How did we find out about solar power?

How Did We Find Out #18

by Isaac Asimov

Describes the uses of the sun's energy from the time of the Greeks and Romans to the present day and discusses the potential of this source of energy in our modern world.

Genres: Science

62 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title seemed more out of date than most of Asimov’s titles in this series. I think solar power has changed more dramatically than Asimov expected. Nonetheless, it still was useful, just not complete. Chernobyl and Fukushima were far in the future when he wrote, correctly at the time, that nuclear fusion hadn’t killed anyone. He had always been a fan of nuclear power. I don’t know what he would say now but my guess is that he would advocate for more safety measures and continued usage. However, he also advocated for methane power usage, not realizing how much carbon dioxide it would add to our atmosphere. I think he would be a big fan of using solar power today. This is recommended with caveats.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Durch Schläue. The usual good stuff for children. Clear enough for me.