A Quick Biography
60s
Studying biology and experimental psychology. De-railed by worries about The Future, or what we now call 'sustainability'. Abandoned.
70s
Increasingly concerned with unexpected effects of uncontrolled technical change. Notion of 'alternative technology' (which I named and developed) emerges in 1972.
Exploring implications of low-tech, de-industrialised futures leads to publication of agenda-setting text Radical Technology in 1976.
80s
Joined Centre for Alternative Technology.
90s
Reluctant reconciliation with 'modernity' -- cannot go back, only forwards in more intelligent ways.
But the fundamental green paradigm, based on conserved quantities, is vindicated:
YOU CAN'T GET A QUART INTO A PINT POT
Such obvious common sense is consistently denied by politicians, economists, businesspeople, bankers and consumers. Puzzling. Can 2+2 really =10? Or were we right all along?
Perhaps we'd settle for 5....
On account of my strictly physical and ‘eco-modernist’ approach it has sometimes been supposed that I am a materialist zealot with no experience of, or understanding of, the immaterial aspects of life. This is not the case, and the following document shows a much more nuanced perspective:
If you want to engage further with some of the material on this site, it might be helpful to read 'My philosophy and prejudices', which explains my standpoint in greater depth. You can then make appropriate allowances. Another way to 'get the gist' would be to very quickly scan lists of writings or lectures.