Product Description

From the solitary windmill standing sentry over a rural homestead to the sleek machinery of a modern wind farm, windmills are a powerful symbol of self-reliance and human ingenuity. Once the province of backyard tinkerers and eccentric inventors, they have over the past two decades entered the mainstream to be embraced by environmentalists, venture capitalists, and policymakers alike. But reaching that point wasn't easy.

In Reaping the Wind, journalist Peter Asmus tells the fascinating and convoluted history of commercial wind power in the United States. He introduces readers to maverick scientists and technologists who labored in obscurity, to entrepreneurs and visionary capitalists who believed that a centuries-old idea could be made feasible in the modern world, and to enterprising financial advisers and investors who sought to exploit the last great tax shelter in federal history. Beginning with the early pioneers, from William Heronemus, a former U.S. Navy captain who dreamt of huge floating wind farms off the coast of New England, to the $40 million success story of Jim Dehlsen of Zond, he offers an animated narrative that profiles the colorful cast of characters involved with the development of the American wind power industry.

Reaping the Wind is both engaging and instructive, with information about the technologies and policies that drive the industry and give it promise interwoven with the human story of the struggle to develop-against great odds-reliable, clean energy from a source as unpredictable and seemingly uncontrollable as the wind. Anyone interested in renewable energy or the human and political drama behind the development of new technologies will find the book an engrossing and enlightening read.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #782333 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 267 pages

Book Info
The story of the history of the commercial wind power industry in the United States, including the intriguing lives and tactics of industry pioneers. Features information and instruction on the technologies and policies that drive the wind power industry, interwoven with the story of the human struggle that brought the industry into being. DLC: Wind power plants.

Customer Reviews

Reaping the Wind is a disapointing text !!!
I have read this book, because I am interested in the history of modern windmills, however I find it to be very disappointing for many reason. First of all, this book lacks structure and coherence. It is a collection of notes on 'windmills' that are not coherently structured. The book does not follow a chronological order, and there is no logical transition betwen the different sections of a chapter, or the various chapters. Secondly, several chapters of the book are off topic. For example, in one chapter Asmus describres the social atmosphere of a biker's gathering, with details about the origins of the biker movement... that is fine, except for the fact that the only reference to windmill the chapter makes, is to mention that the famous biker's bar where bikers in south california have met for decades is located near a wind farm. Thirdly, the book is not very informative about windmills. Peter Asmus has a few facts about windmills scattedred throughtout the numerous chapters of the book. After having completed the book I acquired lots of factual information on a variety of topics BUT windmills. Overall this book is poor and I do not recommend it.

Adequate overview of early windpower industry.
The author did a good job of explaining how the wind energy industry in America got it's start in California, the start-up troubles, and the key issues important to making wind energy a viable alternative energy source. On the downside, I thought the book included too much information, and sometimes left the reader wondering how certain sideline stories fit in with the rest of the book. There were so many people mentioned & referenced, that I couldn't keep up with who did what when.

A Blow-By-Blow Account Of Wind Engineering Pioneers
You've got to really want to know about the history of wind power to take on this book. The author does an exceptional job of chronicalling all the characters and woodsy folklore of the wind power industry for the last three decades or so. It's a narrow subject, but for anyone interested in how we got where we are in the field of renewable energy, this is it. (Why do they call it "renewable"? Forest products are renewable, but wind?). A couple of pictures would have been fun. By and large a very unique book.