The Science of Energy

Resources and Power Explained

By: Michael E. Wysession, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Michael E. Wysession

Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Energy is, without a doubt, the very foundation of the universe. It's the engine that powers life and fuels the evolution of human civilization.

To better put into perspective the various issues surrounding energy in the 21st century, you need to understand the essential science behind how energy works. And you need a reliable source whose focus is on giving you the facts you need to form your own educated opinions.

In the 24 riveting lectures of The Science of Energy: Resources and Power Explained, expert geophysicist Professor Wysession presents an unbiased investigation into the energy sources that power our world. With clear and easy-to-follow explanations that make scientific and mathematical concepts approachable and understandable, this course is a marvelous window into the inner workings of energy that will keep you constantly engaged. You'll examine a wide portfolio of energy sources, how these sources work, the engineering marvels that adapt them to human needs, the economic and environmental consequences of using them, and more. Whatever exciting changes await us in the coming decades (from food production to public transportation to industrial manufacturing), they'll most certainly require lots of power. For this reason and many more, this course imparts essential information for any well-informed citizen of the world - whether you're powering a major city or simply turning on the light.

The world-spanning civilizations that we have built rely on a vast, dependable, and lasting supply of energy. The choices we make have profound consequences for how the world will continue to develop. Get the facts you need to choose well.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2016 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2016 The Great Courses

Great Overview

This course does an excellent job of thoroughly discussing various energy sources without being too technical. I have worked in oil & gas, nuclear, and dabbled in undergrad research in biofuels and hydrogen fuel cells. There was enough new information to keep me interested yet I would definitely also recommend this course to someone with a non technical background because it provides real facts and information without getting too far into the technical weeds. The lecturer is evenly paced and easy to understand. Overall, A+!

Great Course on Energy

As a former operator at a nuclear power plant, safety officer on a hydrological fracturing site, and having friends who work at coal power plants and construct wind mills, I found this course to present an objective viewpoint on all forms of energy. This is primarily because it provides factual assertions about the relative costs, impacts on the environment, long term viability, and most importantly the impact I can make on future generations by being a better steward today. This course helped me to consider factual assertions and put in balance my experiences in the industry.

Influenced Only by the Science

The lecturer is unconcerned with political perspectives when it comes to energy policy. He simply does the math. You think nuclear is the answer? Here's the math on what it takes to generate that form of energy. All detailed without editorializing. Solar? OK, this is how much land is needed for this much energy. He simply weighs the pros and cons for every type of energy. It's just the facts, ma'am.

Solid facts, but not as unbiased as promised

None of the information is wrong, as far as I can tell, and it is a very good source of information, overall, about the topic of energy. However, the author starts off by promising to avoid making judgements or being biased. Sadly, he does both.

He omits information in often glaring ways. The most obvious is that the fossil fuels get much time devoted to the discussion of the ecological and health impacts of their extraction. Nuclear gets something of the same treatment. However, the only mention of the rare earth minerals needed for renewables (and many batteries) is in the context of their geopolitical distribution. Unless I missed anything, absolutely no mention is made of the impacts of these mines. Even if the author thinks that concerns over the mines are overrated, given that these mines are one of the stronger objections to renewables (that the extraction and processing of the raw materials undermines their claim to be environmentally friendly), the matter should be addressed.

In the opening, mention is made that there is no magic bullet, no one technology that could supply all our needs. Fusion is specifically called out. At the close, fusion is given some attention, but, other than our current lack of success with it, no explanation as to why it would not meet all our needs is given. Despite promising not to make judgements, specific policy proposals are repeatedly called for as the course progresses.

These concerns do not invalidate the information provided, but given the author's explicit mission statement for the course, they should be called out and addressed.

Broad primer provides a worthwhile overview

As the title indicates this is a very high level overview of the energy industry, technology and political concerns. If you have a background in this topic you might find it too cursory. I, not having a deep understanding of the topic, found lots of good information and leads for further study. The material was very approachable. One area I found particularly interesting was the comparisons of energy efficiency between the various types of power sources and what it takes to tap into that source. This gave me a better sense of why some fuel sources dominate currently and what factors would allow us to take up other sources such as renewables.

First half great, second is subjective philosophy

This is a great book through the first half and then about halfway through it's like someone throws a switch and it become almost entirely hearsay, subjective philosophy based on unscientific speculation of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming. This is presented as "science" but it's the farthest thing from the scientific method- speculative consensus. The scientific method is (and only is) 1) formulate a hypothesis, 2) go into a controlled or known environment, experiment and record data, 3) go back and apply the data to the hypothesis, and either 4) observe it is confirmed, observe it is invalidated, or further refine the hypothesis and/or experimentation. That's it. Einstein once had a "consensus" of "scientists" against his main theory, and retorted to the effect that why were people citing a hundred scientists being against him, it would only take one properly documented scientific white paper to prove him wrong. In science, there is no consensus. In the second half of this book, there is very little science.

Very unbiased and informative

If you could sum up The Science of Energy in three words, what would they be?

Concise, accurate, unbiased.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the direct and comprehensive descriptions of each energy technique with very little discernible preferences bleeding into the narrative. This allowed for a very open-minded listening experience.

Equally informative and enjoyable

I Loved these lectures! Professor Wysession is straight-forward no non-sense in his approach to lecturing. I learned a great deal from this series and it's definitely one of my favorite from the Great Courses. I like how Prof. Wysession called the recent wars out for what they are really about, not religion or democracy but energy and the fierce competition for dominance. Nothing new about that in the sense of history but while we are comfortable within our high-tech bubbles we tend to forget how desperately dependent we are on the politics and business of energy.

Good and consistent

The lectures are organized and grouped in a very thoughtful manner. Each lecture walks the listener through one particular type of energy production and discusses the various methods it is produced, some of the history, where it is going, and the pros and cons.

This series of lectures is perfect for people who have a casual understanding of how humans create electricity but it would probably be best for someone who is completely unfamiliar with the subject material to become acquainted with some basic energy vocabulary and concepts. The lecturer does an alright job at the beginning defining some of the more complicated terms and expressions so if you're really interested in learning about energy then it shouldn't be a problem.

I also must commend the lecturer on presenting the information about climate change in a very fair manner. He doesn't put any hype into it and sticks with solid science.

If you want to understand energy start here.

Unlike so many of the books about modern issues, the author is actively unbiased, and presents the facts clearly. He leaves the reader to develope their own, now vastly more informed, view of the energy system.

Comprehensive picture of energy resources

I bought this book with a hope of understanding more about the processes involved in recovering energy, and the strengths of the various resources and forms. It is such a hotly contested topic, which rarely comes with clean cut information, that it's easy to get a biased opinion on the area.

This certainly isn't the case here. The professor is very balanced, and from the start of the audiobook, he asks you to take the same approach, leaving aside any preconceptions. After introducing some basic physics (don't be put off here, it's very light), he then introduces the various energy forms one by one. For each form, he then describes the physical process involved in obtaining the energy and various aspects of this process (the efficiency, availability of production materials, safety, etc). It is easy to see how complex the picture is after just a couple of lectures, and to see that the strengths and weaknesses vary greatly. In particular, while it's clear that a move away from fossil fuels is desirable in the long run, the change is going to be slow, and he gives several reasons to suspect this.

By far, my favourite section was the 3 lectures on nuclear energy. The descriptions of the processes involved / challenges faced are really exciting, and I have no doubt I'll listen to this part of the book again. I also enjoyed various `thought experiments' he runs at several parts of the book, like `How much of the US land would be required obtain the entire countries energy needs from solar power?'.

I definitely think that the book has given me a bigger appreciation and understanding for the topic, and would recommend it to anyone who would like to know more. I should say, I found that some parts of the series require some effort, as the material is quite dry (unavoidably, I think) in some parts. I'm not saying that the whole book was a slog or anything, I'm definitely happy I read it, but it requires quite a lot of attention, as for the most part it is quite heavy on information.

great course

fascinating and brilliantly delivered lectures. great balance of general and detailed info on the uses and costs of energy.

A great listen. very balanced and easy to follow.

A great listen. Very balanced and easy to follow. doesn't go massively in depth but in a good way. each of the chapters could potentially be a complete book in itself.

If you're after a well balanced overview of world energy. You've found it here.

Very simplistic

Very simplistic, not sure who the target audience is when the average 18 year old understands energy in more detail than this.

love it

great book, understandable by any one, insightful. the best book i have found on the subjects

Great dense way to learn about energy supplies

Enjoyed listening to this book and get up to date on energy supply forms and pros and cons

excellent

very informative. I have no background in energy systems or science and I found it easy to follow with engaging narration throughout. I am now looking at other books from the same provider

I learnt so much.

I love these lectures. They are delivered so well and at a level that an ordinary person like myself can easily understand and comprehend the information. Michael Wysession's delivers these so well and makes the subject matter of each lesson sound so interesting. I ve listened to 3 of the great courses books now and being s bit of a science nerd I've loved everyone.

Fascinating

A fascinating, thoughtful and impartial look at the different types of fuels that we have been used and may yet be used to power our world, and their pros and cons. I think I’ll find myself recommending this one and probably going back and listening again!

Brilliant summary. Lightly touches many many topics in these lectures

Here a great many of energy technologies are discussed. These are not discussed in much detail, but not can they be for a lecture series of this length. Overall very good at giving an overview in the different energy sources, a plethora of choices