Wanted: Recommendations for Old Appropriate Tech Books

[ecosophia]

I'm very pleased to say that I have a publisher interested in republishing out-of-print books from the appropriate technology movement of the 1970s. It's a good time for that; with petroleum well over $100 a barrel, inflation out of control, and a cascade of other economic and political crises making the current scene seem rather remarkably reminiscent of the 1970s, this is a good time for such a project. During the energy crises of that era, plenty of work went into constructive responses to the shortage of concentrated energy, and -- unlike most of what we've seen recently -- much of it focused on things you could build, make, or do yourself, rather than the sort of grandiose fantasy that only gargantuan corporations can do. 

I already have a list of books I plan on recommending for this project, but I figured I'd throw the question to my readers as well. I know a fair number of people who read me have already done the smart thing and ransacked their local used book stores for old appropriate-tech books from back in the day. What are the out of print titles that you found useful, inspiring, exciting? What books on energy conservation, green living, small-scale gardening, and related topics do you think people need to have handy right now, and in the years immediately ahead? 

Some of the subjects I have in mind are these: 

Energy conservation (insulation, weatherizing, non-electric ways of doing things)
Homescale energy production (sun, wind, water, you name it)
Organic gardening
Small-scale hydroponics
Backyard animal raising
Practical handicrafts
Solar greenhouses
Skills for living cheaply
Ecological thinking

But of course there's much more and I'm open to stretching the boundaries at least a little. 

So there you are. We've got an opportunity -- help me make the most of it. 

Comments

On it

[(Anonymous)]

JMG.

One thing Portland has is small weirdo bookstores. I'll fall on my sword and go looking. Thankfully a lot of them are located close to bars.

Re: On it

[ecosophia]

Thank you! Powell's used to have quite a decent collection of appropriate tech books for sale, for whatever that's worth -- I got several good titles there.

An old favorite

[(Anonymous)]

JMG... One of my old favorites:

Natural Solar Architecture, a Passive Primer by David Wright.

Tons of great ideas and rules-of-thumb contained within. It's also a beautiful tome; it's hand lettered and illustrated from cover to cover. I'd bet money it's out of print, but I could be wrong. Either way, it's a must have in any ecologist's library just for it's aesthetic beauty alone.

Licensed Templar

Re: An old favorite

[ecosophia]

Excellent! I'm not familiar with this title, but it's out of print -- the last edition came out in 1984 -- and it sounds very good indeed. I've added it to the list.

The Wholeness of Nature

[(Anonymous)]

Super exciting to hear and know.

My wife and I recently found a copy of The Toilet Papers by Slim Van Der Ryn in a "Free Little Library" and I snagged it. Very good bathroom reading material. It goes well, of course, with the The Integral Urban House.

As an urbanite I'd like to see appropriate tech books focused on the urban situation. So much of whats left of the current green movement and self reliant living stuff is focused on homesteading. That stuff is great and often applicable in different ways to city life, but some stuff that focuses on the city would be good.

On another angle, I just ordered a used copy of The Wholeness of Nature: Goethes Way of Science by Henri Bortoft. I'd been wanting it for awhile, and the whole Wandervogel thing in the other thread got me thinking of of it again.

There appears to be a through line from Goethe to the German "back to nature" writers/ Naturosophy & natural healing modalities, that spread from there, to Hesse and the Hippies among others.

Seeing how Goethe formulated another way of doing/seeing science / experiencing nature seems helpful in this quest.

I wonder if there is other material out there that approaches science in this way... that would be useful to publish and get those kind of ideas circulating. Related to that might be some Steiner type material: biodynamics, waldorf schools, etc.

(Alternative) Home healthcare would also be useful.

Justin Patrick Moore

Re: The Wholeness of Nature

[ecosophia]

I've added The Toilet Papers to the list. As for the other points, fair enough, but I need out of print titles!

[(Anonymous)]

I have a curious little pamphlet in my possession:
https://www.amazon.com/Capture-sun-parabolic-curve-applications/dp/B0006CJ71K

I don't have the science background to evaluate it, but it sure got some people I know excited.

Myriam

[ecosophia]

Hmm! Fair enough; it's on the list.

[(Anonymous)]

This is one of the most exciting posts I've seen here! I can't wait to see how things evolve. Thank you for taking this on.

This is not my area of expertise in any way, but a suggestion for a missing topic: entertainment

I see old paintings and illustrations of people sitting in a parlor together, around some instrument, and singing as a group, and laughing and maybe telling stories, and I think "how in the world did that ever happen?". I don't think the interpersonal skills required to bring family and friends together for an evening of self-generated entertainment gets enough love in the 'skills' movement. Everyone...ok ok, not the people here, but everyone else...is used to flicking a button and zoning out to netflix. If you took 10 average people and threw them in a room together and said "entertain yourselves", I think they'd stare at each other for a few minutes, and then wander awkwardly into different rooms for the rest of the evening.

If we are moving more fully into the future you've painted, it's gonna be rough. We will need the moments of fun and joy to balance the digging of potatoes and the brewing of beer for local warlords :) I don't think most of us know how to create the conditions that enable those moments of joy to come into existence. At least not on a repeatable and reliable basis. Speaking for myself, I know I don't.

I can't recommend any books though, as this is not my area of expertise. (Paging Erika! Is there an Erika in the building?)

Murmuration

Evolving..

[emily07]

...that's maybe where board games and homemade music (Kammermusik) comes in.
That and the Addition that maybe only the living room in Winter has enough warmth worth having and you'll maybe evolve a way that works for you.
In Germany we still have a price for the best yearly boardgame and I remember that one of us always got one of those for Christmas and that would be played either for a year or be a classic in the family. Example: settlers of catan, very useful if the cities extension is also used ( we played that at least 5 years), Peking Akte (solving a crime by going to witnesses and crossing of suspects according to what Madame Ming said) is very good after a sumptious dinner (10+ Years), and Scotland Yard (called Mr. X in our family, 15+ years) is also an all time favourite: chasing a criminal through London with the availabe transfers - if Mr. X used a lot of Taxis the detectives can be in a quite tight spot!

Music: my grandfather allegedly used to be able to play every brass or wooden air Instrument in sight and could transpond notes in his head. That made him very useful in the village orchestra after the II war, because not so many note-sheets (in the right key) were available
We still sing before the Christmas dinner.
Sometimes juggling kept US children busy and our Patents in Pause, dito darts, or cards.

[lp9]

"Build It Better Yourself" from Rodale Press, 1977 (snatched my copy from my parents' basement).

[ecosophia]

Got it and thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear John,

I found this one next to the Urban Integral House in my bookshelf:
Other Homes and Garbage
Designs for self-sufficient living
by Jim Leckie et al.

Here in Germany gas prices are expected to increase tenfold by the end of the year. It will be a cold winter.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you have written.

[ecosophia]

Got it and thank you.

[jprussell]

I'm afraid the closest things I have any experience with are The Self-Sufficient LifeAn Agricultural Testament by Sir Albert Howard and Plowman's Folly by Edward H. Faulkner. From what I can tell, Howard's book is either in print or in the public domain, as there's lots of recent versions, and Faulkner's has a 2015 edition ebook, but seems to have last been printed in 1974. Both are good works on soil health and composting, but are more oriented toward large scale agriculture than backyard gardening.

If your list of titles is not just the "appropriate tech" section of the bibliography in The Long Decline would you mind sharing it for those of us who haven't yet raided local used book stores to get a head start?

[ecosophia]

That's basically my list!

[(Anonymous)]

Wood stoves how to make and use them by Ole Wik, copyright 1977 alaska northwest publishing company.
A very cool book on how to make your own wood stove using only hand tools with lots of pictures of some really ingenious wood stoves.

Ty

[ecosophia]

Got it and thank you.

Arbolite

[(Anonymous)]

Dmitry Orlov has a recipe for a home made building material he calls Arbolite. I can’t remember all the details offhand but it was very much up this alley.

Jeffery Henry

PS I really enjoyed “The Ecotechnic Future”

Re: Arbolite

[ecosophia]

Thank you, but that's not an out of print book from the Seventies, so I can't use it!

[weilong]

Handy Farm Devices
And How to Make Them

One of my favorites, but it may not be out of print just at the moment.

[ecosophia]

Can you give me the author and publisher?

[lp9]

Thought of another relevant Rodale Press book that I found at a flea market: "Energy-Saving Cooking for the Natural Foods Cook" (1979). It includes information about conventional appliances and small appliances--how to cook in an energy efficient way, which ones are energy hogs and not worth it--as well as recipes and instructions for non-so-conventional cooking, like in a hot box, on a woodstove, in a solar oven, or a fireplace.

[ecosophia]

Nice. Okay, it's in the list.

Your siggestions

[emily07]

In English I only can repeat what you recommended already: cooking with the sun and fireless cookery - also in that vein I wonder if an Auguste Mouchot Pamphlet on how those portable suncookers for the army were made would be of interest to me.

Re: Your siggestions

[ecosophia]

I'd love to see an English translation of Mouchot's work!

[(Anonymous)]

Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes. Norman Henley, 1914.
Available at Archive.org
Five Acres and Independence. M. G. Kains, 1935. Available at Archive.org
Back to Basics. Reader’s Digest, 1981. Still in print.
Rhydlyd

[ecosophia]

All three are still in print. Thanks anyway!

[andrew_b]

Handmade Hot Water Systems
By Art Sussman and Richard Frazier.

I'm guessing its out of print, I plucked a copy from the bowels of the internet years ago. The copy i got is fairly aged and just slightly moldy. Great book though! Nice illustrations and clear instructions.

Lays out everything you need to do for both solar and wood-fired hot water systems. I used it when building and installing the hot water system in my current home- I'm in the middle of a city, yet I'm off grid for hot water year round.

Its also amusing/depressing to note how much inflation has occurred since its publishing time- for a solar hot water heater panel, they recommend soldering your copper pipe grid to a full copper metal sheet, in order to guarantee the best heat absorption and heat transfer. I can't imagine how much a full 8x4 copper sheet, thick enough to solder to, would cost these days, ha ha.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. It's apparently a very rare book; would you be willing to consider scanning it?

[ill_made_knight]

oh there's a thing out from the 40's maybe 50's by the USDA on wood gas...how togenerate it and how to adapt engines to run on it....may be a wwII thing. I have it somewhere.will look for it if you are interested.
there's another, but pretty hard to find now...but can remember the name... I'll look for that too...it's full of all sorts of 'recipes'from medicinal to glue to even explosives,heh.

[ecosophia]

If you can look up the titles and authors that would help!

hand sewing and treadle machine repairs

[(Anonymous)]

hand-sewing and treadle machine restoration!

e

Re: hand sewing and treadle machine repairs

[ecosophia]

Er, do you have a book to recommend?

Solar greenhouse books

[slclaire]

I recommend the two books I used to turn our south-facing front porch into a solar greenhouse. Both were published by Rodale Press.

The Solar Greenhouse Book, edited by James C. McCullagh

The Homeowner's Complete Handbook for Add-On Solar Greenhouses & Sunspaces, by Andrew M. Shapiro

They are sufficiently different that I would like to see both made available for interested folks.

Another book that is a little newer (1988) but that I would like to see in print again if it's out of print is another Rodale publication, The New Seed-Starters Handbook by Nancy Bubel. This is the book that taught me how to raise seedlings.

And then there is Muddling Toward Frugality by Warren Johnson. Maybe 10 years ago you included it in a blog post of the 10 books you suggested reading to understand the predicament we're in. I found a used copy and read it - thank you for the recommendation! I've been considering re-reading and then reviewing it for a blog post on my blog because I think it's that good.

Re: Solar greenhouse books

[ecosophia]

The two greenhouse books are on the list -- thank you! I'm delighted to say that both the others are still in print.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG and all,

We're getting a wood stove and my brother-in-law recommended "The New, Improved Wood Heat" by John Vivian, Rodale 1978.

We borrowed sister-in-law's copy of "The Salt Book", edited by Pamela Wood, 1977, Maine's version of the Foxfire books. Haven't read it yet, seems to be more stories than Foxfire but I did see instructions on how to make bait bags, lobster traps and snow shoes.

I second the need for urban books (how to do humanure on the DL...!).

We're excited by this too! Thanks!

Ellen

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. The Salt Book, like the Foxfire books, are a little specialized for this project, but the wood heat book is on the list.

Methane Generation

[realmscryer]

Methane Generation from Human, Animal, and Agricultural Wastes
National Academy of Sciences - 1977

Looks like everything one would need to design, build, and operate a system.

Re: Methane Generation

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this! It's currently in print, astonishingly enough.

book recommendation

[(Anonymous)]

Living Poor With Style--Ernest Callenbach (of Ecotopia fame) published 1972 by Ballentine Books--used copies are listed at up to $100. It is aimed more at urban than country life if I recall correctly.

I thought of Tree Crops, but it was reprinted in 1953, so is probably still in copyright.

Rita

Re: book recommendation

[ecosophia]

The Callenbach book was reprinted in 1992 but it's long out of print -- I've added it to the list. Tree Crops is very much in print, fortunately.

[(Anonymous)]

There are a lot of US Ag Farmers' Bulletins that are probably in the public domain that would make a good source of material to be compiled as handy references. For example:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
FARMERS' RULLETIN 877, 1917
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief
HUMAN FOOD FROM AN ACRE OF STAPLE FARM PRODUCTS

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
FARMERS' BULLETIN 342.
NOVEMBER, 19O8.
CONSERVATION OP SOIL RESOURCES.
FIG CULTURE IN THE SOUTH.
POTATO BREEDING
MUSHROOM GROWING.
DISK-HARROWING ALFALFA.
PRESERVING WILD MUSHROOMS.
THE MONTREAL MUSKMELON.
COOKING BEANS AND OTHER VEGETABLES
STORAGE OP HUBBARD SQUASH
A MODEL KITCHEN.

[ecosophia]

I don't believe USDA publications can be reprinted commercially. Still, these are good resources.

[(Anonymous)]

classic one was Possum Living by Dolly Freed but can't say if it's still in print
Gourmet Cooking for Free by Bradford Angier is another possible

[ecosophia]

Possum Living is in print! I'm delighted to see this. The Angier book is also still in print.

[(Anonymous)]

Is non-computer-based mathematics related enough to mention?
Meaningful Charts and Graphs by Norbert Lloyd Enrick, 1968, Bureau of Economic and Business Research at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.
An Easy Introduction to the Slide Rule, Isaac Asimov, Houghton Mifflin, 1965.
Rhydlyd
PS – Interesting that Henley’s Formulas got a second mention by description. The fudge recipe is worthwhile, btw.

[ecosophia]

I don't think I can talk the publisher into pushing things that far, but we'll see.

Passive Solar

[(Anonymous)]

Hello all

The following book could be of interest: "The Passive Solar Energy Book" by Edward Marzia - 1979
Rodale Press, Inc, Emmaus, PA, USA
ISBN: 0-87857-238-4
I have the french translation. It's pretty good at explaining basic principles of passive solar technologies.
Karim

Re: Passive Solar

[ecosophia]

That's definitely of interest. Thank you! It's on the list.