Books about Infrastructure
(well, one so far ... )
How Infrastructure Works
Inside the Systems That Shape Our World
Deb Chachra 2023 Beaverton Lib 363 CHA
My expectation: Clever descriptions of mechanisms and processes, which I can share with others.
My summary: Infrastructure uses energy and materials, and we should use green energy and materials instead.
I would title the book "What Infrastructure Consumes" and subtitle that "Consuming Sustainably", with more examples of transitions to sustainable infrastructure (there are some interesting ones). Starting with the author's personal transitions as a consumer, a Canadian expat and child of Indian expats, and as an engineering educator.
So ... assuming an accurate title ... what do we learn from the book? Dr. Chachra mentions green systems in the US and around the world, and sometimes quantifies them, but doesn't compare the quantifications ... where to invest first?
She points out that battery powered electric automobiles are greener, even if they consume carbon-sourced grid power, but she doesn't mention radical alternatives to long-distance transport, such as predictive-adaptive telepresence. As new COViD-like plagues emerge more frequently in the future, we may shift to those alternatives ... which are technology intensive but resource thrifty.
One startling omission for a material scientist: fiber optic communication. For fixed communication infrastructure, graded-index optical fiber VASTLY outperforms copper cable and radio, for material consumption, deployed mass, longevity, and upgradability.
Fiber can be the backbone for a telepresence world, where we "travel to Europe or Asia" by walking a few blocks to a "sensorium" with the same touch/smell/sound/sight experience as walking streets or forest paths half a world away.
All that said - if I ignore the inaccurate title and subtitle, the book does describe a few engineered systems in "consumer level" detail. Probably useful for unaware readers who want to learn a little more about the existence (if not the details) of a few of the world's engineered systems.
Book Suggestions:
Saul Griffith / Electrify / 2021 washco Ursula Franklin / The Real World of Technology / 1999 na Schafran, Smith, Hall / The Spatial Contract / 2020 na