Friday 24 February 2012

Article at Low-Tech magazine

For anyone who's interested, I wrote an article on basketry for Low-Tech Magazine, now on their web site here.

If you're not familiar with Low-Tech Magazine, it specialises in a deceptively deep question: What if high-tech solutions don't work? What if such solutions can't overcome fuel shortages, reduce climate emissions or feed tens of billions of mouths, or what if such solutions can't be sustained forever?

The magazine rescues dusty information on once-commonplace skills, and criticises conventional environmental wisdom regarding wind and solar power, and virtual commerce. It publishes detailed accounts of forgotten technologies, many from the 18th and 19th centuries when sciences like engineering were rapidly advancing but energy was still precious: floating windmills, optical telegraphs, sailing ships, timbrel vaulting, masonry ovens and so on. In short, it has proven one of the most thought-provoking and under-appreciated publications out there.

2 comments:

Susi Nuss ~ Basketmaker said...

I would have enjoyed this article more if you had asked permission in advance to use the images. Knowing that you did not I can not in good conscience promote the article.

Brian Kaller said...

Ms. Nuss,

I did not pick most of the images in Low-Tech, and would advise you e-mail the editors there. If any photos were used without permission, though, I'm sure it was uninentional. Which ones were you thinking of?