When Technology Fails

Thereis never been a better time to ibe prepared.i Matthew Steinis comprehensive primer on sustainable living skillsofrom food and water to shelter and energy to first-aid and crisis-management skillsoprepares you to embark on the path toward sustainability. But unlike any other book, Stein not only shows you how to live igreeni in seemingly stable times, but to live in the face of potential disasters, lasting days or years, coming in the form of social upheaval, economic meltdown, or environmental catastrophe. When Technology Fails covers the gamut. Youill learn how to start a fire and keep warm if youive been left temporarily homeless, as well as the basics of installing a renewable energy system for your home or business. Youill learn how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing. Youill learn alternative techniques for healing equally suited to an era of profit-driven malpractice as to situations of social calamity.
Each chapter (a survey of the risks to the status quo; supplies and preparation for short- and long-term emergencies; emergency measures for survival; water; food; shelter; clothing; first aid, low-tech medicine, and healing; energy, heat, and power; metalworking; utensils and storage; low-tech chemistry; and engineering, machines, and materials) offers the same approach, describing skills for self-reliance in good times and bad. Fully revised and expandedothe first edition was written pre-9/11 and pre-Katrina, when few Americans took the risk of social disruption seriouslyoWhen Technology Fails ends on a positive, proactive note with a new chapter on “Making the Shift to Sustainability,” which offers practical suggestions for changing our world on personal, community and global levels.

Author Biography

Matthew Stein holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He is an engineer, author and building contractor. He has also worked as a schoolteacher, carpenter, and rock climbing and ski instructor. As the owner of Aloha Aina Builders, Stein built hurricane resistant, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly homes. As a mechanical engineer and president of Stein Design, he has designed consumer water filtration devices, commercial water filtration systems, photovoltaic roofing panels, medical bacteriological filters, drinking fountains, emergency chemical drench systems, computer disk drives, portable fiberglass buildings, and automated assembly machinery for Open Energy, Applied Science, Hewlett Packard, Seagate, Plantronics, Duraflame, Haws, and IGT, among other companies. He currently resides with his wife Josie (see www.inner-journeys.com) in the High Sierra Mountains near Lake Tahoe, CA. Additionally, Stein holds a number of U.S. patents and was a National Merit Scholar. For many years, Stein has pursued avid interests in renewable energy, alternative healing, sustainable growth, and preventative medicine. He is available for lectures and workshops. Check out his green building and mechanical engineering web site at www.stein-design.com and his book’s web site at www.whentechfails.com.