The Sciencemate Book
The book that Dr. Scienceman preferred was Environment, Power and Society by the 'father' of ecosystems ecology, Professor Howard T. Odum (1972 Wiley InterScience). Environment, Power and Society was dedicated to H.T. Odum's father Howard Washington Odum, an American sociologist and technocrat who, "suggested a synthesis of science and society" (1972, p.viii). It looks at humanity from the point of view of energy systems analysis, and systems ecology. In a 1984 interview with Dr. Scienceman, Jane Cadzow wrote in the Australian newspaper that Dr. Scienceman was totally converted to H.T. Odum's idea that everything is based on energy. As H.T. Odum wrote, "Power is a common denominator to all processes and materials" (1972, p. 21). For Cadzow
| “ | Dr. Scienceman believes it is possible to measure anything, even money, in terms of its embodied energy. "To operate a supply of banknotes you've got to have a very large commercial organisation. You've got to have banks, you've got to have printing houses. They themselves consume a large amount of energy". By comparing the money flow with the energy flow, which has been broken down to mathematical units, "we can say that a dollar is equivalent to so many units of embodied energy."(The Australian 1984, p. 7) | ” |
This is to say that political parties, policies, biological and ecological systems can all have kilowatt ratings just like a home electric appliance. From this point of view the best way to understand a country's economic system is to trace, then measure the flow of energy around it. In H.T. Odum's words,
| “ | Although nearly everyone is familiar with power ratings of household appliances and automobiles, our educational system has rarely emphasized that the affairs of man also have quantitative power ratings and that the important issue of man's existence and survival are fully regulated by the laws of energetics as are the machines. It is possible to put calories-per-day values on human institutions, on the flows of energy in cities, on the power requirements and delivery of activities of nations, or on the relative influences exerted by man and his environmental systems. (1972, pp. 26-27) | ” |
Read more about this topic: David M. Scienceman
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