The Boom
How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World
Simon & Schuster · Print & ebook · April 21, 2015
The “best all-around book yet on fracking” (San Francisco Chronicle) from a Pulitzer Prize finalist: “Gold's work is a tour de force of contemporary journalism” (Booklist).
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- Who it’s for
- Follow fracking’s rise through a lively history that takes its promise and costs seriously.
- Genres
- Fossil Fuel Energy, Energy Industry, Energy Policy
- Published
- Simon & Schuster, April 21, 2015
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The “best all-around book yet on fracking” (San Francisco Chronicle) from a Pulitzer Prize finalist: “Gold's work is a tour de force of contemporary journalism” (Booklist). First invented in 1947, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has not only become a major source of energy, it is changing the way we use energy, and the energy we use. It is both a threat and a godsend for the environment, and it is leading the revival of manufacturing in the United States.
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A definitive narrative history, The Boom follows the twists and turns in the development and adoption of this radical technology. It is a thrilling journey filled with colorful characters: the green-minded Texas oilman who created the first modern frack; a bare-knuckled Oklahoman natural gas empire-builder who gave the world an enormous new supply of energy and was brought down by his own success and excesses; an environmental leader whose embrace of fracking brought an end to his public career; and an aging fracking pioneer who is now trying to save the industry from itself. A fascinating and exciting exploration of one of the most controversial and promising sources of energy, The Boom “brings new clarity to a subject awash in hype from all sides…a thoughtful, well-written, and carefully researched book that provides the best overview yet of the pros and cons of fracking. Gold quietly leads both supporters and critics of drilling to consider other views” (Associated Press).
Energy’s Fault Lines
Follow fracking’s rise through a lively history that takes its promise and costs seriously.
Come here for
- A clear-eyed look at fracking’s energy and environmental trade-offs
- The people and industry behind a consequential technology
Expect
- Journalistic storytelling grounded in the technology’s development
- A subject where energy, the environment, and American manufacturing collide
Where it sits
| Fossil Fuel Energy | 32% |
|---|---|
| Energy Industry | 29% |
| Energy Policy | 25% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Environmental Economics
- Environmental Science
- Technology
- Authors
- Russell Gold
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Published
- April 21, 2015
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Environmental Economics