RIBA Bookshops

David JC MacKay

David MacKay is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and then obtained his PhD in Computation and Neural Systems at the California Institute of Technology. He returned to Cambridge as a Royal Society research fellow at Darwin College. He is internationally known for his research in machine learning, information theory, and communication systems, including the invention of Dasher, a software interface that enables efficient communication in any language with any muscle. He has taught Physics in Cambridge since 1995. Since 2005, he has devoted much of his time to public teaching about energy. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Climate Change.

Michael Meacher MP Former Minister of State for the Environment

So much uninformed rhetoric is thrown about on climate change and energy systems that there is an urgent need for an authoritative study setting out just what can and cannot realistically be done to achieve sustainable energy. This hugely important book fills that gap both technically and highly readably. It should be a 'must read' not only at home and in industry, but on each Government Minister's desk, and not just in the UK.

Bob White FRS Professor of Geophysics, Cambridge Universi

If everyone lived in the same way as we do in the West we would need three whole planets like earth to fuel our habits. You don?t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that this isn?t sustainable. But its seductively easy to ignore. The people who will suffer most from our profligate use of natural resources are those on the other side of the world in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and our as-yet unborn children and grandchildren. They are out of sight and out of mind. We excuse ourselves by saying that the inevitable march of technology is bound to bring a solution.

Prof Ian Fells CBE, founding chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Centre

David MacKay's book Sustainable Energy without hot air is an intellectually satisfying, refreshing contribution to really understanding the complex issues of energy supply and use. It debunks the emotional claptrap which passes for energy policy and puts real numbers into the equations. It should be read by everyone, especially politicians.

Robert Sansom (EDF Energy)

At last a book that comprehensively reveals the true facts about sustainable energy in a form that is both highly readable and entertaining.

Tony Juniper, Former Executive Director, Friends of the Earth

For anyone with influence on energy policy, whether in government, business or a campaign group, this book should be compulsory reading.

The Guardian

This year's must-read book about tackling our future energy needs.

The Financial Times

The first factual meme on renewable energy? A book about climate change that gets rave reviews from folk at oil companies, environmental groups and the Number One Blog of All Time has to be worth a peek.