by Robert Bryce
Fiber-optic networks, 109
Finland, 48
Firearms, 17. See also AK-47s
Firewood, 183, 184(graph), 249
First Solar, 45–46
Fishtail drill bits, 33, 34, 35(photo)
Flickr, 107
Floods, xix, 88, 240
Foley, Jonathan, 147
Food production, 145, 146–151, 268
density of, 53
organic food, 147–149
See also Agriculture; Grain production/prices; Prices: food prices
Ford, Henry, 31, 33, 98
Ford Motor Company
Ford Fiesta SE, 101, 102–103
Model T, 33, 98, 100, 101, 102–103
999 Racer, 101, 102, 104(graph)
Foreign Affairs, 227
Foreign Policy, 257
Fortune magazine, 135, 276
Fox, Josh, 220
Fracturing/fracking, xxi, 243, 274, 275, 276
France, 260, 264
Franklin, Rosalind, 70, 71
Freedom, 40, 42, 152
Freedom House, 42
French, Daniel, 94–95
Fuglie, Keith, 146
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan, 197, 247, 250–253, 259
Fulton, Robert, 92
Gaillard, David D., 5
Galapagos Islands, 54
Galilei, Galileo, 27–28
Garin, Maurice, 80
Gartner Inc., 135
Gasoline, 34, 37, 56, 57, 96, 143, 184(graph), 203–204, 230
Gates, Bill, 162, 205, 255
GDP, 168, 269
global GDP, 134
per-capita GDP, 145(graph), 153, 154–155, 157(graph)
General Electric, 8, 255
GEnx-1B engine of, 24–25
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), 51, 149–150, 275
Germany, 20, 190(caption), 197, 221, 270
natural gas prices in, 272(graph)
See also East Germany
Gibbs, William Francis, 74
Given Imaging Ltd., 167–168
Glaeser, Edward, 142
Global warming, 52, 220. See also Climate change
GMOs. See Genetically modified organisms
God Species, The (Lynas), 278
Golden Rice, 150
Gold/gold standard, 130, 133(caption)
Goodell, Jeff, 93
Google, 107, 109, 198–199
Gore, Al, 51, 205, 227, 235, 237
Grain production/prices, 20(graph), 20, 87, 88, 149(graph), 230–231, 268
Grant, US, 96
Greeks, ancient, 59, 74, 87
Green, Andy, 76(photo)
Green Left, 173
Greenpeace, xxi, xxii, 50, 51–52, 54, 118, 149–150, 220, 250
Green Revolution, 20, 151
Greenwald, Glenn, 38
Groundwater contamination, 243
Guano, 19
Guardian, The, 15, 38, 62, 253
Guinness World Records, 72
Guitar, The: An American Life (Brookes), 15
Guitars, 14
Gun, The (Chivers), 17, 18
Gun violence, xx
Gusher of Lies (Bryce), 212
Gutenberg, Johannes, 10
Haber-Bosch process, 19–20
Haiti, 26, 252
Halliburton company, 178(caption), 276
Hama, Syria, 86–87
Hamilton, James, 118
Hamilton, Tyler, 77, 78, 80
Hansen, James, 189, 219
Harding, Warren, 180
Hart, Michael S., 12
Hawaii, 203
Health issues, 149, 164–168
American health care system, 165–166
health risks, 167
and wind energy, 213, 218
See also Diseases
Heavy metals, 32
Heinberg, Richard, xxi, 44
Heisman Trophy, 159
Helm, Dieter, 197, 219
Helmerich & Payne’s FlexRig number 268, 173
Hendrix, Jimi, 14, 15
Hevelius, Johannes, 28
Hezbollah, 18
High-harmonic interferometry/spectroscopy, 69
Hitachi firm, 255
Hive Lighting company, 262
Holdren, John, xxi
Horsepower, 90, 98, 99. See also Power density: of automobile engines
“How Clean is Your Cloud?” (Greenpeace report), 118
Howells, William Dean, 96
How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin (documentary), 16
“How to Make Nuclear Cheap,” 257
Hubbert, M. King, 181
Hughes, Howard, Sr., 33, 34, 36(caption)
Huibregtse, Dennis, 100
Human genome, xxiii, 166–167
Hurricanes, xix, xx
Hydrocarbons, 51, 55–58, 178, 238. See also Coal; Natural gas; Oil
Hydro production, 271
IAEA. See International Atomic Energy Agency
iCloud, 106, 107, 118
IDC consulting firm, 108
Incomes, 42, 149, 157(caption)
Inconvenient Truth, An (film), 51, 227
India, 38–39, 55, 56–57, 148, 190(caption), 191, 219, 233, 239(caption), 260, 268
coal use in, 193–195, 197
Indian Point Energy Center (New York), 247, 248
Indiegogo, 165
Indurain, Miguel, 80
Industrial Revolution, 17, 85, 88, 192
in America, 89, 90, 92, 93
Infant mortality, 41
Inflation, 133(caption), 161
Information Revolution, 14
Innovatio IP Ventures LLC, 266
Innovations, xxii, xxiii, xxiv, 40, 51, 55, 62, 63–64, 87, 93, 94, 113, 146, 152, 153, 174, 236, 265, 269–270, 276
and cities, 142–143
disruptive, 161
in education, 157 (see also Education: online)
and electricity, 191
in oil drill rigs/bits, 175, 177
and quest for Faster, 72–76
Inquisition, 28
Institute for Advanced Study, 117
Integrated circuits, 14
Intel Corporation, 109, 117, 120, 121–123
8086 and Core i7 Sandy Bridge-E processors, 114(photo), 115
Interest rates, 268
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 235
Internal combustion engines, 23, 96, 98, 211. See also Automobiles
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 258–260
International Cycling Union, 81, 84
International Energy Agency, 195, 242, 244
International Food Policy Research Institute, 149, 230
International Telecommunications Union (ITU), 156, 157(caption)
Internet, xxii, xxv, 10, 12, 37–38, 39, 48, 73, 152, 159, 165
access to, 153, 155, 157
number of devices connected to the Web, 120
Inventors, 13(caption), 17, 23, 30, 85, 89, 90, 92, 94, 96, 107, 265, 269
Ion Torrent company, 167
iPhone/iPad, 107
iPods, 126, 127(illus.)
Iran, 18, 153, 241, 260
gas flaring in, 245
per-capita GDP of, 154–155
Iraq War, 134, 227, 265
Ireland, 213
Israel, 16
ITU. See International Telecommunications Union
Ivins, Molly, 278
Jackson, Lisa, 243
Jakuba, Stan, 85
Japan, 141, 267, 268
natural gas prices in, 272(graph), 273
See also Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan
Jet turbines/jetliners, 21–26, 73, 100, 183, 202
Jobs, Steve, 106, 107, 128
Johan Sverdrup oil field in North Sea, 178
Johnson, Steven, 10
Kalashnikov, Mikhail, 17
Keith, David, 214, 216
Kennedy, Robert F., Jr., 182, 183
Kenya, 132, 136
Kern River oilfield in Califor
nia, 44
Keystone XL pipeline, 182
Khan, Salman, 162
Khan Academy, 159, 161, 162, 163
Khosla, Vinod, 226
Kickstarter, 261
Kiefer, Todd A. “Ike,” 214, 216, 223–224, 224–225, 231, 233
King, Freddie, 14, 15
Klaus Renft Combo, 16
Klein, Naomi, 52, 54
Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers firm, 205
Koestler, Arthur, 28
Koomey, Jonathan, 119
Kotkin, Joel, 267
Kublai Khan, 130
Kurzweil, Ray, 107
Landis, Floyd, 84
Land issues, 231. See also under Biofuels; Wind energy
Lapp, Bill, 233
Lasers, 67, 68(caption), 70(n)
Launching the Innovation Renaissance (Tabarrok), 265
Lawsuits, 265
Lazowska, Ed, 123
Lead-acid batteries, 203
Leber, Jessica, 138
Lennon, John, 15
Lester, Richard, 259
Liberty Reserve company, 138
Life expectancy, 41, 55, 59
Light, speed of, 190
LightBridge company, 255
Limits to Growth (Club of Rome), 61, 62, 180
Lincoln, Abraham, 265
Literacy, 41–42
Lithium-ion batteries, 183, 202–203, 204–205, 261
Livingston, Robert, 92
Locks & Canal Company of Lowell, Massachusetts, 89–90
Louis, Spiridon, 74
Lovering, Jessica, 257
Lovins, Amory, 227–229, 277
LP records, 125, 126–127, 128
Luft, Gal, 227
Luke, Max, 242
Luther, Martin, 12, 37
Lynas, Mark, 278
McCullough, David, 6–7
MacKay, David J. C., 214, 215
Mackey, John, 42
McKibben, Bill, 53, 54, 55–58, 275, 277
McKinsey Global Institute, 143
McWilliams, James E., 147–148
Madrigal, Alexis, 39
Magne, Antonin, 80
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 165
Mallet, Victor, 193
Malnutrition, 41, 61, 231
Malthus, Thomas, xx, 62, 63, 146
Manhattan Project, 110, 112
Manufacturing, 19, 24, 45, 98, 206, 253
Manziel, Johnny, 159
Marco Polo, 249
Marketing companies, 39
Massive open online courses (MOOCs), 160, 163
Mauchly, John W., 113
Mauritius, 145(graph)
Media, xxi, xxiii, 118, 137, 189, 192, 235, 236
Merchant Silent Speed machine, 110
Merckx, Eddy, 80
Merrimack River, 89
Mesopotamia, 72, 141
Metallurgy, 30, 72, 92, 192
Methane, 241, 242, 243, 244
Methanol, 184(table), 227
Mexico, 188, 233, 268, 273
Microchips/microprocessors, 111, 114(photos), 115, 122–123
Microscopes, 26–29, 29(photo)
Microsoft, 107
Middle class, 148
Middle East, xx, 273
Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 213
Miller, Jon, 262, 263(photo), 264
Mills, Mark, 120
Minerals/mineral rights, 44, 274
MIT Technology Review, 138
Model T automobiles. See Ford Motor Company: Model T
Molecules, 68, 69–70
Monbiot, George, 62, 253
Money, 129–135
money laundering, 138
See also Digital money/mobile payments; Dollar currency; Paper money
Monsanto company, 275–276
MOOCs. See Massive open online courses
Moore’s Law, 109
Morales, Eva, 62
Morozov, Evgeny, xxiv
Morris, Charles R., 89–90, 96
Moss, Todd, 196(caption)
Most Powerful Idea in the World, The (Rosen), 93
M-PESA company, 135, 136, 137
MRI. See Magnetic resonance imaging
Music, 14, 125–126, 127(illus.). See also Rock and roll music
Muybridge, Eadweard, 67, 69(caption)
Myhrvold, Nathan, 255–256
Nation, The, 52
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 216
National Research Council in Ottawa, 67
National Resources Defense Council, 220
National Science Foundation, 269
National Security Agency (NSA), 38
Native Americans, 59
Natural gas, xxi, xxv, 19, 43–44, 173, 174, 179(graph), 185, 190, 194, 202, 219, 241(table), 237, 258, 271, 275, 277
abundance of, 244
in China, 242
density of, 240, 244
gas flaring, 245–246
global demand for, 242
leaks of, 243
pipeline for, 274
running out of, 180–181
US production of, 181
Nature, 147, 178
Neoconservatives, 227
Netindex.com, 153–243
Networking/networks, xxiv, 109, 131
Newcomen, Thomas, 90
New York City, 113, 240, 247
New York Times, xxi, 17, 37, 39, 53, 84, 153, 163, 198, 220, 226
New Zealand, 48
Next Era Energy, 214
Nihilistic ecotheology, 50
1984 (Orwell), 38
Nisbet, Matthew C., 53
Nissan Leaf automobiles, 204–205
Nitrogen oxide, 230
Nobel Prize/Nobel Peace Prize, 19, 20, 71, 112, 235, 269
Nordhaus, Ted, 50, 257, 277
North Dakota, 245
North Korea, 153
Norvig, Peter, 160
Norway, 48
NSA. See National Security Agency
N2N (natural gas to nuclear), 256
Nuclear energy, xxi, xxv, 32, 51, 57, 63, 70, 185, 190, 194, 197, 219, 224, 244, 270, 271, 277
embraced by environmentalists, 256–257
first commercial plants, 249–250
future of, 247
Generation III+ reactors, 253
government involvement concerning, 257–258
nuclear waste, 254
opposition to, 249, 250
small modular reactors, 253–256
See also under Power density
Nuclear weapons, 260. See also Atomic weapons
Nutrition, 150. See also Malnutrition
Nye, David E., 30
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 254
Obama, Barack, 173, 182, 183, 192, 225, 230, 239, 259–260, 275
Observer, The, 189
Ocaña, Luis, 80
Odyssey Marine Exploration company, 129
Oil, xxi, xxv, 46(caption), 171–181, 187, 202, 224, 237, 271
consumption of, 46–47, 56, 57, 190
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 37
dependence on, 225, 226
early use of, 249
global spending on drilling, 174
offshore drilling, 178–179, 179(graph)
oil equivalents, 46(caption), 55, 56, 57, 189, 190(caption), 193, 228, 232, 238, 239, 246, 272
peak oil, 43–44
produced in United States, 34, 174, 175(graph), 177–178, 273
and railroads, 93–94
running out of, 180
and terrorism, 226, 227
tyranny of oil, 182, 183
See also Drill bits; Drilling rigs for oil
O’Leary, John, 181
Olympic Games, 48, 74–75, 83
men’s 100-meter sprint, 75(graph)
Omran, Abdel R., 41
OpenNet Initiative (ONI), 156
Optimism, xxiii, xxiv, 63, 276, 278
Orascom company, 273
Organic Trade Association, 147
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 238
&n
bsp; Orwell, George, 38
Pachauri, Rajendra, 194
Page, Larry, 198
Panama Canal, 3–8
Culebra Cut, 3, 5(photo), 6–7
Pandora’s Promise (film), 256–257
Panopticon, 39(n)
Paper money, 130, 132, 133(illus.), 134. See also Cash
“Parametric Estimations of the World Distribution of Income” (Pinkovskiy and Sala-i-Martin), 42
Patent reform, 265, 266
Path Between the Seas, The (McCullough), 6–7
Peabody Energy, 188
Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines (Heinberg), xxi
Perez Alfonso, Juan Pablo, 37
Peru, 57
Philadelphia Federal Reserve, 143
Pielke, Roger, Jr., 55, 77
Pinker, Steven, 40, 42
Pinkovskiy, Maxim, 42
Plasma bulbs, 262
Plutonium, 255
Poland, 249
Pollution, 25–26, 32, 37, 47, 54, 192, 230, 240
Population Bomb, The (Ehrlich), 61–62, 275
Populations, xix, xx, 53, 56, 61–62, 136, 197, 267, 268, 269
aging, 168
grain production and population growth, 149(graph)
urban population, 143
world population, xix, 141, 146, 147–148
Potrykus, Ingo, 150
Poverty, xxiii, xxv, 41, 52, 54, 58, 60, 63, 64, 134, 142, 153, 156, 191, 276, 277
and agricultural growth, 149
global, 42, 43(graph)
Power, xxv, 90
and energy flow, 85
ENIAC’s power demand, 113
first centralized power plant, 30–31, 191–192
MANIAC’s power demand, 117
and torque, 105
See also Energy; Power density
Power density, 9, 9(n), 23, 24, 70, 78, 79–80, 85, 88, 90, 99(illus.), 113, 185, 187
of automobile engines, 98, 102, 103, 104(graph)
of biofuels, 58, 224
of computer chips, 115
MANIAC computer, 117
of natural gas, 240, 244
of nuclear energy, 240, 247, 248, 258
of solar panels, 224, 244
of steam engines, 91–92, 94, 217, 95, 96
of uranium, 248
of wind energy, 58, 119, 212–219, 244
Power Hungry (Bryce) 212, 236
Presley, Elvis, 15
Prices, 44, 45, 103, 122, 149
food prices, 224, 227, 230–231, 233
of natural gas, 272(graph), 272–273
See also Costs
Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines (Smil), 21
Primitive harmony, 59–60
Printing press, 10–12, 37
Privacy, xxiii, 39–40, 137
Project Gutenberg, 12
Prosperity, xx, 85, 139, 142, 144, 258, 277. See also Wealth
Pussy Riot, 16
Putin, Vladimir, 16
Qatar, 156, 272
Railroads, 93–94, 95(photo), 100
RAM. See Computers: random access memory
Ramankutty, Navin, 147
R & D spending, 269
Range Fuels company, 226
Raymond, Lee, 181