Energy and the making of modern California

the long version

In Energy and the Making of Modern California, James C. Williams has written the definitive history of energy development and use in the Golden State. From the fuelwood that warmed its early settlers to the nuclear power plants that run the air-conditioners of its citizens today, California has shaped itself by tapping available energy resources, in the process coming to learn the capacity and constraints of technology as it effects the environment. Energy and the Making of Modern California illuminates the forces that formed the state's culture and economy through the interplay of technology, population growth, human values, and the environment. With impeccable scholarship and vivid abundance of detail, James C. Williams shows how California's complex and versatile environment constantly challenged technological inventiveness, making the state's experience with energy a rich case study that clarifies our rising concerns about how we live with the earth we live on.