On the Grid

Download or read book On the Grid written by Scott Huler and published by Rodale Books. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turn on a switch and from the nearest bulb out pours light from... somewhere; turn on a faucet and water appears. Wires, pipes, and roads support the lives we lead, but the average person doesn't know where they go or even how they work. In On the Grid, Scott Huler takes the time to understand the systems that sustain our way of life, starting from his own quarter of an acre in North Carolina and traveling as far as ancient Rome. Each chapter follows one element of infrastructure back to its source. Huler visits power plants, watches new asphalt pavement being laid, and traces a drop of water backward from the faucet to the Gulf of Mexico. He reaches out to guides along the way, both the workers who operate these systems and the people who plan them. On the Grid brings infrastructure to life and details the ins and outs of our civilization with fascinating, back-to-basics information about the systems we all depend on.