carefully note both the good and the bad, trying to balance their tales of corporate bribery with descriptions of innovative employee benefit plans, but the aggregate pie- • ture which emerges is still largely one of mindless growth, myopia and mendacity. The book's artecdotes may often bring a smile, but there is more than enough here to weep over, too. -JF The Ethnic Almanac, by Stephanie Bernardo, 1981~ 560 pp., $10.95 from: Dolfin Books Doubleday and Co.Inc. 501 Franklin Ave.' Garden City, NY 11530 Although this book received an initial wary glance, each time I opened The Ethnic Nmanac I lost myself in its treasure chest of historical facts and foibles. Some of the gems found among the 560 pages of this almanac are: • Booker T. Washington once facetiously remarked that his people were the only immigrants who had their passage paid for • Barmbrack, a traditional Irish unleavened sweet bread served on Halloween, has coins, rings and buttons baked inside. If you find a ring baked in your slice you will be married within the year. Coins symbolize wealth, while buttons indicate general good fortune. • The principles embodied in the.U.S . Constitution were modeled after the Five Iroquois Nations Constitution drawn up by the Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida and Cayuga tribes around the year 1500. Using material 'gleaned from a variety of sources, Stephanie Bernardo has compiled an ethnic history of the U.S. spanning thirtysix ethnic groups (chosen according to U.S. Census and Immigration Statistics) from Columbus to the present. Brief though captivating profiles of these most populous groups are listed alongside chapters of "Who's Who" in sports, literature and entertainment as well as tidbits on folk medicine, superstitions and stereotypes. The Almanac concludes with a worthwhile chapter on genealogical study with tips on how and • where to begin your own research. While the Almanac only scratches the surface of the ethnic experience in America, it' •does point out that we all have much to be proud of, in~vidually and collectively~in our diversity. Irma Alverado's short essay entitled, "Gee You Don't Look Puei;to Rican" provides the best reason for a guide such as this one. "The danger of not instilling a sense of pride and love for their heritage in our children is that, in later generations, many of the traditions we take for granted now will become memories and trivia for our grandchildren. I don't want my grandchildren to miss out on the fun of being 'djfferent' as I did." With luck, our grandchildren will only . miss out on the pain of being different. -LS ENERGY The Integral Passive Solar Water Heater Book: Breadboxes, Batchers, and Other Types ofSimple Solar Wafer Heaters, by David Bainbridge, 1981, 108pp.i $10.95 from: • Passive Solar Institute P.O. Box722 Davis, CA 95617. If you live in a milder climate, thermosyphoning batch heaters for solar hot water can offer a good low-cost alternative to the gold-plated active systems that seem to be the rage these days. Bainbridge's enthusiasm borders on the fanatical at times, and prob-. lems such as freeze protection and structural support considerations are mentioned only in passing. Nevertheless, this potpourri of construction techniques and state of the art installations is a nice introduction to the range of possibilities for passive,batch heaters, with a fairly complete listing of sources for supplies, plans, and more information.-KB The Thing (not built) Thia monster waa desi,ned for larlfe hot water demand apartment complex use, in New York. SolarRe.trofit, by Daniel K. Reif, 1981, 199 pp., $8.95 from: • Brick House Publishing 34 Essex St. Andover, MA 01810 This.book details four solar retrofits which were designed by Total Environmental Action and the .Center for Ecological Technology for New England's Project SUEDE (Solar Utilization, Economic Development and Employment). The systems are direct gain, a thermosyphoning air panel (TAP), an attached greenhouse and an acfive system. The construction details are clear and the materials selected are approprfate enough. The problem I have is with Reif's writing. He uses too much carpenter's jargon and makes too many ·assumptions for someone without any experience to construct the systems without mishap. If someone is a skilled enough carpenter to understa.nd the jargon, he/she can build the.thing without the July 1981 RAIN Page 15 book-so the book's usefulness is sorely limited. -Gail Katz Cookstove News, quarterly, $10/yr. donation requested, from: Aprovecho Institute 442Monroe · Eugene, OR 97402 As the curtain rings down on the fossil fuel era, many of the two ~illion people in Asia, _Africa and Latin America who never got . their tickets are already being admitted to the next event. The Energy Crisis, for these people, is an ever more serious shortage .of firewood. Since much of the wood cut in the Third World ends up in poorly-designed cookstoves or on open fires, organizations in many countries are working hard to design and popularize improved stoves which can save half to three-fourths of the wood normally used in cooking and be cheaply constructed by local people using indigenous materials . One such organization is the Aprovecho Institute, which recently began publishing Cookstove News to link together stove work-· ers worldwide. Each issue will carry news of stove projects, reader requests for information on various aspects of stov~ technology, an annotated bibliography of published stove information, and a directory of people, or- • ganizations and institutions involved in the cookstove field. Cookstove News will be a valuable networking tool for stove workers and will allow the rest of us to keep current on the energy conservation movement· which, in the coming decades, may directly affect more people<s lives than any other.- JF
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz