I was given this book by the author in return for a review and must admit to feeling a small amount of guilt as I not only did not enjoy it, but found it very, very annoying in places. Here’s why:

First of all the author makes it clear he is a layman and will be keeping the information in the book as non-technical as possible. This is fine, however I found some of the overly long ‘simplified’ explanations of basic concepts were actually less clear than in scientific textbooks. At times the language and explanations are kept so simple it reads as if the book is directed at a very young audience, before using terms that would only be understood by someone slightly older. I was left unsure of the intended audience for this book. It has also been poorly proof read which doesn’t help.

My main problem with the book, however, was with some of the science and also the authors personal views. There is no indication of Canns background but, judging from the content of the book, I would guess that it lies more in economics than science. He talks more confidently in economic areas but I found his understanding of science to be confused, misleading and occasionally just plain incorrect.

Cann says that the one thing to be remembered from the book is that ‘energy is unlimited and will NEVER run out, period’ and to think otherwise is ‘beyond foolish’. He takes the point that ‘ energy is unlimited since energy can not be destroyed’. Although even the suns energy is finite I think he would take the view that as this energy cannot be destroyed and is transformed into other energy types it counts as being infinite. He seems to miss the point that the problem isn’t so much the amount of energy available, but the ease with which we can harness it in a useable form, and the consequences of using different forms of energy. Having said that Cann argues that ‘energy is energy’ and it ‘doesn’t know whether it was converted by a coal fired power plant…or a wind turbine and that’s because it does not matter’. He claims there is no such thing as ‘green energy’ or 'renewable energy’. No, energy doesn’t care where it comes from and energy from coal will toast your bread just as well as from a wind turbine. But, again, Cann misses the point completely. What of the consequences of using these different forms of energy? What about when peak oil and peak coal is reached or passed? The environmental impacts of energy use are not even touched upon in this book (I think CO2 is mentioned just once!) and the important issue of population growth (for energy demands, the economy and environment) is also not given a second thought.

Towards the end of the book the author begins to repeatedly mention ‘activist’ (plural is activists Mr Cann!), how they see all energy consumption as ‘evil’ and believe that energy problems will solve themselves simply by using energy efficient light bulbs. This is a ridiculous and immature statement and using a reference (from the internet of course) doesn’t make it less so. It just shows the authors lack of understanding of how to use references correctly and what are suitable references to use. I could find a ‘reference’ on the internet to ‘prove’ Elvis is still alive if I wanted. His claim that ‘activist are always thinking in terms of current energy consumption instead of future consumption’ is also laughable. Where is the justification for this statement? But he carries on his tirade against ‘activist’ saying they think all energy consumption is evil despite the fact ‘every plant and animal on the planet consumes energy as well’. I’m not even going to bother to explain how he’s missed the point again there.

So to conclude, while Mr Cann may well have a grasp of simple economics (low cost energy is extremely important to economic growth) he doesn’t do so well with the science. Although he gets the basic science correct he doesn’t seem to understand how to implement that science or to see the wider picture. A book about energy and economics without factoring in the environment and population growth is surprising, not to mention the global picture. It’s a very insular looking book which doesn’t take account that the energy and economy in the US are affected by the outside world. The addition of Mr Canns questionable political views didn’t help the situation either. I would say this book is aimed at a young, republican audience. Anyone who doesn’t fall into that category or who wants to learn real science should steer well clear!