A 900-Pound Gorilla

A 900-pound gorilla

All models for the environment show that energy use, even nuclear, is converted to mechanical energy, which ultimately, inevitably, is transformed to heat. What these models don’t account for is the 900-pound gorilla in the room, the Sun. Slight changes in solar output swamp any man-made heating. In the high emotional state concerning the planet, we should seek guidance from the Albert Einsteins and not the Erin Brockovichs. A bare minimum requirement is that whoever we seek for guidance must know thermodynamics [Some wags refer to this branch of science as Thermo-demonics, yuk, yuk.] as well as his or her own name. Who, you might ask, has the stature of Einstein in the field of thermodynamics? My nominee would be Prof. Reuel Shinnar. He is distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, currently at The City College of the City University of New York.