What do you think?
Rate this book
Un... #2
Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World
Just as World War II called an earlier generation to greatness, so the climate crisis is calling today's rising youth to action: to create a better future.
In Unstoppable, Bill Nye crystallizes and expands the message for which he is best known and beloved. That message is that with a combination of optimism and scientific curiosity, all obstacles become opportunities, and the possibilities of our world become limitless. With a scientist's thirst for knowledge and an engineer's vision of what can be, Bill Nye sees today's environmental issues not as insurmountable, depressing problems but as chances for our society to rise to the challenge and create a cleaner, healthier, smarter world. We need not accept that transportation consumes half our energy, and that two-thirds of the energy you put into your car is immediately thrown away out the tailpipe. We need not accept that dangerous emissions are the price we must pay for a vibrant economy and a comfortable life. Above all, we need not accept that we will leave our children a planet that is dirty, overheated, and depleted of resources. As Bill shares his vision, he debunks some of the most persistent myths and misunderstandings about global warming. When you are done reading, you'll be enlightened and empowered. Chances are, you'll be smiling, too, ready to join Bill and change the world.
In Unstoppable, Bill Nye crystallizes and expands the message for which he is best known and beloved. That message is that with a combination of optimism and scientific curiosity, all obstacles become opportunities, and the possibilities of our world become limitless. With a scientist's thirst for knowledge and an engineer's vision of what can be, Bill Nye sees today's environmental issues not as insurmountable, depressing problems but as chances for our society to rise to the challenge and create a cleaner, healthier, smarter world. We need not accept that transportation consumes half our energy, and that two-thirds of the energy you put into your car is immediately thrown away out the tailpipe. We need not accept that dangerous emissions are the price we must pay for a vibrant economy and a comfortable life. Above all, we need not accept that we will leave our children a planet that is dirty, overheated, and depleted of resources. As Bill shares his vision, he debunks some of the most persistent myths and misunderstandings about global warming. When you are done reading, you'll be enlightened and empowered. Chances are, you'll be smiling, too, ready to join Bill and change the world.
341 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2015
312 people are currently reading
7611 people want to read
About the author
Bill Nye
92 books1,172 followersNot to be confused with 19th century American humorist Bill Nye
William Sanford "Bill" Nye, popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television presenter, actor, writer, scientist, and former mechanical engineer, best known in popular media as a science educator.
William Sanford "Bill" Nye, popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television presenter, actor, writer, scientist, and former mechanical engineer, best known in popular media as a science educator.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 445 reviews
May 16, 2016
Well. I didn't know that this was a "series". Apparently Goodreads thinks so. I happened to just stumble on the fact that Bill Nye had another book with a similar catchy Un-based title when browsing at a bookstore, and then proceeded to not buy it in favor of using an Audible credit for it. Which is fine, but eventually I'll probably buy it (them) anyway, because they are both great books.
Undeniable goes into evolution, and was, to me at least, a little surprising in how disparaging and critical he was about creationism. I wasn't surprised that that was his viewpoint, but the delivery surprised me, because I am used to Bill Nye the Friendly Science Guy... not Bill Nye, the Withering Creationism Critic.
I mention that because in this book, we're mostly back to Bill Nye the Friendly Science Guy, and it's much more familiar ground. He goes into some details about how ridiculous and selfish and short-sighted it is to ignore climate science, or worse, pretend like it's not really real, but for the most part, he is his normal "Be part of the solution" self.
This book runs the gamut from talking about how he lives in his own home (with solar panels, solar water heater, smart venting to circulate air for temperature control, water reclamation methods, etc - along with a little friendly Green-rivalry with his neighbor Ed Begley Jr.) to ideas for society to move forward into a greener era. And not just greener, but whiter. He's not just talking about reducing carbon emissions, he's talking about ways to reduce the heating of the planet as well. Instead of using blacktop on roads, use a lighter color surface to reflect the heat instead of trap it. Float light colored balls or even biodegradable bubbles on the surfaces of aquifers to slow evaporation, etc. These are things I never thought about before. Quite interesting.
He talks about electric cars, improving mass transit systems, improving infrastructure for bicyclists to commute, telecommuting. He talks about nuclear options, and how it might be possible to safely design nuclear plants so that they are failsafe, even in the event of a catastrophic event like what happened in Fukushima. He talks about economic changes that would structure fees and rebates for carbon usage. He talks about how we need to change our outlook and pessimism (which really kind of translates to fatalism, if I'm honest) and actually get off our asses and try to be better stewards of the Earth. He speaks about it as an investment in humanity, and it is. We aren't going to kill the planet. We can do a lot of damage to it... but Earth will still be here. It's just us that won't be.
Anyway... I thought that this was an interesting book even if you aren't on the Climate Change bandwagon. It's chock full of excitement for the future, and inspiring thoughts about the direction that technology and human advancement can go, while making the world a better and more sustainable habitat for the species who live here.
Undeniable goes into evolution, and was, to me at least, a little surprising in how disparaging and critical he was about creationism. I wasn't surprised that that was his viewpoint, but the delivery surprised me, because I am used to Bill Nye the Friendly Science Guy... not Bill Nye, the Withering Creationism Critic.
I mention that because in this book, we're mostly back to Bill Nye the Friendly Science Guy, and it's much more familiar ground. He goes into some details about how ridiculous and selfish and short-sighted it is to ignore climate science, or worse, pretend like it's not really real, but for the most part, he is his normal "Be part of the solution" self.
This book runs the gamut from talking about how he lives in his own home (with solar panels, solar water heater, smart venting to circulate air for temperature control, water reclamation methods, etc - along with a little friendly Green-rivalry with his neighbor Ed Begley Jr.) to ideas for society to move forward into a greener era. And not just greener, but whiter. He's not just talking about reducing carbon emissions, he's talking about ways to reduce the heating of the planet as well. Instead of using blacktop on roads, use a lighter color surface to reflect the heat instead of trap it. Float light colored balls or even biodegradable bubbles on the surfaces of aquifers to slow evaporation, etc. These are things I never thought about before. Quite interesting.
He talks about electric cars, improving mass transit systems, improving infrastructure for bicyclists to commute, telecommuting. He talks about nuclear options, and how it might be possible to safely design nuclear plants so that they are failsafe, even in the event of a catastrophic event like what happened in Fukushima. He talks about economic changes that would structure fees and rebates for carbon usage. He talks about how we need to change our outlook and pessimism (which really kind of translates to fatalism, if I'm honest) and actually get off our asses and try to be better stewards of the Earth. He speaks about it as an investment in humanity, and it is. We aren't going to kill the planet. We can do a lot of damage to it... but Earth will still be here. It's just us that won't be.
Anyway... I thought that this was an interesting book even if you aren't on the Climate Change bandwagon. It's chock full of excitement for the future, and inspiring thoughts about the direction that technology and human advancement can go, while making the world a better and more sustainable habitat for the species who live here.
December 20, 2015
I really enjoyed Undeniable, but I must say I was not a fan of this one. I'll just say it: some of the chapters are sinfully boring and even inaccessible.
The book has some strong earlier chapters about alternative energy and engineering. I learned about interesting facts though I must say some diagrams/ pictures would be enormously helpful (odd he didn't consider this given his TV show).
What really irked me about the book is that he talks very little about sustainability, mass consumption, and waste. Instead he wants to throw money and engineering innovations at the problem. He also makes no note of factory farming practices- a huge contributor to global warming. That might limit his lavish lifestyle, it seems.
And boy oh boy does he go on about that. He has 4 chapters dedicated to green engineering his house. As a non home owner he completely lost me there. This would have been better placed as its own book with Ed Begely Jr. He also raves about his multiple hybrid cars. He encourages the fossil fuel industry to jack up prices. Great! So how are the little people without gobs of money to blow that don't live in urban areas supposed to go from A to B?
I just frankly got tired of reading about his privileged lifestyle and his prattling on about throwing money at problems.
Sorry Nye. Still like your tv show and your work on supporting evolution. But I'll pass on this one.
The book has some strong earlier chapters about alternative energy and engineering. I learned about interesting facts though I must say some diagrams/ pictures would be enormously helpful (odd he didn't consider this given his TV show).
What really irked me about the book is that he talks very little about sustainability, mass consumption, and waste. Instead he wants to throw money and engineering innovations at the problem. He also makes no note of factory farming practices- a huge contributor to global warming. That might limit his lavish lifestyle, it seems.
And boy oh boy does he go on about that. He has 4 chapters dedicated to green engineering his house. As a non home owner he completely lost me there. This would have been better placed as its own book with Ed Begely Jr. He also raves about his multiple hybrid cars. He encourages the fossil fuel industry to jack up prices. Great! So how are the little people without gobs of money to blow that don't live in urban areas supposed to go from A to B?
I just frankly got tired of reading about his privileged lifestyle and his prattling on about throwing money at problems.
Sorry Nye. Still like your tv show and your work on supporting evolution. But I'll pass on this one.
August 31, 2019
I love Bill Nye, the science guy, so this was a treat to listen to just on that basis. His enthusiasm & love for science is boundless & very upbeat. On top of that, he has a very good message about the evidence for & ways we can alleviate climate change & stress on the world with our burgeoning numbers & voracious wants & needs. He also continually keeps the rest of the world in mind, not just the US. There wasn't a lot of material new to me, but he packaged it really well.
All was not perfect. He goes into a lot of detail about how bad coal is from soup to nuts, but he doesn't look into batteries nearly as much. I'm continually seeing articles about the costs of fossil fuels, but almost never see any about the costs of batteries. If he mentioned any, I didn't notice them. They are there, but I suspect they're far more nebulous & tough to figure. That doesn't mean they're not as bad, but most are out of sight.
His attempts at making his house more energy efficient, especially in competition with Ed Begley, Jr. were wonderful. It was interesting & a lot of fun. He skipped some important issues with that, though. I was really disappointed that he didn't supply sites to get tools such as solar power or wind speed meters to calculate how much electric would be generated. I'm fairly sure they make such a thing, but a good one (one that allows graphing over an extended period) is tough to find.
He mentions spending thousands & getting it paid off in 10 years. How do I know if it would work for me? I live in Kentucky where we have cheap electric due to coal. Sun power isn't a good bet according to the NOAA data for my area. Roof turbine generators probably wouldn't pay off for me either, but I'm not sure. (He was very light on details about wind power in general.) I need a device I can stick on the roof for a year that lets me know in simple terms what the payback will be. (I checked his web site & saw nothing. The only thing for sale was bow ties.)
Not every roof can take solar panels easily. I hope brackets to hold them on to terra cotta & slate roofs have been addressed, but I wouldn't put them on a shake roof. (I wouldn't have a shake roof on a house, but that's another matter.) He didn't mention the Tesla roof shingles, but maybe they came out after this book.
Insulating a house & stopping all the leaks is something a lot of people did in the late 70s & early 80s after the oil crisis. It didn't work out well for quite a few. Houses must have an exchange of about 1/3 of their air per hour or moisture builds up & condenses in cold spots such as around windows which leads to rotting & black mold. Often the fix is a new HVAC system, running it more (if only to circulate air) & making sure vents are in the right place. When a vent isn't in the right place or needs to move more air, it's often a major ordeal to fix. This is more of a problem with houses from the 1950s or 60s & earlier, but there are a lot of those still around, so beware.
Still, he came up with a lot of good ideas & ways of thinking about doing more with less. An excellent message, if a bit light on actual fixes. Very well narrated by him, of course. A real pleasure & highly recommended.
All was not perfect. He goes into a lot of detail about how bad coal is from soup to nuts, but he doesn't look into batteries nearly as much. I'm continually seeing articles about the costs of fossil fuels, but almost never see any about the costs of batteries. If he mentioned any, I didn't notice them. They are there, but I suspect they're far more nebulous & tough to figure. That doesn't mean they're not as bad, but most are out of sight.
His attempts at making his house more energy efficient, especially in competition with Ed Begley, Jr. were wonderful. It was interesting & a lot of fun. He skipped some important issues with that, though. I was really disappointed that he didn't supply sites to get tools such as solar power or wind speed meters to calculate how much electric would be generated. I'm fairly sure they make such a thing, but a good one (one that allows graphing over an extended period) is tough to find.
He mentions spending thousands & getting it paid off in 10 years. How do I know if it would work for me? I live in Kentucky where we have cheap electric due to coal. Sun power isn't a good bet according to the NOAA data for my area. Roof turbine generators probably wouldn't pay off for me either, but I'm not sure. (He was very light on details about wind power in general.) I need a device I can stick on the roof for a year that lets me know in simple terms what the payback will be. (I checked his web site & saw nothing. The only thing for sale was bow ties.)
Not every roof can take solar panels easily. I hope brackets to hold them on to terra cotta & slate roofs have been addressed, but I wouldn't put them on a shake roof. (I wouldn't have a shake roof on a house, but that's another matter.) He didn't mention the Tesla roof shingles, but maybe they came out after this book.
Insulating a house & stopping all the leaks is something a lot of people did in the late 70s & early 80s after the oil crisis. It didn't work out well for quite a few. Houses must have an exchange of about 1/3 of their air per hour or moisture builds up & condenses in cold spots such as around windows which leads to rotting & black mold. Often the fix is a new HVAC system, running it more (if only to circulate air) & making sure vents are in the right place. When a vent isn't in the right place or needs to move more air, it's often a major ordeal to fix. This is more of a problem with houses from the 1950s or 60s & earlier, but there are a lot of those still around, so beware.
Still, he came up with a lot of good ideas & ways of thinking about doing more with less. An excellent message, if a bit light on actual fixes. Very well narrated by him, of course. A real pleasure & highly recommended.
November 19, 2018
Note:This book is definitely to be reread(listened to ) again and again back to back readings(listenings ) . Do not make the mistake of reading (listening) it just once. Immediately start again. You will enjoy it MORE the second time. You will see both Nyes strengths and weaknesses clearer the second time . You will see his approach clearer and be able to sit yourself with a denier if you listen to this book 2-3 times back to back.
Note: the last 1 hour of this audio book is a solid 5 star pep talk about defeating climate change worth memorizing or listening to again and again--the whole book will be a pleasure to reread .
Bill Nye is an entertaining narrator and alot of the books, especially in the beginning, is the solid climate changing facts I was seeking to arm myself with but then Nye digresses to some highly speculative futuristic hi-tech scientific solutions to climate change that are just ramblings and some are just plain dumb like coming up with a GMO wheat that is white so it will reflect sunlight or making boats that put out a specific size of bubble that stays suspended in the ocean water and reflects sunlight and some better ideas but those are for engineers and inventors and not for the average citizen so if you want facts to give deniers you will get a few chapters wroth and then be lead on a "future land tour " or maybe this maybe that new technology will save us.
The only things that will save us (without tons of political red tape) is for all of us to stop using so much electricity and gas and become vegetarians ,buy local produce, have only one kid and recycle all paper and card broad and use only quick growing lumber and leave the rain forests alone .
Simple , easy ,cheap, no congressional red tape .
But there are people out there driving hummers, driving for pleasure ,NASCAR racing , fireworks , and people burning lights all night long , using dryers instead of clothes lines etc so a big part of the job is bringing the facts to their attention of just how bad the situation is getting and how much suffering what they are doing will cause so billions of humans -- keeping the pressure on them to cut the shit .
Evert time we make a choice like using a dyer instead of a clothes line or keeping our old refrigerator instead of a new energy star one or going on a pleasure trip instead of staying home in the garden or any activity that used more rater than less electricity and gas we are choosing to these things at the cost of making billions homeless , malnourished, impoverished , sick and dying in a miserable climate . Those who live on the coast will be displaced and those who live inland will be crowded by those who were displaced . All will be miserable. Want to rethink that choice ? God gave us free will and the ability to discern right from wrong . A judgement day is coming and our every decision that causes suffering will be punished(pain and sorrow ) and our every decision that helps relieve suffering will be rewarded (pleasure and happiness ) .
Also its not your grandchildren will be facing the consequences of your decisions . Its YOU :
Reincarnation is now regarded as a legitimate science See 24 documentary videos about over 200 investigations of children claiming to be a person who recently died when investigated the child's memories checked out ! Death is NOT an escape from this earth YOU will be back to face what you have done :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
I am studying facts about climate change because I feel DUTYBOUND to GENTLY and LOVINGLY as possible "plant" these FACTS in peoples minds who have been benighted by falsehoods .To do this I have to have the facts committed to memory so that I can casually and deftly slip them past people's defenses . I've learnt that to be convincing you really have to know your stuff . You have to be a climate change buff because ,in real time, your person is not going to stand still and let you hit them with the facts . They are going to counter punch , duck and dodge and throw a fit or even runaway and to be "the calm clear voice of reason" you really have these facts down :
SPECIFIC Facts About how bad it is and
SPECIFIC Facts About How solvable it is .
This book does a good job of presenting BOTH types of facts but it is not a substitute for making ones own notes so you can really make things lucidly clear to people . Alot of it is too elaborate for
a 10-20 minute conversation . Still the audio book its highly recommended due to the most enjoyable narration . All of us could be doing more and the clearer the fact are in our minds the more we will do.
"BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OPINION"
"Leave us alone we have a right to our opinion you have a right to your opinion." say teh deniers . I tell them ," the other people who inhabit this earth also a have much more essential right to continue enjoy the earth’s environment as it is now." Therefore I know that fact-studying people are DUTYBOUND to gently pass those facts to those who may not want to hear them .If I fail in this duty those individuals may fail to take remedial steps in their own lives that affect us all. The false hood filled people also may take political stands that hinder governments from taking remedial steps on a large scale .
If it were NOT NECESSARY to cuts away the false propaganda festering in peoples minds with keenly honed facts . I would definitely respect the opinions of the ignorant .But since it we need these peoples cooperation it's "Game on" . It is important to understand that being confronted with these alarming facts puts people in a flustered mood therefore to follow up quick with a comforting solution to each alarming fact is a must to calm them before hitting them with the next alarming fact . If there were no solution there would be no point in ruining someone's mood with alarming facts . So before you tell a denier an alarming fact have the solutions to that fact ready in your mind. . Hit them with alternating waves of realizing how serious the problem is and how easy it is to fix.
The facts ARE alarming but the sooner we answer the alarm the sooner the damage will be stopped . But before we can answer the alarm we have to be alarmed so if people get alarmed and angry its a good sign . it means they are waking up --maybe a little grumpy at first ---but getting riled up and its important to have a clear course of action to give them for that energy to be expended or it may be expended on your face!
CHEER THEM UP
One helpful insight Bill Nye gives is that deniers are pessimists that believe nothing can be done so why not just deny it . While those who accept the reality of climate change are the optimists . So when you are talking to a denier its is important to cheer them up and tell them that the earth is very resilient if we all act now. You have to convince them that it is doable or they give up in despair and get angry at you for bothering them about something that is going to happen any way
FACTS :
Every second humans dump 2.4 million pounds of Co2 per second . What to do ? Reduce electricity, &gas use (any way you can) and support non fossil fuel electricity generation and transportation industries .
Every 1.4 seconds a football sized area of forest is cut down or burned . What to do? It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, recycle forest products , don’t buy rain forest lumber, become vegan …
The live stock industry is the biggest contributor to methane emissions and deforestation by simply becoming vegan we can help stop both.
The Government Environmental Protection Agency is the most concise credible web page I could find about all greenhouse gases (pie charts )
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/glob...
To sum up : climate change
1) Is a VERY DEADLY HORRIFIC PROBLEM
2) a very solvable problem IF EVERYONE acts NOW .
It helps to know all the pseudo mantras that deniers repeat to cast doubt and to keep your facts very sharp so you can slash right through them . A sharp blade hurts way less and is much easier to control than a dull one , you really have to go into battle with the facts very sharp and handy so you automatically and reflexively respond to each and very challenge . You have an ace for every jack they put down.
Replacing specific lies with specific truths is the only way to get people to see the truth and act on it .
NOTE : I AM DEEPLY SUSPICIOUS of Bill Nye's getting into bed with Monsanto on teh GMO issue which coincides with his visit to Monsanto's head quarters . Nye is not a geneticist and how the hell would be know if Monsanto was selling him bullshit or not . I would NOT listen to Bill Nye on the subject of genetics but to leading geneticists who are NOT allied with Monsanto. We know that monsanto has paid millions of dollars in campaigns to cast doubt in the public's mind about the need to label GMOs and it is extremely likely that they paid Bill Nye or a charity he supports money when he went to visit them if he would read their script to the world on GMO labeling.... https://www.ecowatch.com/is-bill-nye-...
Note: the last 1 hour of this audio book is a solid 5 star pep talk about defeating climate change worth memorizing or listening to again and again--the whole book will be a pleasure to reread .
Bill Nye is an entertaining narrator and alot of the books, especially in the beginning, is the solid climate changing facts I was seeking to arm myself with but then Nye digresses to some highly speculative futuristic hi-tech scientific solutions to climate change that are just ramblings and some are just plain dumb like coming up with a GMO wheat that is white so it will reflect sunlight or making boats that put out a specific size of bubble that stays suspended in the ocean water and reflects sunlight and some better ideas but those are for engineers and inventors and not for the average citizen so if you want facts to give deniers you will get a few chapters wroth and then be lead on a "future land tour " or maybe this maybe that new technology will save us.
The only things that will save us (without tons of political red tape) is for all of us to stop using so much electricity and gas and become vegetarians ,buy local produce, have only one kid and recycle all paper and card broad and use only quick growing lumber and leave the rain forests alone .
Simple , easy ,cheap, no congressional red tape .
But there are people out there driving hummers, driving for pleasure ,NASCAR racing , fireworks , and people burning lights all night long , using dryers instead of clothes lines etc so a big part of the job is bringing the facts to their attention of just how bad the situation is getting and how much suffering what they are doing will cause so billions of humans -- keeping the pressure on them to cut the shit .
Evert time we make a choice like using a dyer instead of a clothes line or keeping our old refrigerator instead of a new energy star one or going on a pleasure trip instead of staying home in the garden or any activity that used more rater than less electricity and gas we are choosing to these things at the cost of making billions homeless , malnourished, impoverished , sick and dying in a miserable climate . Those who live on the coast will be displaced and those who live inland will be crowded by those who were displaced . All will be miserable. Want to rethink that choice ? God gave us free will and the ability to discern right from wrong . A judgement day is coming and our every decision that causes suffering will be punished(pain and sorrow ) and our every decision that helps relieve suffering will be rewarded (pleasure and happiness ) .
Also its not your grandchildren will be facing the consequences of your decisions . Its YOU :
Reincarnation is now regarded as a legitimate science See 24 documentary videos about over 200 investigations of children claiming to be a person who recently died when investigated the child's memories checked out ! Death is NOT an escape from this earth YOU will be back to face what you have done :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
I am studying facts about climate change because I feel DUTYBOUND to GENTLY and LOVINGLY as possible "plant" these FACTS in peoples minds who have been benighted by falsehoods .To do this I have to have the facts committed to memory so that I can casually and deftly slip them past people's defenses . I've learnt that to be convincing you really have to know your stuff . You have to be a climate change buff because ,in real time, your person is not going to stand still and let you hit them with the facts . They are going to counter punch , duck and dodge and throw a fit or even runaway and to be "the calm clear voice of reason" you really have these facts down :
SPECIFIC Facts About how bad it is and
SPECIFIC Facts About How solvable it is .
This book does a good job of presenting BOTH types of facts but it is not a substitute for making ones own notes so you can really make things lucidly clear to people . Alot of it is too elaborate for
a 10-20 minute conversation . Still the audio book its highly recommended due to the most enjoyable narration . All of us could be doing more and the clearer the fact are in our minds the more we will do.
"BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OPINION"
"Leave us alone we have a right to our opinion you have a right to your opinion." say teh deniers . I tell them ," the other people who inhabit this earth also a have much more essential right to continue enjoy the earth’s environment as it is now." Therefore I know that fact-studying people are DUTYBOUND to gently pass those facts to those who may not want to hear them .If I fail in this duty those individuals may fail to take remedial steps in their own lives that affect us all. The false hood filled people also may take political stands that hinder governments from taking remedial steps on a large scale .
If it were NOT NECESSARY to cuts away the false propaganda festering in peoples minds with keenly honed facts . I would definitely respect the opinions of the ignorant .But since it we need these peoples cooperation it's "Game on" . It is important to understand that being confronted with these alarming facts puts people in a flustered mood therefore to follow up quick with a comforting solution to each alarming fact is a must to calm them before hitting them with the next alarming fact . If there were no solution there would be no point in ruining someone's mood with alarming facts . So before you tell a denier an alarming fact have the solutions to that fact ready in your mind. . Hit them with alternating waves of realizing how serious the problem is and how easy it is to fix.
The facts ARE alarming but the sooner we answer the alarm the sooner the damage will be stopped . But before we can answer the alarm we have to be alarmed so if people get alarmed and angry its a good sign . it means they are waking up --maybe a little grumpy at first ---but getting riled up and its important to have a clear course of action to give them for that energy to be expended or it may be expended on your face!
CHEER THEM UP
One helpful insight Bill Nye gives is that deniers are pessimists that believe nothing can be done so why not just deny it . While those who accept the reality of climate change are the optimists . So when you are talking to a denier its is important to cheer them up and tell them that the earth is very resilient if we all act now. You have to convince them that it is doable or they give up in despair and get angry at you for bothering them about something that is going to happen any way
FACTS :
Every second humans dump 2.4 million pounds of Co2 per second . What to do ? Reduce electricity, &gas use (any way you can) and support non fossil fuel electricity generation and transportation industries .
Every 1.4 seconds a football sized area of forest is cut down or burned . What to do? It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, recycle forest products , don’t buy rain forest lumber, become vegan …
The live stock industry is the biggest contributor to methane emissions and deforestation by simply becoming vegan we can help stop both.
The Government Environmental Protection Agency is the most concise credible web page I could find about all greenhouse gases (pie charts )
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/glob...
To sum up : climate change
1) Is a VERY DEADLY HORRIFIC PROBLEM
2) a very solvable problem IF EVERYONE acts NOW .
It helps to know all the pseudo mantras that deniers repeat to cast doubt and to keep your facts very sharp so you can slash right through them . A sharp blade hurts way less and is much easier to control than a dull one , you really have to go into battle with the facts very sharp and handy so you automatically and reflexively respond to each and very challenge . You have an ace for every jack they put down.
Replacing specific lies with specific truths is the only way to get people to see the truth and act on it .
NOTE : I AM DEEPLY SUSPICIOUS of Bill Nye's getting into bed with Monsanto on teh GMO issue which coincides with his visit to Monsanto's head quarters . Nye is not a geneticist and how the hell would be know if Monsanto was selling him bullshit or not . I would NOT listen to Bill Nye on the subject of genetics but to leading geneticists who are NOT allied with Monsanto. We know that monsanto has paid millions of dollars in campaigns to cast doubt in the public's mind about the need to label GMOs and it is extremely likely that they paid Bill Nye or a charity he supports money when he went to visit them if he would read their script to the world on GMO labeling.... https://www.ecowatch.com/is-bill-nye-...
February 10, 2017
Bullet review:
2017 President: Donald Trump
Pick for Energy Secretary: Rick Perry
EPA Secretary: Scott Pruitt
Other Cabinet Members
This a book people will read in 30 years and laugh how wrong it was. Like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Only we might be living on boats like Waterworld or riding dusty vehicles like Mad Max.
Better brush up on your dystopias.
2017 President: Donald Trump
Pick for Energy Secretary: Rick Perry
EPA Secretary: Scott Pruitt
Other Cabinet Members
This a book people will read in 30 years and laugh how wrong it was. Like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Only we might be living on boats like Waterworld or riding dusty vehicles like Mad Max.
Better brush up on your dystopias.
December 15, 2015
My original Unstoppable audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
Dealing with climate change requires a fundamental change in the way we think about and view our place on this planet – according to Bill Nye, we have to view our role as owners of this earth, rather than mere renters. The earth needs our constant attention and we have to be careful about what we put into the air, water, and land since we all share these resources.
In Unstoppable, Nye rejects the altruistic notion that we have to “save the earth” – the Earth isn’t going anywhere. It was here long before us humans, and will be here long after us. Also rejected is the notion that climate change has always occurred, will always occur, and that we shouldn’t worry about it. The truth, as is often the case between two such extremes, lies somewhere in the middle. The Earth doesn’t need saving. Rather, we need to keep the earth habitable for us! If we’re not good stewards, or responsible owners, then we run the risk of making our planet inhospitable and hostile to our continued survival.
The goal, then, is to try and mitigate the effects of the global disaster that we have already created. With the amounts of carbon emissions that we are pumping into the atmosphere every second of every day, and the long-term trends that demonstrate the warmth and expansion of Earth’s waters, leading to changes in air and water currents, we’ve already created what amounts to an irreversible situation, or one that, if reversed, would take many, many hundreds of years. Hence the book’s title, Unstoppable. Rapid climate change is occurring, and the havoc that it will wreak on our entire ecosystem is a force to be reckoned with.
Over the course of the book, Nye discusses the science behind climate change and lays down some grisly facts surrounding the accumulation and perpetual proliferation of carbon dioxide into the air we breathe, defeats one by one the most common assertions claimed by climate change deniers, and explores the causes and effects of this man-made disruption (tornadoes in Chicago! More snowfall! More flooding! The collapse of infrastructure and the displacement of millions of people living in coastal regions!). He also notes, not unreasonably, that freeing ourselves from fossil fuels would go a long way toward cutting off a primary source of income to terrorist groups, like ISIS, that control the oil fields whose productions we are so dependent on. Also supremely beneficial to both the United States and the world at large is cutting loose climate change deniers from their political offices.
While there’s plenty of doom and gloom in the future forecast, it’s not completely without some measure of hope. Nye also discusses the technologies that we can and should be adopting in order to ensure our continued existence. Nye offers plenty of practical (thought not necessarily cheap) efforts that could be undertaken, literally, right at home, like installing solar panels, collecting rain water, and making slight alterations to the way you insulate your home, and buying an electric vehicle. Each of these small, environmentally conscious steps can help off-set the decades of damage we have done, and continue to do, to the world around us. If we want to continue living on the Earth, though, we will have to make some tough choices in the way we live.
As a long-time science communicator, Bill Nye is able to lay down the surprisingly large breadth of information surrounding the topic of climate change. And as narrator of his own book, he’s able to present the material with his trademark wit and passion, making the book a real joy to listen to. The Science Guy brings with him all of the entertainment value that made his television series such a joy to watch back in the 1990s, and the production value on this audio book is superior, running along with nary a hiccup. Throughout the narration, he provides plenty of real world illustrations to support the scientific data, which helps hammer home the importance of dealing with this dangerous reality and reminds us that we can no longer keep our heads buried in the sand.
We cannot ignore this problem until it goes away because, as Nye makes abundantly clear, this problem is simply not going to go away, no matter how loud the (uninformed) denial. Information is relayed in an easy-to-understand and cogent fashion, which is a very wise approach since this is a topic that literally everyone should be made to understand. You don’t need a PhD to get clued in on the science at hand, and this book serves as a refreshing primer that will make it very easy for people to become informed. In fact, the information is so easy to grasp that even Ken Ham should be able to understand it, providing he’s willing to, once again, get schooled by Bill Nye the Science Guy!
Dealing with climate change requires a fundamental change in the way we think about and view our place on this planet – according to Bill Nye, we have to view our role as owners of this earth, rather than mere renters. The earth needs our constant attention and we have to be careful about what we put into the air, water, and land since we all share these resources.
In Unstoppable, Nye rejects the altruistic notion that we have to “save the earth” – the Earth isn’t going anywhere. It was here long before us humans, and will be here long after us. Also rejected is the notion that climate change has always occurred, will always occur, and that we shouldn’t worry about it. The truth, as is often the case between two such extremes, lies somewhere in the middle. The Earth doesn’t need saving. Rather, we need to keep the earth habitable for us! If we’re not good stewards, or responsible owners, then we run the risk of making our planet inhospitable and hostile to our continued survival.
The goal, then, is to try and mitigate the effects of the global disaster that we have already created. With the amounts of carbon emissions that we are pumping into the atmosphere every second of every day, and the long-term trends that demonstrate the warmth and expansion of Earth’s waters, leading to changes in air and water currents, we’ve already created what amounts to an irreversible situation, or one that, if reversed, would take many, many hundreds of years. Hence the book’s title, Unstoppable. Rapid climate change is occurring, and the havoc that it will wreak on our entire ecosystem is a force to be reckoned with.
Over the course of the book, Nye discusses the science behind climate change and lays down some grisly facts surrounding the accumulation and perpetual proliferation of carbon dioxide into the air we breathe, defeats one by one the most common assertions claimed by climate change deniers, and explores the causes and effects of this man-made disruption (tornadoes in Chicago! More snowfall! More flooding! The collapse of infrastructure and the displacement of millions of people living in coastal regions!). He also notes, not unreasonably, that freeing ourselves from fossil fuels would go a long way toward cutting off a primary source of income to terrorist groups, like ISIS, that control the oil fields whose productions we are so dependent on. Also supremely beneficial to both the United States and the world at large is cutting loose climate change deniers from their political offices.
While there’s plenty of doom and gloom in the future forecast, it’s not completely without some measure of hope. Nye also discusses the technologies that we can and should be adopting in order to ensure our continued existence. Nye offers plenty of practical (thought not necessarily cheap) efforts that could be undertaken, literally, right at home, like installing solar panels, collecting rain water, and making slight alterations to the way you insulate your home, and buying an electric vehicle. Each of these small, environmentally conscious steps can help off-set the decades of damage we have done, and continue to do, to the world around us. If we want to continue living on the Earth, though, we will have to make some tough choices in the way we live.
As a long-time science communicator, Bill Nye is able to lay down the surprisingly large breadth of information surrounding the topic of climate change. And as narrator of his own book, he’s able to present the material with his trademark wit and passion, making the book a real joy to listen to. The Science Guy brings with him all of the entertainment value that made his television series such a joy to watch back in the 1990s, and the production value on this audio book is superior, running along with nary a hiccup. Throughout the narration, he provides plenty of real world illustrations to support the scientific data, which helps hammer home the importance of dealing with this dangerous reality and reminds us that we can no longer keep our heads buried in the sand.
We cannot ignore this problem until it goes away because, as Nye makes abundantly clear, this problem is simply not going to go away, no matter how loud the (uninformed) denial. Information is relayed in an easy-to-understand and cogent fashion, which is a very wise approach since this is a topic that literally everyone should be made to understand. You don’t need a PhD to get clued in on the science at hand, and this book serves as a refreshing primer that will make it very easy for people to become informed. In fact, the information is so easy to grasp that even Ken Ham should be able to understand it, providing he’s willing to, once again, get schooled by Bill Nye the Science Guy!
December 8, 2016
It's hard not to love a book written by Bill Nye, he's so passionate and fun. According to Goodreads this is the second book in the "Un..." series but you don't need to read the first book to enjoy this one. Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation talks about the theory of evolution and its deniers, Unstoppable talk about global warming and how we can use current and future technology to *try* and buy Earth some more time. Really insightful, it explains in great detail how all current methods of generating electricity work as well as trying to predict what the next big thing will be.
August 1, 2019
Nye opens up a fire hose of ideas and proposals to fix global warming, some are pretty far out there, but I agree with his basic premise, try everything and see what really works. I was worried that this book might be too shallow to engage someone who's already familiar with many of the issues and has a science background, that was not the case. Indeed, in the case of electrical power distribution, it's the first time I've ever seen mention of resistive and reactive loads outside an EE manual. The clear and straightforward writing style makes it accessible to non-technical and younger readers as well. It's suitable for a wide range of readers.
As a companion volume I would recommend Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, get started right away! Example, for most Americans, cut back your meat consumption.
Why did I rate such a great book as a 4? Where's the bibliography? Oops, there's none. Its one major defect.
As a companion volume I would recommend Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, get started right away! Example, for most Americans, cut back your meat consumption.
Why did I rate such a great book as a 4? Where's the bibliography? Oops, there's none. Its one major defect.
June 30, 2021
This was more like 4 stars for me, but I'm adding a star for two reasons. One is, well, it's Bill Nye the Science Guy, and two, this is a message that we all need hear and try to implement to some degree in our lives.
First, my boys were raised on PBS shows and that included the show, Bill Nye the Science Guy. It also included Barney, but I won't be singing high praises there. My boys thought Bill Nye was hilarious and fun...and I would have to concur. He also did his own audio narration for this one, and his passion and enthusiasm for science and changing the world was infectious.
Secondly, I liked his approach to change. Unfortunately, a lot of the changes mentioned takes money to implement, but he also points out smaller steps we can manage in order to make the world a better place for us, and our posterity.
So all in all, I enjoyed this one. I'm not sure I'd read it again, but it was definitely worthwhile.
First, my boys were raised on PBS shows and that included the show, Bill Nye the Science Guy. It also included Barney, but I won't be singing high praises there. My boys thought Bill Nye was hilarious and fun...and I would have to concur. He also did his own audio narration for this one, and his passion and enthusiasm for science and changing the world was infectious.
Secondly, I liked his approach to change. Unfortunately, a lot of the changes mentioned takes money to implement, but he also points out smaller steps we can manage in order to make the world a better place for us, and our posterity.
So all in all, I enjoyed this one. I'm not sure I'd read it again, but it was definitely worthwhile.
December 1, 2015
After hearing about Bill Nye's first book, Undeniable, through the podcast StarTalk which Mr. Nye often is a part of these days, I was excited when I heard that he was working on a book about climate change. So when the book was released this November, I had to get my hands on it for a few reasons. First I wanted to learn more about climate change and second I have come to really respect Mr. Nye as an educator and a writer. Thankfully, this book did not disappoint! Mr. Nye produced another book which contains his optimism and love of science. I was able to take a lot away from this book and it made me want to "science" some more.
What I liked about this book was that it was not a book about answers; it was more about questions and possible solutions. No one has the answers for a lot of upcoming climate issues, but I think Bill Nye did a nice job of introducing a lot of different issues and writing about possible solutions that are being looked at right now.
In comparison to his last book on evolution, this book was slightly more conceptually and mathematically heavy. A lot of the chapters on energy and new energy technologies were prefaced with background of thermodynamic laws and power consumption calculations and so on. However, I think the way Bill Nye explained these heavy parts in his book made the reader able to understand the hard concepts. Since I have taken a lot of physics/engineering classes in the past year, I have background knowledge of a lot of the topics. Luckily, Bill Nye is such a talented educator, that I believe that a person without a science background would not have trouble understanding the concepts either.
Another great thing that Bill Nye did with this book was that he included his own experiences in it too. There was a section of about 6 or so chapters at the end of the book which focused on his own home and the renovations he has done in order to make it more environmentally friendly. These chapters provided nice examples to see what he has done and to show that he walks the walk and doesn't just talk.
Overall, I think this book was a nice overview of a lot of different climate change issues with many possible answers that are being looked into now. The author definitely knows his stuff and does a great job at explaining all of the different topics addressed. For anyone interested in climate change, definitely a great book to get you thinking!
Together we can change the world.
What I liked about this book was that it was not a book about answers; it was more about questions and possible solutions. No one has the answers for a lot of upcoming climate issues, but I think Bill Nye did a nice job of introducing a lot of different issues and writing about possible solutions that are being looked at right now.
In comparison to his last book on evolution, this book was slightly more conceptually and mathematically heavy. A lot of the chapters on energy and new energy technologies were prefaced with background of thermodynamic laws and power consumption calculations and so on. However, I think the way Bill Nye explained these heavy parts in his book made the reader able to understand the hard concepts. Since I have taken a lot of physics/engineering classes in the past year, I have background knowledge of a lot of the topics. Luckily, Bill Nye is such a talented educator, that I believe that a person without a science background would not have trouble understanding the concepts either.
Another great thing that Bill Nye did with this book was that he included his own experiences in it too. There was a section of about 6 or so chapters at the end of the book which focused on his own home and the renovations he has done in order to make it more environmentally friendly. These chapters provided nice examples to see what he has done and to show that he walks the walk and doesn't just talk.
Overall, I think this book was a nice overview of a lot of different climate change issues with many possible answers that are being looked into now. The author definitely knows his stuff and does a great job at explaining all of the different topics addressed. For anyone interested in climate change, definitely a great book to get you thinking!
Together we can change the world.
March 13, 2016
Listened to it on audiobook and love his voice and energy. Smart writing by a funny guy :)
September 22, 2020
Excellent reading and very informative. Wish we had listened when we had the chance! There is still time to make changes.
Bill Nye offers simple tips for each of us to play our part in making our home a better place.
We can all make simple changes in our lives to help keep the world safe for future generations.
Highly recommend!
Bill Nye offers simple tips for each of us to play our part in making our home a better place.
We can all make simple changes in our lives to help keep the world safe for future generations.
Highly recommend!
June 2, 2020
I grew up with Bill Nye the Science Guy and remain a big fan of Bill Nye's work to this day - his enthusiasm is infectious and what he is doing is now more important than ever. What I'm trying to say is that I'm slightly biased :)
Since this book was written, some good things happened (SpaceX!) but there were also some bad things (Trump). I'm also not sure if the environmental impact of factory farming as increased dramatically since publication, but it felt strangely missing from this book and I'm not sure why.
Anyway, a good read and to be honest, I found the green living war with Ed Begley Jr. to be the highlight and would read an entire book about just this!
Since this book was written, some good things happened (SpaceX!) but there were also some bad things (Trump). I'm also not sure if the environmental impact of factory farming as increased dramatically since publication, but it felt strangely missing from this book and I'm not sure why.
Anyway, a good read and to be honest, I found the green living war with Ed Begley Jr. to be the highlight and would read an entire book about just this!
June 26, 2021
It turns out I like Bill Nye’s writing a lot better when he is marshalling arguments in favour of science rather than sharing his life story. Although there is a lot of personal perspective in Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World, particularly towards the end, this book falls into the former category. Much like its companion Undeniable, this is a polemic. Whereas that book was about evolution, this book is about climate change. Yeah, Bill Nye isn’t fucking around.
This book offers a primer on climate change but is more about stopping the seemingly-unstoppable effects of climate change. Nye doesn’t mix words, and he levels with us about how challenging this will be (and how we are making it more challenging every minute that we continue to burn fossil fuels). However, this book is ultimately optimistic and hopeful—the kind of attitude I adored about Bill Nye the Science Guy and just what I want to read about this subject. Nye acknowledges that people who accept the scientific consensus that anthropogenic climate change is real and threatening us often react with a kind of nihilism. Hence, although he devotes some energy to laying out the basic mechanisms of climate change in the hopes of perhaps explaining it to the curious or the deniers who are on the fence, this book isn’t really here to persuade you climate change is real. Instead, Nye hopes to persuade you that climate change is something we can stop still.
This book expects what I would call a basic, high school level understanding of science, particularly chemistry but a little bit of physics too. You don’t need to have taken a specific chemistry course—some of the language might get a little technical, but you can skim over that without losing what Nye is saying. If you’re not sure what molecules are, if you aren’t up on the difference between carbon, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, this book might be more difficult. Nye’s audience is definitely adults (and teens) and not kids here, which is fine! I hope this is helpful if you’re considering this as a gift for someone but want to know the difficulty level.
With 35 chapters across 300 pages, another point in favour of this book’s readability is its pacing. Each chapter is short with a clear transition into the next. You could easily pick this up and read a chapter, or two, during a break. You can just as easily read a hundred pages in one sitting if you’re feeling sciencey one afternoon. Overall, this book is easily digestible and that’s something I very much appreciate in a science book like this.
So the first 6 chapters are, as mentioned, the basics of climate change with a focus on the physical mechanisms that actual cause warming (and how humans fit into that mix). Then we get into the actual fighting of climate change. First Nye explains some truly out there ideas. I like how he approaches this: he communicates his level of scepticism to us, making it clear that most of these ideas are (at least right now) unworkable or undesirable. These include things like gigantic orbital sunshades. Nye points out that it’s possible we can make breakthroughs that will make some of these ideas feasible. He does this when talking about fusion energy too. In this way, he keeps us grounded while reminding us that our ability to innovate with science is one of the most amazing things about our civilization, and it is going to be key to averting climate disasters.
The bulk of the book focuses on energy: how we generate it, how we store it, and how we use it. He discusses fossil fuels versus renewables and takes you through all the usual explanations of solar, wind, tidal, etc. (Interesting, geothermal energy is omitted—I don’t remember any mention of it in the book, nor is it present in the index.) Again, Nye is realistic with us but also points out the great strides we have made, for example in improving photovoltaic cells (solar panels). Moreover, I learned a lot I didn’t know about things like how rechargeable batteries work!
The final chapters get more personal. Nye chronicles how he has improved his home in southern California. Going to be honest here: I enjoyed and also disliked this portion, and the same feeling triggered this ambivalence. On the one hand, Nye was exciting me, as a homeowner, about all the good things I can do to improve my house’s efficiency. On the other hand, as a single woman living in a house from 1915 on a teacher’s salary, I lament the cost of such upgrading. I am not an engineer like Nye; I don’t have the technical skills to cut holes in my garage like he does or the desire to put a stand thermometer in front of my (non-existent) fireplace to see how much heat it’s throwing off after adding a reflector. I admire Nye’s dedication to walking the walk, and honestly, this book has got me thinking about what improvements I could afford and swing in the near-term (say, 5 years). But it also made me feel a little bad.
That being said, I want to commend Nye for acknowledging that most climate change is not caused by individual decisions. He does remind us towards the end that it can be unwise to throw up our hands and blame giant corporations (or the government) for their inaction on climate change. This, he thinks, is tantamount to defeatism. However, it’s clear from his writing that Nye is not simply advocating for individual solutions. Throughout the book, he is adamant that change must happen on multiple levels of our society, from electricity generation and distribution to urban planning to education. It isn’t quite radical in tone, but it is radical in vision, and I appreciate that.
As I mentioned in my review of Everything All At Once, Nye has lost some of his lustre from childhood. I didn’t enjoy his Netflix show. Nevertheless, I enjoyed and learned from this book, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about climate change and how we can stop it. Now, it was published in 2015, so some things have changed (mostly for the worse, sadly), but I still believe this book is useful and relevant in 2021 and likely beyond.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
This book offers a primer on climate change but is more about stopping the seemingly-unstoppable effects of climate change. Nye doesn’t mix words, and he levels with us about how challenging this will be (and how we are making it more challenging every minute that we continue to burn fossil fuels). However, this book is ultimately optimistic and hopeful—the kind of attitude I adored about Bill Nye the Science Guy and just what I want to read about this subject. Nye acknowledges that people who accept the scientific consensus that anthropogenic climate change is real and threatening us often react with a kind of nihilism. Hence, although he devotes some energy to laying out the basic mechanisms of climate change in the hopes of perhaps explaining it to the curious or the deniers who are on the fence, this book isn’t really here to persuade you climate change is real. Instead, Nye hopes to persuade you that climate change is something we can stop still.
This book expects what I would call a basic, high school level understanding of science, particularly chemistry but a little bit of physics too. You don’t need to have taken a specific chemistry course—some of the language might get a little technical, but you can skim over that without losing what Nye is saying. If you’re not sure what molecules are, if you aren’t up on the difference between carbon, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, this book might be more difficult. Nye’s audience is definitely adults (and teens) and not kids here, which is fine! I hope this is helpful if you’re considering this as a gift for someone but want to know the difficulty level.
With 35 chapters across 300 pages, another point in favour of this book’s readability is its pacing. Each chapter is short with a clear transition into the next. You could easily pick this up and read a chapter, or two, during a break. You can just as easily read a hundred pages in one sitting if you’re feeling sciencey one afternoon. Overall, this book is easily digestible and that’s something I very much appreciate in a science book like this.
So the first 6 chapters are, as mentioned, the basics of climate change with a focus on the physical mechanisms that actual cause warming (and how humans fit into that mix). Then we get into the actual fighting of climate change. First Nye explains some truly out there ideas. I like how he approaches this: he communicates his level of scepticism to us, making it clear that most of these ideas are (at least right now) unworkable or undesirable. These include things like gigantic orbital sunshades. Nye points out that it’s possible we can make breakthroughs that will make some of these ideas feasible. He does this when talking about fusion energy too. In this way, he keeps us grounded while reminding us that our ability to innovate with science is one of the most amazing things about our civilization, and it is going to be key to averting climate disasters.
The bulk of the book focuses on energy: how we generate it, how we store it, and how we use it. He discusses fossil fuels versus renewables and takes you through all the usual explanations of solar, wind, tidal, etc. (Interesting, geothermal energy is omitted—I don’t remember any mention of it in the book, nor is it present in the index.) Again, Nye is realistic with us but also points out the great strides we have made, for example in improving photovoltaic cells (solar panels). Moreover, I learned a lot I didn’t know about things like how rechargeable batteries work!
The final chapters get more personal. Nye chronicles how he has improved his home in southern California. Going to be honest here: I enjoyed and also disliked this portion, and the same feeling triggered this ambivalence. On the one hand, Nye was exciting me, as a homeowner, about all the good things I can do to improve my house’s efficiency. On the other hand, as a single woman living in a house from 1915 on a teacher’s salary, I lament the cost of such upgrading. I am not an engineer like Nye; I don’t have the technical skills to cut holes in my garage like he does or the desire to put a stand thermometer in front of my (non-existent) fireplace to see how much heat it’s throwing off after adding a reflector. I admire Nye’s dedication to walking the walk, and honestly, this book has got me thinking about what improvements I could afford and swing in the near-term (say, 5 years). But it also made me feel a little bad.
That being said, I want to commend Nye for acknowledging that most climate change is not caused by individual decisions. He does remind us towards the end that it can be unwise to throw up our hands and blame giant corporations (or the government) for their inaction on climate change. This, he thinks, is tantamount to defeatism. However, it’s clear from his writing that Nye is not simply advocating for individual solutions. Throughout the book, he is adamant that change must happen on multiple levels of our society, from electricity generation and distribution to urban planning to education. It isn’t quite radical in tone, but it is radical in vision, and I appreciate that.
As I mentioned in my review of Everything All At Once, Nye has lost some of his lustre from childhood. I didn’t enjoy his Netflix show. Nevertheless, I enjoyed and learned from this book, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about climate change and how we can stop it. Now, it was published in 2015, so some things have changed (mostly for the worse, sadly), but I still believe this book is useful and relevant in 2021 and likely beyond.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
October 19, 2017
He gives a simple explanation of the greenhouse effect. Energy from the sun passes through the atmosphere, strikes the planet's surface, and is partially absorbed. The surface warms a bit. The rest of the heat is radiated back into space. But some of it is trapped by certain atmospheric gases, especially water vapor and carbon oxide. It works the same way as glass in a greenhouse. We need that to keep our planet hospitable for life. The problem is that now our greenhouse effect is getting stronger because we keep adding carbon to our atmosphere.
Climate deniers keep citing a 1975 (!) article from Newsweek and a similar one from the New York Times as authoritative sources that prove scientists have no idea how to understand climate. I would like to get a copy of that article to look at. It demonstrates the ignorance of the opposition.
People keep confusing weather with climate. Climate happens over many years. One of the great climate change deniers, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, brought a snowball to the Senate floor because it snowed in DC in winter. Climate change does not mean there won't be cold days in summer or hot days in winter. But the total effect will change.
Another argument is that CO2 will help plants. Since 1750 CO2 has been increased because of humans by 40 percent. We are now over 400 parts per million. By the way, folks, 450 parts per million would be a tipping point of no return. And 500 parts per million would mean a dead planet. When Bill Nye did Science Guy in 1992, the measure was 356 parts per million. That is strictly from fossil fuel burning. If that doesn't scare you and your children and grandchildren, nothing will.
Remember this: "There will be no stopping a large fraction of future warming."
Methane is another greenhouse gas. It is being released and will be released as the north warms up.
As long as people in politics and business are making money in the fossil-fuel industry, we have a problem. "Conservative" media outlets play along. This has been a disaster for the "conservative" and "libertarian" movements. They have become enemies of common sense and science.
He explains rising sea levels in a simple manner. The ocean expands when it warms, just like all water. Some people think it is only from melting ice. Seaports will be overrun, people will be fleeing the floods, our naval bases will be in trouble. Cities that need to worry: Miami, New Orleans, LA, New York, Mumbai, Tokyo, and the list goes on. They are already starting to build flood walls. At first, only high tide will be a problem. In time, the emigration will begin.
Here are some points that can't be repeated often enough: In 2014, carbon dioxide levels worldwide topped 400 parts per million for the first time in human history. CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas. It is clear and invisible, thus it can be overlooked. It is troublesome in two ways. One, light passes through it and infrared light or heat is trapped on the earth's surface by CO2. Two, it lasts and lasts! The CO2 we have added so far is going to keep warming the earth for centuries to come! We want to stop doing this as soon as possible.
Nye warns about methane: Once in the sky, unburned methane is much more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. It takes about 500 years for the potency of methane to be "greatly reduced." It leaks out in fracking. At the very least, we must discourage these leaks. Ultimately, we need no natural gas or fossil fuels of any kind.
Like me, Nye is still on the fence when it comes to nuclear power.
In Chapter 25, Nye talks about how agriculture has the greatest impact on the planet of any human activity. And with a growing population, it can only get worse.
He says he was reluctant to embrace GMOs at first. But now, after visiting Monsanto and Boyce Thompson Institute, he has changed his mind. He calls "the upsides significant." Plants can be made drought-resistant or salt-tolerant. In a world of climate change, do we need to agree?
He feels the opposition is based mainly on a hatred of Monsanto. I certainly feel that one. They were responsible for both Agent Orange and Round-Up. Why should I trust them now?
He attended a anti-GMO rally where the speaker called Obama part of a conspiracy to "control minds." That turned him off, as it would me. Most important, the audience seemed ill-informed.
Scientists with those groups believe the total area of land needed to produce food will actually decrease because of GMOs.
I am not sure he is considering all of the pitfalls of GMOs.
His optimism at the end of the book seems a bit misguided. Just look at where we are now with the current president. If that doesn't discourage you, you truly are not understanding what is happening to our planet now.
Climate deniers keep citing a 1975 (!) article from Newsweek and a similar one from the New York Times as authoritative sources that prove scientists have no idea how to understand climate. I would like to get a copy of that article to look at. It demonstrates the ignorance of the opposition.
People keep confusing weather with climate. Climate happens over many years. One of the great climate change deniers, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, brought a snowball to the Senate floor because it snowed in DC in winter. Climate change does not mean there won't be cold days in summer or hot days in winter. But the total effect will change.
Another argument is that CO2 will help plants. Since 1750 CO2 has been increased because of humans by 40 percent. We are now over 400 parts per million. By the way, folks, 450 parts per million would be a tipping point of no return. And 500 parts per million would mean a dead planet. When Bill Nye did Science Guy in 1992, the measure was 356 parts per million. That is strictly from fossil fuel burning. If that doesn't scare you and your children and grandchildren, nothing will.
Remember this: "There will be no stopping a large fraction of future warming."
Methane is another greenhouse gas. It is being released and will be released as the north warms up.
As long as people in politics and business are making money in the fossil-fuel industry, we have a problem. "Conservative" media outlets play along. This has been a disaster for the "conservative" and "libertarian" movements. They have become enemies of common sense and science.
He explains rising sea levels in a simple manner. The ocean expands when it warms, just like all water. Some people think it is only from melting ice. Seaports will be overrun, people will be fleeing the floods, our naval bases will be in trouble. Cities that need to worry: Miami, New Orleans, LA, New York, Mumbai, Tokyo, and the list goes on. They are already starting to build flood walls. At first, only high tide will be a problem. In time, the emigration will begin.
Here are some points that can't be repeated often enough: In 2014, carbon dioxide levels worldwide topped 400 parts per million for the first time in human history. CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas. It is clear and invisible, thus it can be overlooked. It is troublesome in two ways. One, light passes through it and infrared light or heat is trapped on the earth's surface by CO2. Two, it lasts and lasts! The CO2 we have added so far is going to keep warming the earth for centuries to come! We want to stop doing this as soon as possible.
Nye warns about methane: Once in the sky, unburned methane is much more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. It takes about 500 years for the potency of methane to be "greatly reduced." It leaks out in fracking. At the very least, we must discourage these leaks. Ultimately, we need no natural gas or fossil fuels of any kind.
Like me, Nye is still on the fence when it comes to nuclear power.
In Chapter 25, Nye talks about how agriculture has the greatest impact on the planet of any human activity. And with a growing population, it can only get worse.
He says he was reluctant to embrace GMOs at first. But now, after visiting Monsanto and Boyce Thompson Institute, he has changed his mind. He calls "the upsides significant." Plants can be made drought-resistant or salt-tolerant. In a world of climate change, do we need to agree?
He feels the opposition is based mainly on a hatred of Monsanto. I certainly feel that one. They were responsible for both Agent Orange and Round-Up. Why should I trust them now?
He attended a anti-GMO rally where the speaker called Obama part of a conspiracy to "control minds." That turned him off, as it would me. Most important, the audience seemed ill-informed.
Scientists with those groups believe the total area of land needed to produce food will actually decrease because of GMOs.
I am not sure he is considering all of the pitfalls of GMOs.
His optimism at the end of the book seems a bit misguided. Just look at where we are now with the current president. If that doesn't discourage you, you truly are not understanding what is happening to our planet now.
January 24, 2016
Interested in how to manage climate change?
Tired of arguing that facts are facts?
READ THIS BOOK!
Tired of arguing that facts are facts?
READ THIS BOOK!
November 18, 2015
Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World by Bill Nye
“Unstoppable” is a wonderful, upbeat plea to make a better world through science. It focuses on the many environmental challenges we face as a planet and provides hope through science and engineering on what we can do to rise to address them. Mechanical engineer, science educator, and Emmy award-winning TV personality Bill Nye the Science Guy provides readers with yet another gem. This enjoyable 350-page book includes thirty-five chapters that cover a wide-range of topics pertaining to environmental issues.
Positives:
1. Entertaining, practical, well-written and well-researched book for the masses.
2. A great topic, how to harness science to change the world for the better. “To the Next Great Generation. Embrace science. Solve problems. Make things. Change the world.”
3. A pleasant, upbeat, engaging and sometimes even humorous tone throughout. Some of the topics are indeed alarming but Nye’s upbeat tone and practical knowhow emits confidence.
4. There is a love of science and engineering that is palpable throughout the book. Bill Nye loves the knowledge that science provides and the problem-solving attitude of engineering. “Engineers use science every day to build things and to solve problems, sometimes seemingly intractable problems.”
5. Many great topics discussed but this book revolves around climate change and its impact. “In recent years, you’ve probably heard a great many people speak about addressing climate change with lists of things we shouldn’t be doing—like burning fossil fuels, coal especially. That guidance is useful, but we need to focus more on the things we aggressively should be doing—like developing ways to store renewable energy.”
6. Hits back against science denialism. “The warming of our world has gone in lockstep with the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases we have dumped into the atmosphere. The connection between climate change and human activity is akin to the connection between cancer and smoking.” “What on Earth makes anyone think that 97% of the world’s climate scientists are wrong?”
7. Does a great job of making difficult topics easy for the public to understand. “Most of the electrical power in the world—everything produced from coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear material—relies on boiling water to spin a turbine that runs a generator.” “One of their insights is that there is no such thing as “cold,” at least in this scientific sense. There is instead only the absence of heat.”
8. One of the joys of reading this book is the discussion of big or innovative ideas to solve problems. “I’m talking about a substitute for asphalt. Instead of a jet-black parking lot, with an albedo less than 10 percent, I’m imagining a nearly white parking lot, with an albedo up around 70 percent.” “The idea, then, is to produce bubbles in water to make the water more reflective on purpose.”
9. A reasonable look at nuclear energy. “The primary appeal of nuclear energy is what it does not produce: carbon. Right now the two biggest zero-carbon energy sources in the United States are hydroelectric power and nuclear power.”
10. Plenty of interesting factoids throughout the book. “We get about 19 percent of our electricity from nuclear plants, 6 percent from dams, and about 5 percent from wind and solar.”
11. Solar energy. “The big idea of space-based power is to collect solar energy above the atmosphere—where sunshine is continuous, up where we can get at the full spectrum—and put it on Earth where we can make it almost directly into electricity. It’s a big engineering idea.”
12. A plea to transform the grid.
13. Explains the quest for more storage and some interesting ideas in the horizon.
14. A look at fuel flexibility. “Because of their agricultural situation, Brazilians are able to use their ethanol effectively. Most of their vehicles are fuel-flexible. They have sensors in the fuel system that sense how much alcohol is mixed with the gas, and they adjust the timing of the ignition spark to match the fuel on board.”
15. The three advantages of railroads over cars on the roads.
16. A look at improving getting freshwater to the world. “We just need the magical material that separates water from salt as readily as the mangroves and the seabirds do.”
17. How to improve feeding the world and GMOs. “If we add it all up, the economic sector that uses the most of Earth’s resources and produces the largest environmental change is our agriculture.” “A lot of the resistance I see to GMOs has less to do with the perceived safety of the food or the ecosystems than with a basic mistrust in large corporations—especially large industrial chemical corporations.”
18. A recurring humorous theme, environmental competition Bill Nye has with his neighbor actor friend Ed Begley. Nye demonstrates how his home is his personal lab for efficiency improvements. “Now I’m a big-time minor celebrity with no obligations and a deep desire to crush Begley, so I had two separate inline or tankless water heaters installed.”
19. The reality of it all. “The less we do to address climate change now, the more regulation we will have in the future.”
20. Loved the chapters on space exploration. “If your rocket were perfectly efficient, you would need about 500 million Joules to lift one ton of payload to a height of 100 kilometers (62 miles), which is a common definition of where “space” begins.”
21. A practical recommendation to improve the planet. “In general, no one has the guts or the political influence sufficient to establish a carbon fee or tax or shared financial burden regarding climate change.”
Negatives:
1. Lacking in visual content (graphs, timelines, and diagrams).
2. Some on the right may take issue with some of the political criticism. The truth is it is done so at a minimal.
3. No notes.
4. No formal bibliography.
In summary, this is a wonderful book on how to improve the planet. Bill Nye does a wonderful job of sharing his love for science and the power of engineering to solve big problems, including climate change. It’s a plea for action with a hopeful can do tone. I highly recommend it!
Further recommendations: “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation” also by Bill Nye,
“This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein, “Eaarth” by Bill McKibben, “Merchants of Doubt” by Naomi Oreskes, “Space Chronicles” by Neil deGrasse Tyson, “The Last Hours of Humanity: Warming the World to Extinction” by Thom Hartmann, “Storms of my Grandchildren” by James Hansen, “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert, “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars” by Michael E. Mann, and “Clean Break” by Osha Gray Davidson.
“Unstoppable” is a wonderful, upbeat plea to make a better world through science. It focuses on the many environmental challenges we face as a planet and provides hope through science and engineering on what we can do to rise to address them. Mechanical engineer, science educator, and Emmy award-winning TV personality Bill Nye the Science Guy provides readers with yet another gem. This enjoyable 350-page book includes thirty-five chapters that cover a wide-range of topics pertaining to environmental issues.
Positives:
1. Entertaining, practical, well-written and well-researched book for the masses.
2. A great topic, how to harness science to change the world for the better. “To the Next Great Generation. Embrace science. Solve problems. Make things. Change the world.”
3. A pleasant, upbeat, engaging and sometimes even humorous tone throughout. Some of the topics are indeed alarming but Nye’s upbeat tone and practical knowhow emits confidence.
4. There is a love of science and engineering that is palpable throughout the book. Bill Nye loves the knowledge that science provides and the problem-solving attitude of engineering. “Engineers use science every day to build things and to solve problems, sometimes seemingly intractable problems.”
5. Many great topics discussed but this book revolves around climate change and its impact. “In recent years, you’ve probably heard a great many people speak about addressing climate change with lists of things we shouldn’t be doing—like burning fossil fuels, coal especially. That guidance is useful, but we need to focus more on the things we aggressively should be doing—like developing ways to store renewable energy.”
6. Hits back against science denialism. “The warming of our world has gone in lockstep with the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases we have dumped into the atmosphere. The connection between climate change and human activity is akin to the connection between cancer and smoking.” “What on Earth makes anyone think that 97% of the world’s climate scientists are wrong?”
7. Does a great job of making difficult topics easy for the public to understand. “Most of the electrical power in the world—everything produced from coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear material—relies on boiling water to spin a turbine that runs a generator.” “One of their insights is that there is no such thing as “cold,” at least in this scientific sense. There is instead only the absence of heat.”
8. One of the joys of reading this book is the discussion of big or innovative ideas to solve problems. “I’m talking about a substitute for asphalt. Instead of a jet-black parking lot, with an albedo less than 10 percent, I’m imagining a nearly white parking lot, with an albedo up around 70 percent.” “The idea, then, is to produce bubbles in water to make the water more reflective on purpose.”
9. A reasonable look at nuclear energy. “The primary appeal of nuclear energy is what it does not produce: carbon. Right now the two biggest zero-carbon energy sources in the United States are hydroelectric power and nuclear power.”
10. Plenty of interesting factoids throughout the book. “We get about 19 percent of our electricity from nuclear plants, 6 percent from dams, and about 5 percent from wind and solar.”
11. Solar energy. “The big idea of space-based power is to collect solar energy above the atmosphere—where sunshine is continuous, up where we can get at the full spectrum—and put it on Earth where we can make it almost directly into electricity. It’s a big engineering idea.”
12. A plea to transform the grid.
13. Explains the quest for more storage and some interesting ideas in the horizon.
14. A look at fuel flexibility. “Because of their agricultural situation, Brazilians are able to use their ethanol effectively. Most of their vehicles are fuel-flexible. They have sensors in the fuel system that sense how much alcohol is mixed with the gas, and they adjust the timing of the ignition spark to match the fuel on board.”
15. The three advantages of railroads over cars on the roads.
16. A look at improving getting freshwater to the world. “We just need the magical material that separates water from salt as readily as the mangroves and the seabirds do.”
17. How to improve feeding the world and GMOs. “If we add it all up, the economic sector that uses the most of Earth’s resources and produces the largest environmental change is our agriculture.” “A lot of the resistance I see to GMOs has less to do with the perceived safety of the food or the ecosystems than with a basic mistrust in large corporations—especially large industrial chemical corporations.”
18. A recurring humorous theme, environmental competition Bill Nye has with his neighbor actor friend Ed Begley. Nye demonstrates how his home is his personal lab for efficiency improvements. “Now I’m a big-time minor celebrity with no obligations and a deep desire to crush Begley, so I had two separate inline or tankless water heaters installed.”
19. The reality of it all. “The less we do to address climate change now, the more regulation we will have in the future.”
20. Loved the chapters on space exploration. “If your rocket were perfectly efficient, you would need about 500 million Joules to lift one ton of payload to a height of 100 kilometers (62 miles), which is a common definition of where “space” begins.”
21. A practical recommendation to improve the planet. “In general, no one has the guts or the political influence sufficient to establish a carbon fee or tax or shared financial burden regarding climate change.”
Negatives:
1. Lacking in visual content (graphs, timelines, and diagrams).
2. Some on the right may take issue with some of the political criticism. The truth is it is done so at a minimal.
3. No notes.
4. No formal bibliography.
In summary, this is a wonderful book on how to improve the planet. Bill Nye does a wonderful job of sharing his love for science and the power of engineering to solve big problems, including climate change. It’s a plea for action with a hopeful can do tone. I highly recommend it!
Further recommendations: “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation” also by Bill Nye,
“This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein, “Eaarth” by Bill McKibben, “Merchants of Doubt” by Naomi Oreskes, “Space Chronicles” by Neil deGrasse Tyson, “The Last Hours of Humanity: Warming the World to Extinction” by Thom Hartmann, “Storms of my Grandchildren” by James Hansen, “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert, “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars” by Michael E. Mann, and “Clean Break” by Osha Gray Davidson.
August 7, 2016
A must read for everyone. So many people are so full of doom and gloom about the environment and think that it is beyond our repair. For all of you pessimists I encourage you to read this ASAP. Nye gives us hope that we can change and recover from all the damage we have done to this beautiful world. Throughout the book he discusses all of the rapidly changing technologies that will help us and most of all encourages us to make these changes. He also highlights that we could do more if governments would just put the money into research. As usual it is full of his delightfully sweet and self deprecating humour. I especially enjoyed when he discusses how he and Ed Beagley Jr, have been healthily competing to make their respective homes more environmentally friendly than the other . I really wish I had been exposed to men like him when I was learning science in school, he makes it fascinating and sexy. Hmm wonder if we can get him to run for President of the US, imagine the changes he could bring about. Truly inspirational and full of hope.
Favorite Quotes
“so long as we each focus only on our individual decisions and their short-term consequences, we will act like renters, not owners of this Earth.” —
“We can be a lot smarter and more capable than a lot of the technology doubters and climate deniers assume. The people who dismiss concerns about global warming seem to be the pessimists who would rather give up than own up to the problems we have all created. The people who worry most about what we are doing to the planet are the optimists who believe we also have the intelligence—we, as a species, working together—to come up with powerful solutions to the problems we’re working on that will change the world for the better. Which way of looking at the world is going to produce a Next Greatest Generation? Will it be the ones who give up, or the ones who get going?”
“The less we do to address climate change now, the more regulation we will have in the future.”
5 Dewey's
Didn't have to review this one - as usual just gotta share my opinion on books
Favorite Quotes
“so long as we each focus only on our individual decisions and their short-term consequences, we will act like renters, not owners of this Earth.” —
“We can be a lot smarter and more capable than a lot of the technology doubters and climate deniers assume. The people who dismiss concerns about global warming seem to be the pessimists who would rather give up than own up to the problems we have all created. The people who worry most about what we are doing to the planet are the optimists who believe we also have the intelligence—we, as a species, working together—to come up with powerful solutions to the problems we’re working on that will change the world for the better. Which way of looking at the world is going to produce a Next Greatest Generation? Will it be the ones who give up, or the ones who get going?”
“The less we do to address climate change now, the more regulation we will have in the future.”
5 Dewey's
Didn't have to review this one - as usual just gotta share my opinion on books
March 18, 2016
First things first- absolute love for Nye's call to get more women and girls involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)! Yahoo! Yes! And he talks about this with such accessible, no-brainer logic (a skill of his, I must say). Half of us on this planet are female. If more girls get involved with science, the overall contribution to the scientific community will grow astronomically.
I mean, like, duh, right? And other girly responses.
Ok, and now for the rest. I really liked this, but I have to admit- few things send me off to dreamland more quickly than an in-depth description of how nuclear power plants work.
It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I wasn't prepared for all of the "heavy" science, i.e. the formulas and explanations of cold fusion. I thought it would be more of a "how-to" for living a greener life today, like, turn the water off while you brush your teeth, kind of advice. Instead this was more of a call to action for future scientists and inventors, which was interesting. Just not what I expected.
I loved the chapters that discussed his house. After reading them, I told my husband that when we remodel, we'll have to consult with an energy-smart company and implement some of these brilliant ideas. If only I had my own Begsley next door to compete with and encourage more action! lol
I mean, like, duh, right? And other girly responses.
Ok, and now for the rest. I really liked this, but I have to admit- few things send me off to dreamland more quickly than an in-depth description of how nuclear power plants work.
It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I wasn't prepared for all of the "heavy" science, i.e. the formulas and explanations of cold fusion. I thought it would be more of a "how-to" for living a greener life today, like, turn the water off while you brush your teeth, kind of advice. Instead this was more of a call to action for future scientists and inventors, which was interesting. Just not what I expected.
I loved the chapters that discussed his house. After reading them, I told my husband that when we remodel, we'll have to consult with an energy-smart company and implement some of these brilliant ideas. If only I had my own Begsley next door to compete with and encourage more action! lol
December 6, 2015
Really inspiring with lots of ideas for clean energy both on the global and personal scale, many of which you can do at home any time! I do think Bill kinda treats "deniers/doubters" of climate change as if they're saying, "Oh, this is horrible! It can't be true! Nooooo!!!" when really, deniers and doubters are saying, "Climate change is full of shit, you're full of shit, I'm the most important thing in the world." So I agree we need to change people's attitudes, but in a different way than he considers.
November 23, 2015
Great information, not well written. Still worth reading.
November 17, 2018
Bill Nye is an entertaining narrator and alot of the books, especially in the beginning, is the solid climate changing facts I was seeking to arm myself with but then Nye digresses to some highly speculative futuristic hi-tech scientific solutions to climate change that are just ramblings and some are just plain dumb like coming up with a GMO wheat that is white so it will reflect sunlight or making boats that put out a specific size of bubble that stays suspended in the ocean water and reflects sunlight and some better ideas but those are for engineers and inventors and not for the average citizen so if you want facts to give deniers you will get a few chapters wroth and then be lead on a "future land tour " or maybe this maybe that new technology will save us.
In my opinion the only things that will save us are to stop using so much electricity and gas and become vegetarians ,buy local produce and recycle all paper and card broad and use only quick growing lumber and leave the rain forests alone .
Simple , easy ,cheap .
But there are people out there driving hummers, driving for pleasure ,NASCAR racing , fireworks , and people burning lights all night long , using dryers instead of clothes lines etc so a big part of the job is bringing the facts to their attention of just how bad the situation is getting and how much suffering what they are doing will cause so billions of humans -- keeping the pressure on them to cut the shit .
Evert time we make a choice like using a dyer instead of a clothes line or keeping our old refrigerator instead of a new energy star one or going on a pleasure trip instead of staying home in the garden or any activity that used more rater than less electricity and gas we are choosing to these things at the cost of making billions homeless , malnourished, impoverished , sick and dying in a miserable climate . Want to rethink that choice ? God gave us free will and the ability to discern right from wrong . A judgement day is coming and our every decision that causes suffering will be punished(pain and sorrow ) and our every decision that helps relieve suffering will be rewarded (pleasure and happiness ) .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9MsF... Fighting climate change has to begin at home . be vegan :Live longer and save the planet.
Also its not your grandchildren will be facing the consequences of your decisions . Its YOU :
Reincarnation is now regarded as a legitimate science See 24 documentary videos about over 200 investigations of children claiming to be a person who recently died when investigated the child's memories checked out ! Death is NOT an escape from this earth YOU will be back to face what you have done :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
I am studying facts about climate change because I feel DUTYBOUND to GENTLY and LOVINGLY as possible "plant" these FACTS in peoples minds who have been benighted by falsehoods .To do this I have to have the facts committed to memory so that I can casually and deftly slip them past people's defenses . I've learnt that to be convincing you really have to know your stuff . You have to be a climate change buff because ,in real time, your person is not going to stand still and let you hit them with the facts . They are going to counter punch , duck and dodge and throw a fit or even runaway and to be "the calm clear voice of reason" you really have these facts down :
SPECIFIC Facts About how bad it is and
SPECIFIC Facts About How solvable it is .
This book does a good job of presenting BOTH types of facts but it is not a substitute for making ones own notes so you can really make things lucidly clear to people . Alot of it is too elaborate for
a 10-20 minute conversation . Still the audio book its highly recommended due to the most enjoyable narration . All of us could be doing more and the clearer the fact are in our minds the more we will do.
"BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OPINION"
"Leave us alone we have a right to our opinion you have a right to your opinion." say teh deniers . I tell them ," the other people who inhabit this earth also a have much more essential right to continue enjoy the earth’s environment as it is now." Therefore I know that fact-studying people are DUTYBOUND to gently pass those facts to those who may not want to hear them .If I fail in this duty those individuals may fail to take remedial steps in their own lives that affect us all. The false hood filled people also may take political stands that hinder governments from taking remedial steps on a large scale .
If it were NOT NECESSARY to cuts away the false propaganda festering in peoples minds with keenly honed facts . I would definitely respect the opinions of the ignorant .But since it we need these peoples cooperation it's "Game on" . It is important to understand that being confronted with these alarming facts puts people in a flustered mood therefore to follow up quick with a comforting solution to each alarming fact is a must to calm them before hitting them with the next alarming fact . If there were no solution there would be no point in ruining someone's mood with alarming facts . So before you tell a denier an alarming fact have the solutions to that fact ready in your mind. . Hit them with alternating waves of realizing how serious the problem is and how easy it is to fix.
The facts ARE alarming but the sooner we answer the alarm the sooner the damage will be stopped . But before we can answer the alarm we have to be alarmed so if people get alarmed and angry its a good sign . it means they are waking up --maybe a little grumpy at first ---but getting riled up and its important to have a clear course of action to give them for that energy to be expended or it may be expended on your face!
CHEER THEM UP
One helpful insight Bill Nye gives is that deniers are pessimists that believe nothing can be done so why not just deny it . While those who accept the reality of climate change are the optimists . So when you are talking to a denier its is important to cheer them up and tell them that the earth is very resilient if we all act now. You have to convince them that it is doable or they give up in despair and get angry at you for bothering them about something that is going to happen any way
FACTS :
Every second humans dump 2.4 million pounds of Co2 per second . What to do ? Reduce electricity, &gas use (any way you can) and support non fossil fuel electricity generation and transportation industries .
Every 1.4 seconds a football sized area of forest is cut down or burned . What to do? It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, recycle forest products , don’t buy rain forest lumber, become vegan …
The live stock industry is the biggest contributor to methane emissions and deforestation by simply becoming vegan we can help stop both.
The Government Environmental Protection Agency is the most concise credible web page I could find about all greenhouse gases (pie charts )
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/glob...
To sum up : climate change
1) Is a VERY DEADLY HORRIFIC PROBLEM
2) a very solvable problem IF EVERYONE acts NOW .
It helps to know all the pseudo mantras that deniers repeat to cast doubt and to keep your facts very sharp so you can slash right through them . A sharp blade hurts way less and is much easier to control than a dull one , you really have to go into battle with the facts very sharp and handy so you automatically and reflexively respond to each and very challenge . You have an ace for every jack they put down.
Replacing specific lies with specific truths is the only way to get people to see the truth and act on it
.MY guy said : "I don't want to be bothered with having to deal with climate change. I'm too busy. Please stop talking about it."
I replied : "You dont have time to become a vegetarian? That in itself would reduce methane and deforestation greatly . You dont have time to stop taking pleasure trips and stay home working in you garden for and walking in you neighbor hood visiting neighbors for vacation . Doing the right things does not take time it saves it . If you eat meat you will get heart attack and cancer. Do you have TIME for that ? Eating meat will give you LESS TIME on this earth . Doing what is right will save you time to do what you need to do and give you longer life to do it ."
We are to break through people's apathy , indifference ,passivity , lack of concern , and pessimism.
"It is our choices that determine who we are"-- Dumbledore to Harry Potter
In my opinion the only things that will save us are to stop using so much electricity and gas and become vegetarians ,buy local produce and recycle all paper and card broad and use only quick growing lumber and leave the rain forests alone .
Simple , easy ,cheap .
But there are people out there driving hummers, driving for pleasure ,NASCAR racing , fireworks , and people burning lights all night long , using dryers instead of clothes lines etc so a big part of the job is bringing the facts to their attention of just how bad the situation is getting and how much suffering what they are doing will cause so billions of humans -- keeping the pressure on them to cut the shit .
Evert time we make a choice like using a dyer instead of a clothes line or keeping our old refrigerator instead of a new energy star one or going on a pleasure trip instead of staying home in the garden or any activity that used more rater than less electricity and gas we are choosing to these things at the cost of making billions homeless , malnourished, impoverished , sick and dying in a miserable climate . Want to rethink that choice ? God gave us free will and the ability to discern right from wrong . A judgement day is coming and our every decision that causes suffering will be punished(pain and sorrow ) and our every decision that helps relieve suffering will be rewarded (pleasure and happiness ) .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9MsF... Fighting climate change has to begin at home . be vegan :Live longer and save the planet.
Also its not your grandchildren will be facing the consequences of your decisions . Its YOU :
Reincarnation is now regarded as a legitimate science See 24 documentary videos about over 200 investigations of children claiming to be a person who recently died when investigated the child's memories checked out ! Death is NOT an escape from this earth YOU will be back to face what you have done :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
I am studying facts about climate change because I feel DUTYBOUND to GENTLY and LOVINGLY as possible "plant" these FACTS in peoples minds who have been benighted by falsehoods .To do this I have to have the facts committed to memory so that I can casually and deftly slip them past people's defenses . I've learnt that to be convincing you really have to know your stuff . You have to be a climate change buff because ,in real time, your person is not going to stand still and let you hit them with the facts . They are going to counter punch , duck and dodge and throw a fit or even runaway and to be "the calm clear voice of reason" you really have these facts down :
SPECIFIC Facts About how bad it is and
SPECIFIC Facts About How solvable it is .
This book does a good job of presenting BOTH types of facts but it is not a substitute for making ones own notes so you can really make things lucidly clear to people . Alot of it is too elaborate for
a 10-20 minute conversation . Still the audio book its highly recommended due to the most enjoyable narration . All of us could be doing more and the clearer the fact are in our minds the more we will do.
"BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OPINION"
"Leave us alone we have a right to our opinion you have a right to your opinion." say teh deniers . I tell them ," the other people who inhabit this earth also a have much more essential right to continue enjoy the earth’s environment as it is now." Therefore I know that fact-studying people are DUTYBOUND to gently pass those facts to those who may not want to hear them .If I fail in this duty those individuals may fail to take remedial steps in their own lives that affect us all. The false hood filled people also may take political stands that hinder governments from taking remedial steps on a large scale .
If it were NOT NECESSARY to cuts away the false propaganda festering in peoples minds with keenly honed facts . I would definitely respect the opinions of the ignorant .But since it we need these peoples cooperation it's "Game on" . It is important to understand that being confronted with these alarming facts puts people in a flustered mood therefore to follow up quick with a comforting solution to each alarming fact is a must to calm them before hitting them with the next alarming fact . If there were no solution there would be no point in ruining someone's mood with alarming facts . So before you tell a denier an alarming fact have the solutions to that fact ready in your mind. . Hit them with alternating waves of realizing how serious the problem is and how easy it is to fix.
The facts ARE alarming but the sooner we answer the alarm the sooner the damage will be stopped . But before we can answer the alarm we have to be alarmed so if people get alarmed and angry its a good sign . it means they are waking up --maybe a little grumpy at first ---but getting riled up and its important to have a clear course of action to give them for that energy to be expended or it may be expended on your face!
CHEER THEM UP
One helpful insight Bill Nye gives is that deniers are pessimists that believe nothing can be done so why not just deny it . While those who accept the reality of climate change are the optimists . So when you are talking to a denier its is important to cheer them up and tell them that the earth is very resilient if we all act now. You have to convince them that it is doable or they give up in despair and get angry at you for bothering them about something that is going to happen any way
FACTS :
Every second humans dump 2.4 million pounds of Co2 per second . What to do ? Reduce electricity, &gas use (any way you can) and support non fossil fuel electricity generation and transportation industries .
Every 1.4 seconds a football sized area of forest is cut down or burned . What to do? It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, recycle forest products , don’t buy rain forest lumber, become vegan …
The live stock industry is the biggest contributor to methane emissions and deforestation by simply becoming vegan we can help stop both.
The Government Environmental Protection Agency is the most concise credible web page I could find about all greenhouse gases (pie charts )
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/glob...
To sum up : climate change
1) Is a VERY DEADLY HORRIFIC PROBLEM
2) a very solvable problem IF EVERYONE acts NOW .
It helps to know all the pseudo mantras that deniers repeat to cast doubt and to keep your facts very sharp so you can slash right through them . A sharp blade hurts way less and is much easier to control than a dull one , you really have to go into battle with the facts very sharp and handy so you automatically and reflexively respond to each and very challenge . You have an ace for every jack they put down.
Replacing specific lies with specific truths is the only way to get people to see the truth and act on it
.MY guy said : "I don't want to be bothered with having to deal with climate change. I'm too busy. Please stop talking about it."
I replied : "You dont have time to become a vegetarian? That in itself would reduce methane and deforestation greatly . You dont have time to stop taking pleasure trips and stay home working in you garden for and walking in you neighbor hood visiting neighbors for vacation . Doing the right things does not take time it saves it . If you eat meat you will get heart attack and cancer. Do you have TIME for that ? Eating meat will give you LESS TIME on this earth . Doing what is right will save you time to do what you need to do and give you longer life to do it ."
We are to break through people's apathy , indifference ,passivity , lack of concern , and pessimism.
"It is our choices that determine who we are"-- Dumbledore to Harry Potter
November 17, 2018
Bill Nye is an entertaining narrator and alot of the books, especially in the beginning, is the solid climate changing facts I was seeking to arm myself with but then Nye digresses to some highly speculative futuristic hi-tech scientific solutions to climate change that are just ramblings and some are just plain dumb like coming up with a GMO wheat that is white so it will reflect sunlight or making boats that put out a specific size of bubble that stays suspended in the ocean water and reflects sunlight and some better ideas but those are for engineers and inventors and not for the average citizen so if you want facts to give deniers you will get a few chapters wroth and then be lead on a "future land tour " or maybe this maybe that new technology will save us.
In my opinion the only things that will save us are to stop using so much electricity and gas and become vegetarians ,buy local produce and recycle all paper and card broad and use only quick growing lumber and leave the rain forests alone .
Simple , easy ,cheap .
But there are people out there driving hummers, driving for pleasure ,NASCAR racing , fireworks , and people burning lights all night long , using dryers instead of clothes lines etc so a big part of the job is bringing the facts to their attention of just how bad the situation is getting and how much suffering what they are doing will cause so billions of humans -- keeping the pressure on them to cut the shit .
Evert time we make a choice like using a dyer instead of a clothes line or keeping our old refrigerator instead of a new energy star one or going on a pleasure trip instead of staying home in the garden or any activity that used more rater than less electricity and gas we are choosing to these things at the cost of making billions homeless , malnourished, impoverished , sick and dying in a miserable climate . Want to rethink that choice ? God gave us free will and the ability to discern right from wrong . A judgement day is coming and our every decision that causes suffering will be punished(pain and sorrow ) and our every decision that helps relieve suffering will be rewarded (pleasure and happiness ) .
Also its not your grandchildren will be facing the consequences of your decisions . Its YOU :
Reincarnation is now regarded as a legitimate science See 24 documentary videos about over 200 investigations of children claiming to be a person who recently died when investigated the child's memories checked out ! Death is NOT an escape from this earth YOU will be back to face what you have done :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzl1e...
I am studying facts about climate change because I feel DUTYBOUND to GENTLY and LOVINGLY as possible "plant" these FACTS in peoples minds who have been benighted by falsehoods .To do this I have to have the facts committed to memory so that I can casually and deftly slip them past people's defenses . I've learnt that to be convincing you really have to know your stuff . You have to be a climate change buff because ,in real time, your person is not going to stand still and let you hit them with the facts . They are going to counter punch , duck and dodge and throw a fit or even runaway and to be "the calm clear voice of reason" you really have these facts down :
SPECIFIC Facts About how bad it is and
SPECIFIC Facts About How solvable it is .
This book does a good job of presenting BOTH types of facts but it is not a substitute for making ones own notes so you can really make things lucidly clear to people . Alot of it is too elaborate for
a 10-20 minute conversation . Still the audio book its highly recommended due to the most enjoyable narration . All of us could be doing more and the clearer the fact are in our minds the more we will do.
"BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OPINION"
"Leave us alone we have a right to our opinion you have a right to your opinion." say teh deniers . I tell them ," the other people who inhabit this earth also a have much more essential right to continue enjoy the earth’s environment as it is now." Therefore I know that fact-studying people are DUTYBOUND to gently pass those facts to those who may not want to hear them .If I fail in this duty those individuals may fail to take remedial steps in their own lives that affect us all. The false hood filled people also may take political stands that hinder governments from taking remedial steps on a large scale .
If it were NOT NECESSARY to cuts away the false propaganda festering in peoples minds with keenly honed facts . I would definitely respect the opinions of the ignorant .But since it we need these peoples cooperation it's "Game on" . It is important to understand that being confronted with these alarming facts puts people in a flustered mood therefore to follow up quick with a comforting solution to each alarming fact is a must to calm them before hitting them with the next alarming fact . If there were no solution there would be no point in ruining someone's mood with alarming facts . So before you tell a denier an alarming fact have the solutions to that fact ready in your mind. . Hit them with alternating waves of realizing how serious the problem is and how easy it is to fix.
The facts ARE alarming but the sooner we answer the alarm the sooner the damage will be stopped . But before we can answer the alarm we have to be alarmed so if people get alarmed and angry its a good sign . it means they are waking up --maybe a little grumpy at first ---but getting riled up and its important to have a clear course of action to give them for that energy to be expended or it may be expended on your face!
CHEER THEM UP
One helpful insight Bill Nye gives is that deniers are pessimists that believe nothing can be done so why not just deny it . While those who accept the reality of climate change are the optimists . So when you are talking to a denier its is important to cheer them up and tell them that the earth is very resilient if we all act now. You have to convince them that it is doable or they give up in despair and get angry at you for bothering them about something that is going to happen any way
FACTS :
Every second humans dump 2.4 million pounds of Co2 per second . What to do ? Reduce electricity, &gas use (any way you can) and support non fossil fuel electricity generation and transportation industries .
Every 1.4 seconds a football sized area of forest is cut down or burned . What to do? It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, recycle forest products , don’t buy rain forest lumber, become vegan …
The live stock industry is the biggest contributor to methane emissions and deforestation by simply becoming vegan we can help stop both.
The Government Environmental Protection Agency is the most concise credible web page I could find about all greenhouse gases (pie charts )
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/glob...
To sum up : climate change
1) Is a VERY DEADLY HORRIFIC PROBLEM
2) a very solvable problem IF EVERYONE acts NOW .
It helps to know all the pseudo mantras that deniers repeat to cast doubt and to keep your facts very sharp so you can slash right through them . A sharp blade hurts way less and is much easier to control than a dull one , you really have to go into battle with the facts very sharp and handy so you automatically and reflexively respond to each and very challenge . You have an ace for every jack they put down.
Replacing specific lies with specific truths is the only way to get people to see the truth and act on it .
In my opinion the only things that will save us are to stop using so much electricity and gas and become vegetarians ,buy local produce and recycle all paper and card broad and use only quick growing lumber and leave the rain forests alone .
Simple , easy ,cheap .
But there are people out there driving hummers, driving for pleasure ,NASCAR racing , fireworks , and people burning lights all night long , using dryers instead of clothes lines etc so a big part of the job is bringing the facts to their attention of just how bad the situation is getting and how much suffering what they are doing will cause so billions of humans -- keeping the pressure on them to cut the shit .
Evert time we make a choice like using a dyer instead of a clothes line or keeping our old refrigerator instead of a new energy star one or going on a pleasure trip instead of staying home in the garden or any activity that used more rater than less electricity and gas we are choosing to these things at the cost of making billions homeless , malnourished, impoverished , sick and dying in a miserable climate . Want to rethink that choice ? God gave us free will and the ability to discern right from wrong . A judgement day is coming and our every decision that causes suffering will be punished(pain and sorrow ) and our every decision that helps relieve suffering will be rewarded (pleasure and happiness ) .
Also its not your grandchildren will be facing the consequences of your decisions . Its YOU :
Reincarnation is now regarded as a legitimate science See 24 documentary videos about over 200 investigations of children claiming to be a person who recently died when investigated the child's memories checked out ! Death is NOT an escape from this earth YOU will be back to face what you have done :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzl1e...
I am studying facts about climate change because I feel DUTYBOUND to GENTLY and LOVINGLY as possible "plant" these FACTS in peoples minds who have been benighted by falsehoods .To do this I have to have the facts committed to memory so that I can casually and deftly slip them past people's defenses . I've learnt that to be convincing you really have to know your stuff . You have to be a climate change buff because ,in real time, your person is not going to stand still and let you hit them with the facts . They are going to counter punch , duck and dodge and throw a fit or even runaway and to be "the calm clear voice of reason" you really have these facts down :
SPECIFIC Facts About how bad it is and
SPECIFIC Facts About How solvable it is .
This book does a good job of presenting BOTH types of facts but it is not a substitute for making ones own notes so you can really make things lucidly clear to people . Alot of it is too elaborate for
a 10-20 minute conversation . Still the audio book its highly recommended due to the most enjoyable narration . All of us could be doing more and the clearer the fact are in our minds the more we will do.
"BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OPINION"
"Leave us alone we have a right to our opinion you have a right to your opinion." say teh deniers . I tell them ," the other people who inhabit this earth also a have much more essential right to continue enjoy the earth’s environment as it is now." Therefore I know that fact-studying people are DUTYBOUND to gently pass those facts to those who may not want to hear them .If I fail in this duty those individuals may fail to take remedial steps in their own lives that affect us all. The false hood filled people also may take political stands that hinder governments from taking remedial steps on a large scale .
If it were NOT NECESSARY to cuts away the false propaganda festering in peoples minds with keenly honed facts . I would definitely respect the opinions of the ignorant .But since it we need these peoples cooperation it's "Game on" . It is important to understand that being confronted with these alarming facts puts people in a flustered mood therefore to follow up quick with a comforting solution to each alarming fact is a must to calm them before hitting them with the next alarming fact . If there were no solution there would be no point in ruining someone's mood with alarming facts . So before you tell a denier an alarming fact have the solutions to that fact ready in your mind. . Hit them with alternating waves of realizing how serious the problem is and how easy it is to fix.
The facts ARE alarming but the sooner we answer the alarm the sooner the damage will be stopped . But before we can answer the alarm we have to be alarmed so if people get alarmed and angry its a good sign . it means they are waking up --maybe a little grumpy at first ---but getting riled up and its important to have a clear course of action to give them for that energy to be expended or it may be expended on your face!
CHEER THEM UP
One helpful insight Bill Nye gives is that deniers are pessimists that believe nothing can be done so why not just deny it . While those who accept the reality of climate change are the optimists . So when you are talking to a denier its is important to cheer them up and tell them that the earth is very resilient if we all act now. You have to convince them that it is doable or they give up in despair and get angry at you for bothering them about something that is going to happen any way
FACTS :
Every second humans dump 2.4 million pounds of Co2 per second . What to do ? Reduce electricity, &gas use (any way you can) and support non fossil fuel electricity generation and transportation industries .
Every 1.4 seconds a football sized area of forest is cut down or burned . What to do? It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, recycle forest products , don’t buy rain forest lumber, become vegan …
The live stock industry is the biggest contributor to methane emissions and deforestation by simply becoming vegan we can help stop both.
The Government Environmental Protection Agency is the most concise credible web page I could find about all greenhouse gases (pie charts )
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/glob...
To sum up : climate change
1) Is a VERY DEADLY HORRIFIC PROBLEM
2) a very solvable problem IF EVERYONE acts NOW .
It helps to know all the pseudo mantras that deniers repeat to cast doubt and to keep your facts very sharp so you can slash right through them . A sharp blade hurts way less and is much easier to control than a dull one , you really have to go into battle with the facts very sharp and handy so you automatically and reflexively respond to each and very challenge . You have an ace for every jack they put down.
Replacing specific lies with specific truths is the only way to get people to see the truth and act on it .
March 11, 2019
Bill Nye sets out his ideas on how climate change is (a) real (problem), but that it's not quite yet irreversible, and then explains ways in which we can start living a life that helps reverse those changes. I liked this one but I didn't love it as I wanted to, for a couple of reasons: 1) The Preaching-to-the-Choir syndrome (which I fully admit isn't the fault of the book at all) - there wasn't much here that I didn't know already and of course I agree with the arguments completely; and 2) The writing was a little too simplistic and choppy for me. Again, this second point isn't necessarily a bad thing (I think a simple style is likely what Nye was going for, to reach a bigger audience, maybe); it just didn't work for me. My love of Bill Nye remains completely intact, of course, and I do think this is a great book for the proper audience.
September 20, 2019
Had a very good start with larger climate and policy issues but then turned into a book about urban planning, and then fixing your house to be energy efficient. I got so bored with all the specific engineering.
February 2, 2019
I friggin love Bill Nye - have ever since watching his show as a kid. This book is really informative and has all kinds of good info on how to do reno's on your house with more sustainable stuff. Earth is our only home! We need to take care of her.
September 15, 2021
Bill Nye's Unstoppable is a climate book that is focused on ways that science can change the world. Although there is a brief overview of how the greenhouse effect works, most of the book is about technological fixes. I love books like these and often recommend Hawken's Drawdown. Nye's enthusiasm and wonder for scientific discoveries and hacks makes Unstoppable a real pleasure to read. My favorite section may have been the many house hacks Nye has put in place in his home.
January 25, 2016
What a great book! Bill is a passionate scientist and a gifted teacher. He makes complex topics easier to understand, regardless of your age or experience with the topic. He doesn't preach and he doesn't use fear as a tactic to think about change.
Of course the primary topic of the book is climate change and the problems that the planet is struggling with today and the more drastic problems we will face in the future. Bill goes through a bunch of ideas that could help us reduce our dependancy on oil while maintaining the standard of life that we've come to expect. It is doable. Each option is explained in detail along with pros and cons for each one. Bill considers engineering difficulties, human error, cost, and political pressures. He gives a complete story on each. Some of the ideas are what we've heard of so far: solar, wind, nuclear, but others go in the realm of not so known ideas.
I am quite worried about the planet and how we can survive beyond 20 more years, but this book gives me hope. If teachers, startups, enterprising young adults / teenagers and yes, even billionaires, begin backing some of these ideas (as they are already), we'll see unprecedented change. Actually, I shouldn't say "unprecedented" because clearly the world is a much different place today than it was only 20 years ago. If you compare to 50 years ago or 100... the place is not even recognizable.
One of the biggest issues the world is faced with is how do you allow developing nations get what we developed nations have without using as many resources as we have consumed in the past 50 years. The answer is in progress. We need to fully explore wind, solar and other technologies to their fullest to allow the modernization / equalization of the planet without crippling it entirely. I am optimistic that it can happen. I like the idea of nuclear energy, but given the many dangers surrounding this technology, it isn't feasible. I was glad to hear that there are chemical experts looking into ways to produce the same amount of energy while mitigating the risks of errors, accidents, or outright malice.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the book is where Bill talks about his rivalry with Ed Begley Junior... his neighbour in California. They are both activists for a sustainable future and they put their money where their mouth is... they have outfitted their homes with all the gadgets to reduce their carbon footprint and even make money by feeding the grid. Even if you want to do one small thing, you'll get some good ideas from these two. I have been considering a tackless water heater for some time, and both Bill and Ed have this... and installed it before it was "mainstream". I think this will be my year to do so. I'd like to do more, so I'll keep looking for ideas from this book and others to make more of a difference.
I was pleased to see Elon Musk's efforts in the electric car, solar batteries and even the space program to be discussed in the book. Yes, Bill is all for a space program despite the amount of energy it uses. He makes a great argument that I fully agree with.
This book should be read by all of the climate change deniers in the world, all teachers, and parents should read it to their children to help spur some creative ideas for the next generation.
I listened to the audible version, so Bill read the book to me. He has a very engaging manner and I loved listening!!
Of course the primary topic of the book is climate change and the problems that the planet is struggling with today and the more drastic problems we will face in the future. Bill goes through a bunch of ideas that could help us reduce our dependancy on oil while maintaining the standard of life that we've come to expect. It is doable. Each option is explained in detail along with pros and cons for each one. Bill considers engineering difficulties, human error, cost, and political pressures. He gives a complete story on each. Some of the ideas are what we've heard of so far: solar, wind, nuclear, but others go in the realm of not so known ideas.
I am quite worried about the planet and how we can survive beyond 20 more years, but this book gives me hope. If teachers, startups, enterprising young adults / teenagers and yes, even billionaires, begin backing some of these ideas (as they are already), we'll see unprecedented change. Actually, I shouldn't say "unprecedented" because clearly the world is a much different place today than it was only 20 years ago. If you compare to 50 years ago or 100... the place is not even recognizable.
One of the biggest issues the world is faced with is how do you allow developing nations get what we developed nations have without using as many resources as we have consumed in the past 50 years. The answer is in progress. We need to fully explore wind, solar and other technologies to their fullest to allow the modernization / equalization of the planet without crippling it entirely. I am optimistic that it can happen. I like the idea of nuclear energy, but given the many dangers surrounding this technology, it isn't feasible. I was glad to hear that there are chemical experts looking into ways to produce the same amount of energy while mitigating the risks of errors, accidents, or outright malice.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the book is where Bill talks about his rivalry with Ed Begley Junior... his neighbour in California. They are both activists for a sustainable future and they put their money where their mouth is... they have outfitted their homes with all the gadgets to reduce their carbon footprint and even make money by feeding the grid. Even if you want to do one small thing, you'll get some good ideas from these two. I have been considering a tackless water heater for some time, and both Bill and Ed have this... and installed it before it was "mainstream". I think this will be my year to do so. I'd like to do more, so I'll keep looking for ideas from this book and others to make more of a difference.
I was pleased to see Elon Musk's efforts in the electric car, solar batteries and even the space program to be discussed in the book. Yes, Bill is all for a space program despite the amount of energy it uses. He makes a great argument that I fully agree with.
This book should be read by all of the climate change deniers in the world, all teachers, and parents should read it to their children to help spur some creative ideas for the next generation.
I listened to the audible version, so Bill read the book to me. He has a very engaging manner and I loved listening!!
May 17, 2016
4.5 / 5 stars
This review is also posted at http://readingnookandcranny.blogspot....
Science and technology are amazing things. We live in a golden age. Do you realize that Albert Einstein lived until 1955? That's just over 60 years ago. Most of what we know about science/physics/the universe/cosmology is really only a century old (at most). And considering that a lot of people live into their 90s, just take a minute to think about what that means for the young generation right now. Is your mind blown yet?
Okay, good. Now keep that in mind. Because it's time to face another reality, hopefully one you already know. Climate change is real. Don't go listening to Sarah Palin blabbing that she's just as much a scientist as Bill Nye is. When she has a Bachelor's of Science degree and is the head of a science/technology non-profit we'll talk. Until then, let's get serious.
Go outside. I urge you to. Seriously. Take a walk in the park. Take a kayak ride down a river or hike through the mountains. Realize all that this world has to offer, and understand that it's humanity's home. If we mess it up, we can't just go buy a new one. We don't have the technology for that. Every big change starts with a small step, and Bill Nye points out over and over again in this novel. So let's be the change we wish to see. Let's gooooo green!
I realize I probably have more of a scientific background than the average Joe, and there was still some science in here that made my head hurt (I'm talking about you, you heating and shrinking power lines and your current through, voltage across electricity). There was also a lot of science I am already very familiar with. But what I really like is how Nye took those fundamentals I have and transformed them to show how we can apply them (churning bubbles in the ocean to make a lighter covered surface to reflect more sunrays/heat? MY mind is blown).
Now that we are homeowners, I'm excited to try to implement some of the ideas Nye talks about in this novel (solar panels, electric cars, water wells for our raised bed garden we just started, etc. etc.). The book is engaging, and his own excitement about the topic is influential. Instead of BEGLEY, I am sure my husband and I will be calling NYE as we join the competition to turn our house into a green science lab. Though, I must confess, I doubt I'll be cutting holes in my garage to create natural convection to cool it. The thought of busting through the concrete frame of my house is just a smidge too unsettling for me, engineering degree or not.
I do wish Nye had gone into a little more detail about reverse osmosis and the issue of brine, as well as the potential problems that can arise from large solar and wind farms on birds. My hubby and I are both advocates for nuclear energy, and though Nye pointed out that nuclear energy could be a good solution if the technology got safer, I think it's important to note that none of the technologies we have now are completely foolproof, but that we'll never get the technology safer until we spend the time and resources to explore it as a viable option.
This review is also posted at http://readingnookandcranny.blogspot....
Science and technology are amazing things. We live in a golden age. Do you realize that Albert Einstein lived until 1955? That's just over 60 years ago. Most of what we know about science/physics/the universe/cosmology is really only a century old (at most). And considering that a lot of people live into their 90s, just take a minute to think about what that means for the young generation right now. Is your mind blown yet?
Okay, good. Now keep that in mind. Because it's time to face another reality, hopefully one you already know. Climate change is real. Don't go listening to Sarah Palin blabbing that she's just as much a scientist as Bill Nye is. When she has a Bachelor's of Science degree and is the head of a science/technology non-profit we'll talk. Until then, let's get serious.
Go outside. I urge you to. Seriously. Take a walk in the park. Take a kayak ride down a river or hike through the mountains. Realize all that this world has to offer, and understand that it's humanity's home. If we mess it up, we can't just go buy a new one. We don't have the technology for that. Every big change starts with a small step, and Bill Nye points out over and over again in this novel. So let's be the change we wish to see. Let's gooooo green!
I realize I probably have more of a scientific background than the average Joe, and there was still some science in here that made my head hurt (I'm talking about you, you heating and shrinking power lines and your current through, voltage across electricity). There was also a lot of science I am already very familiar with. But what I really like is how Nye took those fundamentals I have and transformed them to show how we can apply them (churning bubbles in the ocean to make a lighter covered surface to reflect more sunrays/heat? MY mind is blown).
Now that we are homeowners, I'm excited to try to implement some of the ideas Nye talks about in this novel (solar panels, electric cars, water wells for our raised bed garden we just started, etc. etc.). The book is engaging, and his own excitement about the topic is influential. Instead of BEGLEY, I am sure my husband and I will be calling NYE as we join the competition to turn our house into a green science lab. Though, I must confess, I doubt I'll be cutting holes in my garage to create natural convection to cool it. The thought of busting through the concrete frame of my house is just a smidge too unsettling for me, engineering degree or not.
I do wish Nye had gone into a little more detail about reverse osmosis and the issue of brine, as well as the potential problems that can arise from large solar and wind farms on birds. My hubby and I are both advocates for nuclear energy, and though Nye pointed out that nuclear energy could be a good solution if the technology got safer, I think it's important to note that none of the technologies we have now are completely foolproof, but that we'll never get the technology safer until we spend the time and resources to explore it as a viable option.
December 1, 2015
Bill Nye, widely known as “the Science Guy” from his television show, clearly understands the significant ramifications of global climate change. The opening chapters of this book set forth the science that establishes the reality of this change and projects its impact on the planet. But this book isn’t a gloomy look at a future that must either be governed by uncontrolled climate change, or one where we have to sacrifice our standard of living to change the outcomes. Instead, this is an entirely optimistic review of the ways that we can address the reality of climate change, mitigate its impacts, and still improve our overall standard of living. Nye explores the various technologies, existing, under development, and possible future developments, and shows how, with a concerted effort, we can overcome this impending crisis and make the world an even better place for all.
As Nye points out, this change won’t be easy, but it is possible, and we need to start taking steps, however small, as soon as possible to achieve the maximum mitigation of the climate change effects. This book is effectively a call for us to move beyond our bickering and embrace a vision for a better future, by someone who appreciates the power of human curiosity, ingenuity, and creativity. Clearly, this is a vision of a species that has developed the tools to survive, and can, if properly motivated, leverage the situation to improve the overall standard of living for everyone.
This is a great book for those who are struggling to come to terms with what might need to be done to avert the crisis we have made for ourselves, for those who are worried that there is little we can do, and for those who simply need a nudge in the right direction. We need to set aside our partisan bickering and begin to discuss the ideas spelled out here, with an eye towards implementing as many as we can, while researching the viability of any further ideas that might be inspired by that discussion.
As Nye points out, this change won’t be easy, but it is possible, and we need to start taking steps, however small, as soon as possible to achieve the maximum mitigation of the climate change effects. This book is effectively a call for us to move beyond our bickering and embrace a vision for a better future, by someone who appreciates the power of human curiosity, ingenuity, and creativity. Clearly, this is a vision of a species that has developed the tools to survive, and can, if properly motivated, leverage the situation to improve the overall standard of living for everyone.
This is a great book for those who are struggling to come to terms with what might need to be done to avert the crisis we have made for ourselves, for those who are worried that there is little we can do, and for those who simply need a nudge in the right direction. We need to set aside our partisan bickering and begin to discuss the ideas spelled out here, with an eye towards implementing as many as we can, while researching the viability of any further ideas that might be inspired by that discussion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 445 reviews