“Rain Follows the Plow”: A Misadventure in Climatology

One of the saddest episodes in early climatology was the strange career of the idea that “rain follows the plow.”
In the 1880s, it just so happened some areas of Nebraska and Kansas were unusually rainy. As humans had recently pushed into the area, a ton of human-centered theories sprung up about what could be causing [...]

Delicious Links for 2009-09-03

Chabot Space & Science Center | East Bay Area – Oakland CA
(tags: observatory)

The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 (American Memory, Library of Congress)
Books and letters document the new settlers' migration and acquisition of land, navigation down the Ohio River, planting of crops, and trade in tobacco, horses, and whiskey.
(tags: archive history)

A Guide [...]

“Let Them Eat Growth!”

Today, I traced the history of the phrase “Let Them Eat Growth!” from Amory Lovins backwards to Herman Daly and forward to The Challenge of Coevolution by Leslie Paul Thiele.
Daly’s first statement is powerful:
“As Wallich so bluntly put it in defending growth, ‘Growth is a substitute for equality of income. So long as there [...]

The Mother Lode of Wave Power Patents

Inventory of the Wave Power Patents Collection, 1865-1967
Two linear feet of wave power patent goodness. Love Berkeley’s Water Resources Center Archives!
(tags: wavepower todo archive)