Kenneth S. Deffeyes is Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He grew up in the oilfields; his father was a pioneer petroleum engineer. At the Shell Oil research laboratory in Houston, he was a colleague of M. King Hubbert. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1967 and continued to participate in the petroleum industry as a consultant and as an expert witness. General readers best know Deffeyes as the guide/mentor in John McPhee's series of popular books on geology, collected and republished under the title Annals of the Former World.
"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2002"
"Honorable Mention for the 2001 Award for Best
Professional/Scholarly Book in Geography and Earth Science,
Association of American Publishers"
"Deffeyes has reached a conclusion with far-reaching consequences
for the entire industrialized world. . . . The conclusion is this:
in somewhere between two and six years from now, worldwide oil
production will peak. After that, chronic shortages will become a
way of life. The 100-year reign of King Oil will be over."---Fred
Guterl, Newsweek
"A most readable handbook. . . . If [Deffeyes] is right we have, at
most, two or three years in which to prepare for yet another price
shock, and to accelerate our move away from oil as fuel. The
strength of the book lies in its solid background and
well-explained basis for that single prediction."---Stuart Young,
Nature
"Deffeyes makes a persuasive case. . . . This is an oilman and
geologist's assessment of the future, grounded in cold mathematics.
And it's frightening."---Paul Raeburn, Scientific American
"An important new book."---Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe
"The story behind Hubbert's analysis--is told with engaging wit,
humor, and great insight. . . . Deffeyes writes with the taut
reasoning of a scientist and the passion of someone raised in the
industry. . . . His background is ideal for the subject, and the
book is a gem. . . . Read Hubbert's Peak."---Brian J. Skinner,
American Scientist
"[Some] experts . . . worry that the global peak in production will
come in the next decade. . . . A heavyweight has now joined this
gloomy chorus. Kenneth Deffeyes argues in a lively new book that
global oil production could peak as soon as 2004."
*The Economist*
"A persuasive prophecy. Hubbert's story is important and needs to
be told. I suspect that historians in years to come will recognise
Hubbert's Peak as a historical turning point."---Tim Burnhill, New
Scientist
"Deffeyes, using Hubbert's methodology, shows that the trajectory
of world reserves is closely following the pattern of U.S.
discovery and depletion, with just a few decades' lag. Drilling
deeper, in more remote locations, and with more elaborate
technologies won't tap reserves that don't exist. . . . America's
energy policy needs to tilt away from oil and in favor of
conservation, new technology, and domestic renewables. The time to
act is now, before the next wave of gas lines and rationing is upon
us."---Robert Kuttner, Business Week
"In the politics of oil, the left is passionately, sentimentally,
tree-huggingly pro-environment, while the right shrugs as it climbs
into its official mascot, the biggest sport utility vehicle
available. . . . In the slide down Hubbert's Peak, political
differences will matter less. If those who planned the Sept. 11
attacks know as much about economics as they do about aeronautics,
their next target may be the Saudi Arabian oil fields, on which
America, Asia, and Europe are overly dependent."---Martin Nolan,
The Boston Globe
"Kenneth Deffeyes has written a most readable handbook which is
well illustrated and has copious notes. But his book is more than
that. . . . The strength of this book lies in its solid
background."---Stuart Young, Nature
"There are few things as important nowadays as the energy system,
and few books on the subject as thought provoking as this
one."---J.R. McNeill, Wilson Quarterly
"We have long been told that fossil fuels wouldn't last forever,
but Deffeyes hypothesis is still startling: Sometime during the
next decade, the supply of oil won't keep up with the demand.
Because of its broad impact Hubbert's Peak is a must-read for
almost everyone--scientists, policy-makers, environmentalists,
people who buy cars."---Ann Wagner, NationalJournal.com
"An ideal freshman reading assignment in any geology course
concerned with energy, geological resources, public policy, general
science applications in our modern world, or similar topics. All
teachers, from high school through graduate level, in all natural
sciences, political science, government, business, and engineering
courses should read this book and encourage their students to
consider its ramifications in their fields."---C. John Mann,
Journal of Geoscience
"[A] small and delightfully readable book."
*Choice*
"Deffeyes's unsettling message is that, although society has been
slow to respond to the Hubbert's Peak forecast of world oil
decline, a permanent drop in oil production will nevertheless begin
within the next decade. Humanity has a brief period in which to
wean itself from crude oil, increase energy conservation, and
design alternative energy sources."---Dan Johnson, The Futurist
"I commend this book . . . to anyone concerned about the future
development of planet Earth."---John Parker, Geoscientist
"This book sends a message loud and clear: World petroleum
production is going to peak within this decade, maybe as early as
2005, but no later than 2009 and there is hardly any way of
escaping from this truth. . . . The book is accessible, easy to
read and informative."---Subhes C. Bhattacharyya, Natural Resources
Forum
"An intelligent, briskly written and refreshingly nontechnical
book."---John R. Alden, Baltimore Sun
"This book . . . should be read . . . by all politicians, by all
students, no matter what their discipline, and indeed by anyone
concerned about their grandchildren's welfare. Reading Hubbert's
Peak is the intellectual equivalent of bungee jumping, being
simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying."---R. C. Selley,
Geological Magazine
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