12 ms·

"Honorable mention: The Grid, by Gretchen Bakke. This book, about our aging electrical grid, fits in one of my favorite genres: “Books About Mundane Stuff That

by knz 10y ago

"Honorable mention: The Grid, by Gretchen Bakke. This book, about our aging electrical grid, fits in one of my favorite genres: “Books About Mundane Stuff That Are Actually Fascinating.” " The author of this book was on NPR/Fresh Air in August. It was a great listen/read if you are interested in the subject. http://www.npr.org/2016/08/22/490932307/aging-and-unstable-the-nations-electrical-grid-is-the-weakest-link http://www.npr.org/2016/08/22/490932307/aging-and-unstable-t... I heard it a couple of days after a weather related power cut and ended up in the rabbit hole of the risk from cyber warfare/terrorism and solar flares. I'm not sure I would recommend that rabbit hole if you have any concerns about the reliance of society on technology and just in time shipping!

WheelsAtLarge 10y ago
Here's one that may fit into your list of must read books. Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger. This book is about the ingredients that go into a Twinkie and how they are created. Super informative on the ingredients of everyday foods.
- minikomi 10y ago
  Coming from the other end, is Christien Meindertsm's PIG 05049 Christien Meindertsma has spent three years researching all the products made from a single pig. Amongst some of the more unexpected results were: Ammunition, medicine, photo paper, heart valves, brakes, chewing gum, porcelain, cosmetics, cigarettes, conditioner and even bio diesel. http://www.christienmeindertsma.com/index.php?/books/pig-05049/ http://www.christienmeindertsma.com/index.php?/books/pig-050...
  - rhizome 10y ago
    And money: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/30/bank-england-yields-vegan-pressure-plastic-fivers/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/30/bank-england-...
- waltwalther 10y ago
  just picked this up based on your recommendation. Thanks!
Cyph0n 10y ago
I think the word "mundane" is out of place. Whoever isn't fascinated by the modern power grid is slightly dead inside. The same applies to a ton of other "mundane" things, like road and rail networks, sewage systems, garbage disposal and recycling, and so on. I think a better term would be "rarely noticed".
- xenihn 10y ago
  >Whoever isn't fascinated by the modern power grid is slightly dead inside. The same applies to a ton of other "mundane" things, like road and rail networks, sewage systems, garbage disposal and recycling, and so on. I feel like the vast majority of people have absolutely no interest in learning about these things, even in a calamitous context.
  - mememachine 10y ago
    how unfortunate for them
    - GavinMcG 10y ago
      I agree, but I down voted the comment for now because it doesn't really contribute anything to the conversation and doesn't seem like it means to.
  - Cyph0n 10y ago
    Definitely, but how does that relate to the power grid being a mundane system? Are you saying that we're supposed to take the word of the majority when deciding if something is "mundane"? In that case, almost everything we're discussing and upvoting here on HN is "mundane", because <90% (just a guess) of humans actually give a shit.
  - will_hughes 10y ago
    > I feel like the vast majority of people have absolutely no interest in learning about these things True, but shows like How It's Made are incredibly popular, even if they give a very very surface view of the details.
imron 10y ago
The very next sentence was: > I find this topic fascinating is because my first job, in high school, was writing software for the entity that controls the power grid in the Northwest I wonder if somewhere in bowels of a northwest utility company there is a machine silently chugging away, running code written by a teenage Bill Gates, helping deliver electricity to the masses.
- eldavido 10y ago
  This surprised me. Microsoft was started in the mid-70s. I'm in my early 30s and wasn't aware software was getting used in business much until the late 70s/early 80s. I guess there were mainframes and not minicomputers? Still, surprising a high school kid would get a coding job in the early 70s.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - scrame 10y ago
    Bill Gates went to an affluent high school that was one of a handful to have a computer students could use, as well as a computer club, this was in the late 60s I believe.
    - giarc 10y ago
      In Paul Allen's (auto?)biography he mentions that it was a group of mothers from the school that paid for the computer (or maybe the teletype terminal). I might be getting details mixed up, it's been a while since I've read his book.
      - abecedarius 10y ago
        As I remember it it was a teletype. In the same autobio, somewhat later, Allen and Gates got to learn from Steve Russell (of Spacewar) at his local company which I think might've had its own DEC mini. It's been a long time for me too since I read it.
andrewtbham 10y ago
> I think you would also come to see why modernizing the grid is so complex and so critical for building our clean-energy future. I strongly suspect the grid will be severely diminished by distributed renewable energy.
acqq 10y ago
Does anybody know a better book about the subject (covering the history of the development of the grid, but also being technically correct)? According to the Amazon customers, the mentioned book was written by a non-technical person (actually, I've checked, a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology) and was apparently also without the careful editor. Alternatively, if somebody has read this book, maybe he can say that it's not that bad? I wouldn't like to buy it just to discover it's written like this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13103538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13103538

by knz 10y ago

WheelsAtLarge 10y ago

Here's one that may fit into your list of must read books. Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger. This book is about the ingredients that go into a Twinkie and how they are created. Super informative on the ingredients of everyday foods.

minikomi 10y ago
Coming from the other end, is Christien Meindertsm's PIG 05049 Christien Meindertsma has spent three years researching all the products made from a single pig. Amongst some of the more unexpected results were: Ammunition, medicine, photo paper, heart valves, brakes, chewing gum, porcelain, cosmetics, cigarettes, conditioner and even bio diesel. http://www.christienmeindertsma.com/index.php?/books/pig-05049/ http://www.christienmeindertsma.com/index.php?/books/pig-050...
- rhizome 10y ago
  And money: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/30/bank-england-yields-vegan-pressure-plastic-fivers/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/30/bank-england-...
waltwalther 10y ago
just picked this up based on your recommendation. Thanks!

Cyph0n 10y ago

I think the word "mundane" is out of place. Whoever isn't fascinated by the modern power grid is slightly dead inside. The same applies to a ton of other "mundane" things, like road and rail networks, sewage systems, garbage disposal and recycling, and so on. I think a better term would be "rarely noticed".

xenihn 10y ago
>Whoever isn't fascinated by the modern power grid is slightly dead inside. The same applies to a ton of other "mundane" things, like road and rail networks, sewage systems, garbage disposal and recycling, and so on. I feel like the vast majority of people have absolutely no interest in learning about these things, even in a calamitous context.
- mememachine 10y ago
  how unfortunate for them
  - GavinMcG 10y ago
    I agree, but I down voted the comment for now because it doesn't really contribute anything to the conversation and doesn't seem like it means to.
- Cyph0n 10y ago
  Definitely, but how does that relate to the power grid being a mundane system? Are you saying that we're supposed to take the word of the majority when deciding if something is "mundane"? In that case, almost everything we're discussing and upvoting here on HN is "mundane", because <90% (just a guess) of humans actually give a shit.
- will_hughes 10y ago
  > I feel like the vast majority of people have absolutely no interest in learning about these things True, but shows like How It's Made are incredibly popular, even if they give a very very surface view of the details.

imron 10y ago

The very next sentence was: > I find this topic fascinating is because my first job, in high school, was writing software for the entity that controls the power grid in the Northwest I wonder if somewhere in bowels of a northwest utility company there is a machine silently chugging away, running code written by a teenage Bill Gates, helping deliver electricity to the masses.

eldavido 10y ago
This surprised me. Microsoft was started in the mid-70s. I'm in my early 30s and wasn't aware software was getting used in business much until the late 70s/early 80s. I guess there were mainframes and not minicomputers? Still, surprising a high school kid would get a coding job in the early 70s.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- scrame 10y ago
  Bill Gates went to an affluent high school that was one of a handful to have a computer students could use, as well as a computer club, this was in the late 60s I believe.
  - giarc 10y ago
    In Paul Allen's (auto?)biography he mentions that it was a group of mothers from the school that paid for the computer (or maybe the teletype terminal). I might be getting details mixed up, it's been a while since I've read his book.
    - abecedarius 10y ago
      As I remember it it was a teletype. In the same autobio, somewhat later, Allen and Gates got to learn from Steve Russell (of Spacewar) at his local company which I think might've had its own DEC mini. It's been a long time for me too since I read it.

andrewtbham 10y ago

> I think you would also come to see why modernizing the grid is so complex and so critical for building our clean-energy future. I strongly suspect the grid will be severely diminished by distributed renewable energy.

acqq 10y ago

Does anybody know a better book about the subject (covering the history of the development of the grid, but also being technically correct)? According to the Amazon customers, the mentioned book was written by a non-technical person (actually, I've checked, a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology) and was apparently also without the careful editor. Alternatively, if somebody has read this book, maybe he can say that it's not that bad? I wouldn't like to buy it just to discover it's written like this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13103538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13103538