Book reviews

measures, and that one trained energy audience. The content suggests it is vice professionals, both in the relevant
manager be employed for every fl trying to address both general mana- technical press and at a series of ex-
million spent on fuel? gers and energy technicians, and in planatory seminars.
Instead this publication limits itself doing so, enables its message to fall Despite the good intentions behind
to endorsing over-enthusiastically a neatly between the two. it, the lack of coherent strategy and
statistical management technique cre- Possibly the most potentially in- purpose has diminished its potential
ated under the unlikely acronym of teresting aspect of the final report is usefulness considerably. There is
CUSUM, which coincidentally has the decision to look overseas for ex- already a welter of top down pressure
been developed by the very same in- amples. However, it is a bit much to on health authorities from ill-
dependent consultancy which just describe a translation of an earlier conceived documentation from ivory
happened to be advising the Audit French study into 14 hospitals, and a towers. In its current form, this Audit
Commission on this study. visit to a single acute/psychiatric hos- Commission report is likely to be filed
In places it tries to address detailed pital in West Germany, as ‘Interna- on the same distant shelf as these, and
technical issues, albeit emphasizing tional Experience’; again, a wasted all its good intentions lost. zyxwvutsrqponmlkji
the more glamorous hi-tech projects in opportunity. Andrew W arren
preference to more mundane energy Immediately after its publication, Association for the Conservation
technologies. Most of all, the authors this report met with resounding critic- of Energy
do not address any obvious target ism from a wide range of health ser- London, UK

Electricity in the house

ELECTRIFYING AMERICA: Social ing. We are reminded, for example, bizarre accounts of the early-day
Meanings Of A New Technology that gas lamps were hot, dangerous, magic of electricity. Everything from
smelly, and burned all the oxygen in electrical belts (to restore lost sexual
by David E. Nye the room. And they were not particu- powers) to stunning electrical light
larly well-suited for night time read- shows that drew people from afar, to
M IT Press, Cambridge, M A, USA, ing. How do we know that? Because the introduction of the first electric
1990, $26.95 Muncie public library loaned out eight chair in 1888. Here again these fasci-
times more books per inhabitant after nating anecdotes are told without too
Electricity is so commonplace and has the introduction of electric lighting much fanfare, as a matter of fact.
been around for so long that - at least than before! Nye’s book has something for every-
in the industrialized countries - we one. The technical types will enjoy all,
simply take it for granted. We don’t the historians will wonder, the
Impact on everyday life
even think about it. The fact that it is anthropologists and sociologists will
always there when we need it, and Although the book is full of interest- find new perspectives, the novel read-
everywhere we go, makes it a non- ing Tables and statistics, it’s David er will learn a few things and better
issue. And yet, when the infrequent Nye’s down-to-earth account of the appreciate what life would be like
power outage occurs, we are literally facts and their impact on everyday life without electricity.
thrown back to the Dark Ages. It in an average American city that is
makes us realize how dependent we captivating. By the time one gets
are on this most wonderful energy through the third chapter, one begins
Electricity next to godliness
form. to realize that electricity is more than There is a notable quote from a Ten-
But, David Nye is not like most of a convenient form of energy - it is a nessee farmer, speaking to his neigh-
us. He has gone back to Muncie, way of life, it has changed how we bours at a Sunday church meeting
Indiana, USA, in the late-1880s, and work, entertain, and live. where he says, ‘Brothers and Sisters, I
through elaborate research, has recon- The historical context and setting of want to tell you this. The greatest
structed life in a typical American city the book makes it so much more rel- thing on earth is to have the love of
before and after the introduction of evant to appreciate the dramatic God in your heart, and the next
electric power. In small, measured changes that followed the widespred greatest thing is to have electricity in
doses, he describes how life must have use of electric power. How factory your house.’
been like before electric lights, electric productivity and layout changed, and
stoves, electric irons, washing how rural electrification improved liv-
machines, radios, and all those other ing standards on the farm. Mixed in Fereidoon P. Sioshansi
things that use electricity to run. And with the serious and semi-serious EPRI
his account of this life is truly electrify- topics comes some interesting and Palo Alto, CA, USA

170 UTILITIES POLICY zyxwvutsrqponmlkji

April 1992