Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 1 UC06 page 1 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 2 UC06 page 2 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 3 UC06 page 3 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 2 UC06 page 2 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 3 UNDERCURRENTS, the magazine of radical science and alternative technology [ISSN 0306 2392], was published from London, England, from 1972 to 1984 [No. 60]. This text version has been created in 2006-8 by me, Chris [Hutton-]Squire [a member of the now- dissolved Undercurrents Collective], by OCRing scanned images of a print copy; the text has been spell-checked but it has NOT been checked against the original. Parts of UC06 were typed rather than typeset: these pages have been omitted from this version or only partially corrected. Health & Safety Warning: The practical, technical and scientific information herein [though believed to be accurate at the time of publication] may now be out of date. CAVEAT LECTOR! The many stories that Undercurrents told will interest students of a period that is both too distant and too recent to be adequately documented on the Web. The moral, philosophical, social, economic and political opinions herein remain, in my opinion, pertinent to the much more severe problems we now face. Readers who wish correspond on any matters arising are invited to contact me via: chris[at]cjsquire.plus.com This pdf version is formatted in 15 pt Optima throughout, so as to be easily readable on screen; it runs to 105 pages [the print versions were 48 - 56 pp.]: readers wishing to print it out to read are recommended to get the text from the .doc or text versions and to reformat it. The many pictures that embellished the print version are sadly not included here. There are no restrictions on the use of this material but please credit individual authors where credit is due: they are mostly still with us. Page numbers below are for this pdf version. The beginning of each section or article is indicated thus: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • UC06 page 3 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 4 UC06 page 4 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 3 UC06 page 3 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 4 UNDERCURRENTS Number 6 March-April 1974 Contents: Eddies: Digging for victory ........... 6 Dinorwic ........... 8 BRAD .................. 10 Acoustic Ecology ......... 12 Eddie Currents ....... 14 Cuba .................. 16 Letters ........... 18 John Wood: Alternative Electronics ........... 20 Pete Stellon: Heat Pumps ........... 25 John Shore: Organic Living .....…… [not included] J Raphe: Windmills .............. 36 Peter Harper: Guide to AT .......... 43 Petrol Stinks ............. 54 LID: It's a Gas ............ 26 [not included] George Woolston: Peoples' Water Power ..... 59 Peter Harper: What's Left of AT ........ 67 Geoff Watts: Sense of Tumor ........ 80 An AgitKrop Manifesto ........... 82 Gavin Browning: Science Fiction ........... 85 Colin Wilson: Dark Side of the Mind ........... 89 Tony Durham: Secret Life of Plants ........... 94 Tony Durham: Shelter. ..........… 98 David Gardiner: Energy Scrapbook ........... 100 Martin Ince: How It Works 102 Everbeenadne ........... 104 The Cast ........... 105 SUBSCRIPTIONS £2.00 for six issues by surface mail anywhere. Air mail rates on request. Single copies and back issues, 35p including postage. To avoid being ripped off. we have decided to copyright ® articles in UNDERCURRENTS from now on. But we will give permission freely to nonprofit groups who wish to reproduce material, without charge, provided they give credit to UNDERCURRENTS. Small ADS ... It is UNDERCURRENTS policy not to carry display advertising. but we do include small ads as a service to readers. Small Ads cost Ip per word, up II to a maximum of 150 words (bigger ads by arrangement). and must be pre·paid. RADICAL SCIENCE JOURNAL ,Number 1: January '74. I The aim of the journal is to provide a forum for serious and extended analyses of the history. philosophy. UC06 page 4 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 5 UC06 page 5 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 4 UC06 page 4 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 5 ideology)·· and current practice of the sciences, from a radical perspective. The journal is edited by a collective. The journal will appear three times a year. Contents of this issue: Jack Stauder · The relevance of Functionalist Anthropology to Colonialism and Imperialism. Mike Hales · Management Science and the "Second Industrial Revolution. ,. David Dickson · Technology and the Social Construction of Reality. Reviews by: Brian Easlea, Modes of Thought by R Horton and Finnegan. David Albury, Scientific Knowledge and it::: Social Problems by J It Ravetz. Contents of future issues include: Robert Young · The Ideology of nature · an Interpretation of Lysenkoism. Gary Werskey · Radical Scientists: The Uses of History. Articles on: Abortion, Automation. Operations Research. Reviews of books by: J Habermas, W Leiss, R Jay, B Easlea, T Schroyer, T Roszak. Single copies 30p per issue. Annual subscriptions (for three issues): £1 post paid for individuals. £3 post paid for libraries. Air mail subscrip·tions on application. I WALDEN TWO, a novel by B S Skinner (Macmillan paperback) is a book outlining his ideas on a behavioural/ experimental·based community. Twin Oaks (Louisa, Virginia 23093, USA) is a six year·old community. based on Walden Two lines, that publishes literature on their history. Between them they represent the theory and practice of the idea. We would like to know of any people who arc interested in forming a similar community in this country. (If there already is one, what is your address?) If there are such people, we shall be delighted to organise a weekend meeting to exchange ideas. discuss possibilities. etc. Several points though: the basic philosophy is scientific/rational, · in this country it seems likely that a high proportion of outside work would be necessary, i.e. conventional jobs for half the labour force at anyone time · if anything along the above lines is to b· established, with property prices as they are, unfortunately capital will be needed as well as people. Sorry if this all sounds a bit fierce. but if anything is to start. the initial people will have to be fairly efficient/ organisation·minded. So if you are interested, please write to us. We will allow two weeks from the publication of this information before assessing interest and replying. (S.a.e. or re·use sticker would be appreciated). John and Sally, Chance "1\\'0. Dicks Lane Wharf, Rowington Green. Warwicks. SELF·MANAGEMENT AND/OR RADICAL TECHNOLOGY, Read "In the Making", a directory of proposed productive projects, 1974 edition, from 71 Thirlwell Road, Sheffield 8. (SOp sub. or 15p each inc.. post). Read the new FREE EARTH magazine. The contents are now divided into 3 main sections: INFORM A TIOX ON ALTERNATIVES including articles, practical know·how social change. reviews and news, etc ..... INNER/OUTER SPACE a section devoted to the Occult, Astral Projection, ESP, philosophies, Star People .... Also the beginning of ANDROGYNE which is an embryonic movement for people who feel androgyne. CLASSIFIED SECTiON including useful contacts all over the UK as well as abroad. plus FREELY INSERTED personal messages. We are a non·profit publication and we barely cover our 'total expenses. If you want: copy. you can either send 14· + 4p postage for the current issue, or, preferably, subscribe. Send SOp for 3 issues. or £1 for 6 which covers one year (bi·monthly printing), to: 103 South Street, Lancing, Sussex. UC06 page 5 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 6 UC06 page 6 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 5 UC06 page 5 Undercurrents 06 March-April 1974 Page 6 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Eddies: DIGGING FOR VICTORY . a stage that not only exceeds our real requirements but also exploits the Earth in a way that cannot continue;'declared the People party. Not much difference there, you might say_ Digger leaflet: .. As world demand outstrips supply, and as the financiers play the commodities market, prices of imported food will rise. We can and must produce more food at home". People pamphlet:" on agriculture. " to make Britain self·sufficient since, as world population grows and with it, the demand for food, it will become increasingly difficult for Britain to find countries with surpluses to export." Pretty much the same, it would seem. The verdict of the electors on each group was much the same, too. Teddy Goldsmith, editor of The Ecologist and co·author of Blueprint for Survival, swept People to a landslide defeat at Eye in Suffolk ..... with 395 votes (the Tories did slightly better, with 23.486) And the 369 votes cast for Susan Inkster, the Cambridge undergraduate Digger candidate, really made the Tory's 24,219 votes look insignificant. But the differences between the two parties are much more significant than their similarities. The reference in the Digger manifesto to "financiers playing the commodity market" is curiously without parallel in the People pamphlets ·· a quirk that is entirely unrelated to the fact that:1t People '9 Teddy Goldsmith is · brother of Jimmy Goldsmith Chairman of one of Britain's most successful food conglomerates, Cavenham Foods, which owns Liptons supermarkets, a chain of health food shops, and numerous other speculative ventures. The Diggers I reference to exploitation of the under·developed world is also strangely absent from People 1 literature. Exploitation, indeed. is hardly mentioned in People tracts. The party says it wants to ··· ·... ·· "reduce income differentials", but claims it has "no wish to bash the rich". But for the Diggers, exploit·ation is the key issue:"Only people matter ·· not 'efficiency' (more profit for the bosses), or 'moderation' (retaining the present inequity). " The differences bet'w'een the parties illustrate vividly the split It between the Right and Left wings of what was once optimistically called the Environmental movement.