Book Reviews

'RICE HUSKS AS A FUEL' Sekam Padi Sebagi Baha Baka

by Craig Thorburn, 1982

76pp, US $3.50 plus US $1.50 postage and packing.

This unique bilingual (English and Indonesian) book gives tried and true examples from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines of how to use rice husks for home cooking, hotels, food processing, brick and tile firing and even banana ripening.

All of the 17 processes described were developed by local people, drawing on their accumulated expertise which often represented appropriate solutions to needs in specific geographic, social and economic environments. Besides describing the different stoves and firing techniques the book illustrates the tools and techniques in sufficient detail so that they can be copied or altered to meet local conditions and needs. For anyone living or working in rice growing areas, this book will be of great value.

'TEKNOLOGI KAMPUNGAN : A COLLECTION OF INDIGENOUS INDONESIAN TECHNOLOGIES'

by Craig Thorburn, 1982

154 pp. US$ 5.00 plus US$ 2.00 postage and packing.

Using a similar approach to 'Rice Husks as a Fuel' Craig Thorburn has documented over 100 technologies from agriculture, fishing, post harvest processing, cooking utensils, water supply, transportation, architecture, small industries, and the informal sector. Not just a collection of drawings, it goes into great depth about the operations surrounding the technologies. The section on pottery cooking stoves should be of special interest to people working with stoves and nearly everyone will find some useful ideas in this excellent book.

Both books are available from the Appropriate Technology Project, Volunteers in Asia, PO Box 4543, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

 

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