On the Grid A Plot of Land, An Average Neighborhood, and the Systems that Make Our World Work

Turn on a switch and from the nearest bulb out pours light from . . . somewhere; turn on a faucet and water appears. Wires, pipes, and roads support the lives we lead, but the average person doesn't know where they go or even how they work. InOn the Grid, Scott Huler takes the time to understand the systems that sustain our way of life, starting from his own quarter of an acre in North Carolina and traveling as far as ancient Rome. Each chapter follows one element of infrastructure back to its source. Huler visits power plants, watches new asphalt pavement being laid, and traces a drop of water backward from the faucet to the Gulf of Mexico. He reaches out to guides along the way, both the workers who operate these systems and the people who plan them. On the Gridbrings infrastructure to life and details the ins and outs of our civilization with fascinating, back-to-basics information about the systems we all depend on.

Scott Huler is the author of six books, including Defining the Wind and No Man's Lands. Widely published in newspapers nationwide, he has won awards for his writing and his work on NPR. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.