Thank You, Fritz E.F. Schumacher died in early September. He opened our eyes to many powerful and wise ways of seeing and changing our world. More i_mportant, he was a wonderful person with a warm, loving twinkle, whose peace-filled manner of relating to people always said more than any words could about the wisdom and benefit of ch~nging our ways. . It was frustrating to see people interpret his visions as technologies,rather than as illustrations of the need to generate and transform all our institutions on the basis of the kind of culture and people we wish to be. Maybe it would be gQod to let "Appropriate Technology" die with Fritz. His vision was broader and more organic than what is becoming an empty slogan. • We had b~gun to rely too heavily' on Fritz, placing pressures on him to provide all the answers. We so often put that kind of pressure on people we love and admire. Now his vision of self-reliance-of looking to our own resources for the answers •to our problems- takes on a new reality. Schumacher's·wotk will continue to reverberate on its own. October 1977 • RAIN Page 15 We've had our chance to listen and to learn from him. We must continue the process of transforming and improving oi.tr world, absorbing his ideas, and forging new visions and actions that apply to us and our world. We can't carry on his work. We must stand on his shoulders, ·not his coattails. APPROPRIATE .TECHNOLOGY Lane County Office of Appropriate Technology Community Relations Public Service Building Eugene, OR 97401 503/687-4552 Here it is, folks, the firs~ county OAT. Dan Knapp and our old friend, Sam Sadler, are the job-sharing directors. Among other things, they plan to do an appropriate technology resource guide to their area and lots of n~tworking. They've only been together for two weeks, but we'll keep you posted on their activities as they gl t their feet more firmly planted in the ground. Manual on the Planning of LaborIntensive Road Construction·, M. Allal and G.A. Edmonds, 40 Swiss Francs from: International Labour Office Washington Branch 1750 New York Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20006 Road building seems like a hard nut to crack when looking for less costly, more employment-intensive ways of doing things, because construction vehicles Thank you, Fritz,"and welcome home. enjoy particular advantages of scale. Yet, as always, there is a range of options available. This manual is useful for people planning, designing or evaluating road projects, as it provides detailed discussion of options and tradeoffs in initial costs, design specifications, social costs, user costs and maintenance. Discusses how and when labor~intensive techniques are applicable and the institutional setting that pushes techniques into capital-vs. employment-intensive directions. -TB • Homemade . EnEu9y CyclfJ built by Rodaie R & 0 for less lhkm $60 - TB/LdeM Pedal Power, ed. by James C. McCullagh, 1977, $4.95 from: Rodale Press 33 E. Minor Emmaus, PA 18049, Pedal Power is a thorough exploration of t_he whole potential for more efficient use of human energy. The Research Group at Rodale Press has been interested in this area for several years, and the "Energy Cycle" they deyeloped a year or so ago was probably the first well-designed contraption to permit use of pedal pow·er for a variety of applications in the home or workshop. David Gordon Wilson surveys different historical devices ,for using human • energy. Stuart S. Wilson discusses in detail use of pedal power for transportation, irrigation and stationary power. Diana Branch explains the development of Rodale's energy cycle, its use as a potter's wheel, jewelry lathe, butter churn, water pump, etc. Well illustrated · instructions are given for ingenious adaptation of a bicycle frame into ·a practicable uses of pedal power for sawing wood, washing clothes, plowing gardens, sewing, typewriting, delivery vehicles, recumbant bicycles, pedaled lawn mowers and much more. Recommended for anyone interested in people power. -TB
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