian and has now lost his faith because he can't understand how God could allow so much suffering in the world. In explaining his transition, Ehrman gives a solid summary of the various views of suffering in the Bible (which is also a good distillment of the entire Bible itself). The views of suffering he discusses are:

• Suffering is punishment for sins
• Suffering is caused by because people have the free will to hurt, main, tortue and kill others
• Suffering is ultimately redemptive
• Suffering is a test of faith
• Suffering is caused by forces opposed to God
• Suffering is a mystery

Ehrman spends a lot of time rightfully lamenting over all the suffering in the world and explaining how in his mind, this suffering negates all the points above. However, at the end of the book, I think he answers his own question without realizing it:

We should do what we can to love life -- it's a gift and it will not be with us for long. But we should also work hard to make our world the most pleasing place it can for others.

But just because we don't have an answer to suffering does not mean that we cannot have a response to it. Our response should be to work to alleviate suffering wherever possible and to live life as well as we can.

This brings to mind the book "Ender's Game" where the military of the future sets out to create a great tactical leader to defeat an alien race that is feared will destroy us. To do this, they put a boy in situations where he is continually picked on and has to defend himself over and over again. The adults are careful to never step in or to give any sign that they will ever help him in any way. Through these harsh methods, the boy learns to defend himself no matter how dire the situation, and never expects any higher power to come to his rescue, which allows him to ultimately defeat the aliens.

Maybe Ehrman's conclusion is exactly the truth that God wants us to reach: maybe God is doing all this so mankind will eventually learn how to "alleviate suffering wherever possible" by ourselves rather than relying on a higher power. After all, if God were to step in even occasionally to relieve some suffering, would we ever learn to do this ourselves?

Of course, Ehrman could ask the question as to why God needs to us to learn this lesson at all which involves such an incredible amount of suffering? Why couldn't God have fenced off that tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden so we could have remained there forever? And that is a question that no-one can answer.

But if I were to guess, I would say that God is compassionate and anguishes over our suffering even more than we do. And maybe, our evanescent stay on this planet is not the end of our journey with God but only the beginning, and that Ehrman's "work to alleviate suffering wherever possible and to live life as well as we can" is exactly the lesson that God wants to imbue in our souls in order to take us along on the next unimaginable journey.

 

 

 

Book - Radical Collaboration

Posted by: Max Dunn on June 20, 2008 08:02:51

Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and Build Successful Relationships
by James W. Tamm

I am becoming more-and-more interested in organizational behavior. While some businesses are able to survive with dysfunctional teams and collaboration processes, to thrive and provide a truly fulfilling work environment, it is necessary to put a lot of effort into identifying and resolving personal and inter-personal issues. That is why when my surfing buddy, Janelle Tamm, mentioned that her dad James works in this area, I was very interested to learn more.

James Tamm's book "Radical Collaboration" packs in so much information and so many good ideas, that it is hard to summarize the main points I learned from it. So instead, I will just list the chapters so you can get a feel for what is covered:

1. Collaborative Intention: staying in the Green Zone and avoiding defensiveness
2. Truthfulness: including listening
3. Self-accountability
4. Self-awareness and awareness of others
5. Problem solving and negotiating

Probably the most interesting aspect of this book for me was that while I have studied and practiced negotiating techniques that focus on win-win outcomes, Radical Collaboration goes beyond that to teach techniques that not only make sure both sides get what they want, but also to do it in a way that builds up long term trust and understanding.

 

Book - Zoom

Posted by: Max Dunn on June 6, 2008 18:35:42

ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future
by Vijay Vaitheeswaran

I wanted to like this book - I really did. With a name like "Zoom" and the promise to show the car of the future, I was excited to read it. But in the end, the book turned out to be a dud. The authors went on and on about how great hydrogen powered cars would be and that there were ways of producing hydrogen for free using spare windmill and dam capacity, but they never even once talked about the efficiency of this process or how it would even be done. They gave a ton of useless background on the history of Detroit, but mentioned all-electric vehicles only briefly. These guys seem like they prefer sitting in their office typing away whatever comes into their heads rather than bothering to do any serious research to verify their assumptions. Some of their blunders include:

1. Restating without question Aramco's assumption that Saudi Arabia can "maintain an output of 15 million barrels per day or higher for 50 years" (Page 94) when Saudi Arabia is actually only producing 11 mbd and has even stated that this is likely to be the maximum they will ever produce.
2. Saying "Coal could prove a squeaky-clean source for that hydrogen" (Page 216) thinking that if the just sequestered the CO2 from coal it would be clean without realizing that coal is a major source of mercury, heavy metals, and radioactivity and there is currently no efficient way of cleaning up these un-clean emissions
3. Stating that one advantage that China has in developing sustainable transportation is: "the local and federal authorities have meaningful power to enforce green mandates." (Page 218) Have these guys even been to China? One look at the countryside will change their minds when they see truck weight limits being routinely flaunted which quickly destroy new roads or pollution belching small power plants in flagrant violation of emission standards.
4. Now the biggy: "In America, the two biggests obstacles to fuel-cell cars have been the lack of an infrastructure to supply hydrogen to gas stations and the burden of historic investment in internal-combustion vehicles." (Page 219) I could go on about how hydrogen is mainly produced using natural gas so it won't really reduce fossil fuel dependency, how inefficient the process is, how it leaks from tanks or how it won't power a car very far, but the fact that they don't make any mention at all of these issues is enough to discredit their work.

So while I really wanted to like this book, in the end I think it is more damaging to the future of clean cars then helpful and I would recommend that everyone NOT read this book.

 

Book - Economic Development in Saudi Arabia

Posted by: Max Dunn on May 21, 2008 19:29:53

Economic Development in Saudi Arabia (Routledgecurzon Durham Modern Middle East and Islamic World Series)
by Ahmed Al Rajhi
Read May 2008

Here is another book I read for my Resource Wars paper. Its main thesis is that while the Western media usually paints a gloomy picture of Saudi Arabia's economy, it is actually remarkably resilient and its government policy-making relatively robust. The book also makes an interesting point that while business time management is at odds with the need to pray five times a day and the segregation of women impedes efficiency (which makes the working day different from developed countries), the fact is that most of the work still gets done. I also found it interesting how how modern banking industry was able to emerge and adapt to Islamic finance constraints, such as the subject of paying interest.

 

Books - Saudi Arabia and the Illusion of Security

Posted by: Max Dunn on May 21, 2008 15:15:15

Saudi Arabia and the Illusion of Security (Adelphi Papers, 348)
by J.E. Peterson
Read May 2008

This is one of the books I read in order to write my paper on Saudi Arabia for my Resource Wars class. This was a book I got from the library, so instead of highlighting passages that I want to go back and reference, I use little yellow stickies instead. And this book had a lot of them when I was done, clearly showing how informative this book was. Here are some of the passages that I marked:

 

There is no greater source of permanent rancor between the two countries than the imbroglio of Palestine. The deep passions on the subject at all levels of Saudi society dictate that the Kingdom's fundamental support for the Palestinian cause will not diminish. The longer the present cycle of violence and hatred continues, the more it will poison US relations, not only with Saudi Arabia but with the entire Arab world and Middle East.

The regime must somehow come to terms with the sharpening tension between its dependence on the American relationship and popular discontent with American policies. In part, this seems to be the path the Prince Abdullah is following.

Far from opposing change and denying basic rights to its citizens, the government has promoted steady economic and social change - albeit at a measured pace, so as to keep a workable balance between traditionalists and modernists within the Kingdom.

Anecdotal evidence again suggests that most Saudis do no want a different political system; they just want the present system to be fairer and more responsive.

 

Book-Beyond Oil

Posted by: Max Dunn on May 4, 2008 15:31:26

Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak
by Kenneth S. Deffeyes
Read May 2008

"Beyond Oil" was a quick and entertaining read. It would be a good backgrounder for someone that doesn't know much about peak oil, but I also learned quite a few new things as well. Deffeye's background as a geologist and working with Hubbert allowed him to provide some interesting details on Hubberts peak oil curve as well as details about how oil is produced, natural gas, coal tar sands, oil shale.

 

 

Book-Twilight in the Desert

Posted by: Max Dunn on April 7, 2008 15:21:24

Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy
by Matthew R. Simmons

Amazingly, this book wasn't boring. Although it was focused on analyzing and interpreting more than two hundred  Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE) reports, it actually was quite interesting. Now of course, peak oil is a subject I am very interested in and having a physics background I also enjoyed the technical parts, but I suspect that other people will enjoy it too. But if you don't want to read the whole thing, it is easy to summarize Matthew Simmons conclusions:

• Only a handful of super-giant oilfields have ever been discovered in Saudi Arabia and these account for the bulk of their oil production
• It is not likely that any other giant oilfields will be discovered in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia production has probably peaked and it is very unlikely that it will be able to boost its output to the levels needed to sustain current global oil consumption growth rates

Simmons analysis is tight, detailed and hard to refute. However, his call for Aramco to reverse course and open their data for public review is shortsighted. Alerting the world to the fact their their oil production is declining will have only negative consequences for them including:

• Accelerating the global movement towards alternative energy sources
• Encouraging investment and re-build of other marginal fields
• The possibility of inciting rebellion in the Arab population against the Saud ruling family in order to control the dwindling oil supplies

So don't expect any openness from the Saudis about their oil situation. Instead, get used to the idea that Simmons is probably right and that we will run into major oil problems sometime soon.

 

 

Book - Sleeping with the Devil

Posted by: Max Dunn on April 1, 2008 15:02:09

Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
by Robert Baer

Let's say the CIA had no inside contacts in Middle East terrorist organizations. Then if a book was written by a former CIA operative about this, it would say they didn't have inside agents. But now let's assume that the CIA did have people planted inside these groups. Then if the book was edited by the CIA, it would still say that they didn't have any inside agents because the CIA certainly wouldn't want the terrorist organizations to know that they did. So the fact that Robert Baer in "Sleeping with the Devil" laments about how little inside information they have on Middle East radical organizations doesn't really mean that that is the case. But given how little our country expected the Iraqi resistance after we "liberated" the county and how we had no clue about the 9/11 attacks, his testimony seems likely.

Baer goes into great detail on how Saudi Arabian money has permeated our government and causes us to overlook the abuses and corruption in that country in exchange for the continued flow of oil and financial support. But what is truly frightening about this book is his contention that the Saudi people hate their spoiled and corrupt ruling class and would like nothing better than to overthrow them. And if that happens, it would likely mean a curtailing of oil exports to the West which would cause devastating economic consequences for us.

 

Book - Resource Wars

Posted by: Max Dunn on March 28, 2008 12:35:21

Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict
by Michael T. Klare
Read March 2008

In looking at the classes offered at Stanfords Continuing Education program this quarter, one caught my eye in particular. It was Resource Wars taught by Barry Schutz. This interested me since I have predicted that trouble will soon explode in Saudi Arabia and we will be forced to send in our military to assure our supply of oil - a war over oil resources. One of the books in the class curriculum was "Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict" by Michael T. Klare. The most intriguing part of this book was that Klare brought up other resources besides that have caused conflicts in the past and will likely continue to be problematic, including water, shipping routes, timber and gems. He also makes a strong argument that many local conflicts that outwardly seem to be about political or ethnic issues, in reality the fighting is usually about control and exploitation of natural resources. Overall, a very informative read. A drawback to this book, however, is that it was published in 2001 and thus is a little dated. For instance, there is an entire chapter on the Caspian Sea Basin assuming that there would be prodigious oil fields and fights over control of it, but the oil there never materialized and it has largely been abandoned. Also, it was written before the Iraq war, and I would love to get Klare's take on that. I guess we will just have to wait for his next book which should be out next month.

 

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