The Thread of Energy

Martin J. Pasqualetti is Professor of Geography at Arizona State University, where he has created and regularly teaches a course called "The Thread of Energy." In 2015, he received the Alexander and Ilse Melamid Gold Medal from the American Geographical Society for his contributions to energy studies. For similar contributions, he was named 2018 Alumnus of the Year by the University of California, Riverside and a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers in 2019. Pasqualetti currently serves as the ASU liaison to the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Land Art Generator. He has edited or co-edited seven books, most recently: The Routledge Research Companion to Energy Geographies (2020), Nuclear Decommissioning and Society (2019), and The Renewable Energy Landscape (2017).

• Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Discovery: Encountering the Thread of EnergyChapter 2: Transition: Evolving Uses of EnergyChapter 3: Life: Everyday Threads of EnergyChapter 4: Art: Reflections of MeaningChapter 5: Environment: Natural Costs of EnergyChapter 6: Climate: Growing Threats of a Warming PlanetChapter 7: Policy: Guiding the Direction of EnergyChapter 8: Geopolitics: Spider Webs of Global Interdependency Chapter 9: Cities: Centers of UsageChapter 10: Justice: Supply and AccountabilityChapter 11: Lifestyles: Security and DemandChapter 12: Dangers: Personal Risks and HazardsChapter 13: Business: Jobs and the WorkspaceChapter 14: Futures: Tapestries of Life Index

Thread lays out a complex subject with admirable clarity. For environmental science classes, Thread may be even more valuable, because it deliberately traces the social dimensions of energy without delving into the physics and engineering. Without exposures like Thread, science students may be led into thinking that fixes to energy problems just require getting the science right.