Books

Architecture and Design

Cats Paws and Catapults by Stephen Vogel (or any other book by the author)

Crossing the Expendable Landscape by Bettina Drew, Graywolf Press, 1998 "Noted essayist.. takes the reader on an in depth exploration of several American cities... to examine the consequences of built environments that fail to reflect regional, historic, asethetic, and social values."

Cultural Studies

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, explores the reasons why some civilizations expandedterritory while others have not.

Rubbish by William Rathje, An exploration of modern human waste production through comparisons of surveys and actual trash output of the respondents.

Environmental Studies

The Hundredth Monkey by Ken Keyes, first published 1981, not copyrighted and available on the web, this book is about the dangers of nuclear power and weapons. If you are interested in borrowing the book talk to Thomas Bain.

Energy

The Prize by Daniel Yergin, A history of oil. 'A large book with short chapters that reads like a detective novel.'

Fiction

Earth by David Brin, Bantam Spectra Books, 1991 "A near future science fiction novel dealing explicitly with the greenhouse effect, technological overload, dwindling natural resources, overpopulation, and consequent social fallout."

Manuals and 'How-to'

Light Frame Construction by Frank Dagostino

Materials

Rural/Urban Focus

The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living, Schocken Books, 1989 "The great-grandparents of the back-to-the-land movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash..."

Periodicals

Home Power

Mother Earth News

Orion

Z