Ask HN: How do I learn about energy?

3 points·bvaldivielso··4 comments

I frequently find interesting discussions about energy on HN: the decreasing cost of solar, advances in battery technology, whether nuclear is good, bad, efficient, inefficient... I am always intrigued by these, and would like to learn more. Is there any resource you could recommend? I'm thinking about books, podcasts, publications... you name it.

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Find this book and read it: https://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/Physics10/PffP.html

FYI Richard Muller has a terrible track record for this stuff. I distinctly recall listening to his lectures from almost a decade ago and he had a whole lesson on how the concept of an electric car was physically impossible, and Tesla would never be able to deliver a working vehicle. That's just the most prominent example but I recall there were at least 3-4 other questionable claims he made with shaky justifications before I stopped listening.

Still to the OP, the "Physics for future Presidents" lectures and/or book are probably the best place to start. Just take any controversial statements in it with a huge fucking grain of salt though.

Do you have an understanding of the underlying physics? I’d start there. The questions you ask become rather trivial to answer with minimal data when you know the processes involved.

The Bloomberg podcast Switched On is interesting and eclectic.

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