David J. C. MacKay
David J. C. MacKay
Sir David John Cameron MacKay, FRS, FInstP, FICE was a British physicist, mathematician, and academic. He was the Regius Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and from 2009 to 2014 was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. MacKay was well known as author of the book Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth22 April 1967
wind feet nuclear
We must not let ourselves be swept off our feet in horror at the danger of nuclear power. Nuclear power is not infinitely dangerous. It's just dangerous, much as coal mines, petrol repositories, fossil-fuel burning and wind turbines are dangerous.
thoughtful numbers people
We can't be anti-everything - we need an energy plan that adds up. But there's a lack of numeracy in the public discussion of energy. Where people do use numbers, they select them to sound big and score points in arguments, rather than to aid thoughtful discussion.
future numbers people
In a climate where people don't understand the numbers, newspapers, campaigners, companies, and politicians can get away with murder
moon ideas energy
If all the ineffective ideas for solving the energy crisis were laid end to end, they would reach to the moon and back
vacuums loud cleaners
It sounded like a very loud vacuum cleaner behind us.
names drug cost
The bottom line in 2007 is that enrollment costs are going up substantially, drug coverage is declining and the brand name coverage in the doughnut hole is being eliminated... Medicare D is an insurance program, not a benefit. As consumption increases, so too will cost. The changes in 2007 clearly demonstrate the limitations of the program.
choose decide future honest lifestyles modern people understand
I would like to help people have honest and constructive conversations about energy. We need to understand how much energy our modern lifestyles use, decide how much energy we would like to use in the future, and choose where we will get that energy from.
burning carbon change climate coal complex crude people price single solving
Solving climate change is a complex topic, but in a single crude brush-stroke, here is the solution: the price of carbon dioxide must be such that people stop burning coal without capture.
discussion intensely options public strongly tends
The discussion about energy options tends to be an intensely emotional, polarised, mistrustful, and destructive one. Every option is strongly opposed: the public seem to be anti-wind, anti-coal, anti-waste-to-energy, anti-tidal-barrages, anti-carbon-tax, and anti-nuclear.
options physicists physics
Most of physics is about energy, and physicists understand inefficiencies. I wanted to write a book about our energy options in a neutral, human-accessible form.