CAN WE GET OFF FOSSIL FUELS AND LIVE ON RENEWABLES ALONE? DAVID MACKAY'S VIEWS ON ENERGY

It is undoubtedly true that there is a great deal of hype and misinformation surrounding renewable energy. Sir David J C MacKay, FRS, FInstP, FICE (1967-2016) sought to clear this situation in his much acclaimed book Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air (2009).

This book, described by Bill Gates as "one of the best books on energy that has been written" is a free book and can be downloaded here. For those who don't have time to read, a one-hour video version of the book can be accessed on YouTube here.

LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE - PROFESSOR VACLAV SMIL'S OUTLOOK ON ENERGY EVOLUTION

Dr Vaclav Smil, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba, Canada and author of thirty interdisciplinary books and 500 papers is one of the big picture people and foremost thinkers on energy and environment. Bill Gates, in his blog GatesNotes, called Smil his favourite writer and this has led to his popularity among science aficionados.

Here I review a couple of books from his sprawling oeuvre: Energy Transition: History, Requirements, Prospects (2010) and Energy and Civilization: A History (2017).

HEALING DISEASES WITHOUT DRUGS OR SURGERY - A LOOK AT DEAN ORNISH'S BOOKS

Dean Ornish, M. D., is the founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He received his medical training at Baylor College of Medicine, Harvard Medical College and Massachusetts General Hospital. He has published his work in eminent scientific and medical journals such as Journal of the American Medical Association, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Lancet, etc.