I have been tinkering with applications of human power for almost 30 years, and I was amazed to see page after page of inventions and commercial human-powered machines I have never encountered in my own research. Through The Human-Powered Home, Tamara Dean has introduced me to an inspiring community of inventors and organizations who have developed an incredible variety of human-powered machines and shown me how people’s lives have improved as a result. This eco-friendly book will be the first place I look for examples, references, and inspiration for my own human power experiments.
— David Butcher, inventor of the pedal-powered prime mover
The Human-Powered Home is a one-of-a-kind resource that puts hard-to-find information all in one place and makes it accessible… It answers the kinds of questions that are normally resolved through trial and error and puts beginners on the right track from the start.
BackHome magazine
Whether you are interested in living a resourceful life in a post-petroleum future or are ready to apply plug-free appropriate technology now, The Human-Powered Home is a book you really must have for your library. Hopefully your copy will get dog-eared, creased and dirty like mine. Tamara Dean has created a very useful reference from which you can adapt, replicate or improve on the work of many brilliant practical visionaries. Just apply your mind, arms and legs and off you go!
— Jack Stephens, Executive Director of the Natural Building Network
This is a visionary book! For anyone looking for ideas to transition to a future less dependent on fossil fuels, The Human-Powered Home is a rich source of inspiration. With meticulous research, humor, and encouragement, Tamara Dean empowers readers with information, resources, and tools to create human-powered appropriate technology in their lives. Everyone I’ve shown the book to has loved it!
— Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods
The Human-Powered Home is full of stuff you haven’t come across before—and that may come in handy in a future when ‘plug it in’ may not always be a viable strategy. We do have all these limbs and muscles–it’s kind of a relief to be reminded how much they can accomplish.
— Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy
Lively and informative.
— Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change
I got great enjoyment from Tamara Dean’s book. It covers the entire spectrum of human power from its history, its inventors, to plans for making devices. It celebrates self-sufficiency and human ingenuity, and is an inspiration to anyone trying to cut down on the use of earth’s more precious resources.
— Trevor Baylis, inventor of the Clockwork radio and founder of Trevor Baylis Brands
The Human-Powered Home is a level-headed book which focuses on informing and entertaining. There is no utopian hyperbole, just useful facts and anecdotes that provide the foundation necessary to take appropriate action. Dean has produced an accessible primer for novices in the area of people power as well as a book that is thorough enough to benefit even experienced tinkerers.
— Joel Gillespie, in Momentum magazine