Whatever Goes Around, Comes Around

One of my favorite alternative UK publications, Undercurrents, is, slowly, being "re-printed" in an on-line form. Good for them!

They note that Undercurrents 9 (Jan-Feb 1975) is their first effort because it has a nuclear theme and is currently topical.

Unfortunately, the "high-resolution" views of the original pages are not high enough to be of any serious use. Hopefully someone will figure that out sooner than later. One of my favorite parts of the mag was the art work and graphics. They have also provided a somewhat rough transcription of the text.

They've posted their original manifesto, "Science with a Human Face", and the following is a quote from that document:

"UNDERCURRENTS believes it is possible to evolve a 'sadder but a wiser' science, a science that is aware of its limitations as well as its strengths, which will search the hitherto ignored areas of human experience for clues to a more meaningful and relevant synthesis than is dreamt of in our present philosophies. "

A book titled "Radical Technology" was also the product of the fertile minds of the Undercurrent editors and staff.  The American edition hit the shelves in 1976 and can be fairly easily obtained via used book outlets.  A book that revisited some of these areas more recently is "Design Outlaws".  

I see that the Oregon-based alternative magazine RAIN is still around and has an on-line existence which includes a partial on-line archive.  
Also the best known survivor of that era, Mother Earth News, has many of their articles archived on their site.   Here are a couple of my favorites:

I Built a Wind Charger for $400 - Jim Sencenbaugh (1973)

Mr. Sencenbaugh went on to make some of the best commercial battery-charging wind turbines in the 1970s and 80s.  He's no longer in the business, as far as I know.  One installation photo from NREL.

The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind - Jim DeKorne (1973)

" The first wind generator. as far as I'm able to discover, was built by the Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen in 1894. Icebound in the polar sea, Nansen rigged up a Holland-type windmill to drive a dynamo which charged batteries. He was enjoying electric lights in the vicinity of the North Pole when the houses of New York and London were still illuminated with kerosene and gas."

Actually the first wind-electric system was probably by Charles F. Brush of Cleveland around 1887 but the Nansen story is still pretty good.  I've seen pictures of his rig on his ship, the Fram.  Here's a representation of it.  Nansen also used the wind to help power his sleds across Greenland.

Sadly, the very excellent Canadian-based Renewable Energy News (REN) seems lost in the mist of history.  Fingers crossed for their on-line return.

Whatever Goes Around, Comes Around

One of my favorite alternative UK publications, Undercurrents, is, slowly, being "re-printed" in an on-line form. Good for them!

They note that Undercurrents 9 (Jan-Feb 1975) is their first effort because it has a nuclear theme and is currently topical.

Unfortunately, the "high-resolution" views of the original pages are not high enough to be of any serious use. Hopefully someone will figure that out sooner than later. One of my favorite parts of the mag was the art work and graphics. They have also provided a somewhat rough transcription of the text.

They've posted their original manifesto, "Science with a Human Face", and the following is a quote from that document:

"UNDERCURRENTS believes it is possible to evolve a 'sadder but a wiser' science, a science that is aware of its limitations as well as its strengths, which will search the hitherto ignored areas of human experience for clues to a more meaningful and relevant synthesis than is dreamt of in our present philosophies. "

A book titled "Radical Technology" was also the product of the fertile minds of the Undercurrent editors and staff.  The American edition hit the shelves in 1976 and can be fairly easily obtained via used book outlets.  A book that revisited some of these areas more recently is "Design Outlaws".  

I see that the Oregon-based alternative magazine RAIN is still around and has an on-line existence which includes a partial on-line archive.  
Also the best known survivor of that era, Mother Earth News, has many of their articles archived on their site.   Here are a couple of my favorites:

I Built a Wind Charger for $400 - Jim Sencenbaugh (1973)

Mr. Sencenbaugh went on to make some of the best commercial battery-charging wind turbines in the 1970s and 80s.  He's no longer in the business, as far as I know.  One installation photo from NREL.

The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind - Jim DeKorne (1973)

" The first wind generator. as far as I'm able to discover, was built by the Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen in 1894. Icebound in the polar sea, Nansen rigged up a Holland-type windmill to drive a dynamo which charged batteries. He was enjoying electric lights in the vicinity of the North Pole when the houses of New York and London were still illuminated with kerosene and gas."

Actually the first wind-electric system was probably by Charles F. Brush of Cleveland around 1887 but the Nansen story is still pretty good.  I've seen pictures of his rig on his ship, the Fram.  Here's a representation of it.  Nansen also used the wind to help power his sleds across Greenland.

Sadly, the very excellent Canadian-based Renewable Energy News (REN) seems lost in the mist of history.  Fingers crossed for their on-line return.