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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Autonomy summary
Lawrence D. Burns
The Quest to Build the Driverless Car – And How It Will Reshape Our World
23 mins
Brief summary
Autonomy by Lawrence D. Burns is an insightful exploration of the future of transportation. It offers a roadmap for achieving sustainable, autonomous mobility that can improve safety, reduce congestion, and minimize the environmental impact of travel.
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Autonomy
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Gasoline-powered vehicles are everywhere, but they’re shockingly inefficient.
Listen to your surroundings for a moment. Unless you’re deep in the countryside, out at sea or on a desert island, you’ll most likely hear the vr-vr-vroom of an automobile’s internal combustion engine.
It’s an invention that has transformed the modern world, choking it with exhaust fumes and filling it with noise pollution. And given this high cost, you might be surprised to learn that the internal combustion engine and the gas-guzzling vehicles it powers use energy very inefficiently.
Less than 30 percent of the energy from the gasoline that goes into your car is used to drive it along the road. The remainder is wasted as heat or used to power accessories like headlights, radios and air conditioners. Then, because the average vehicle weighs about 3,000 pounds and the average person weighs about 150 pounds, only a meager 5 percent of the gasoline energy converted into motion is used to move the driver.
And gas-powered vehicles use space inefficiently, too. Think of those traffic jams that snake on for miles, whole cities brought to a standstill by swarms of rush-hour cars. The average speed in congested cities, according to the US Department of Transportation, can be as low as 12 mph, which is highly fuel-inefficient.
It's especially shocking when you realize that most of those cars aren't even full! The average occupancy in vehicles is just 1.1 people on a daily work commute. For cars with enough room for at least five adults, that's a highly uneconomical use of space.
And as we use our vehicles just 5 percent of the time, we have to find a place to store them for the other 95 percent. So, we dedicate large parts of our homes to garages and driveways. And our workplaces, our shopping centers and sports stadiums have to build enormous parking lots, too – paving over huge expanses of land that could be used for valuable real estate or left to nature. We create “asphalt heat islands” that increase urban temperatures, and are even thought to contribute to climate change.
All of this adds up to a giant, damaging waste of energy and space. So, the question isn’t “Why would we want to do away with cars as we use them today?” – it’s, “why wouldn’t we?”
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What is Autonomy about?
Autonomy (2018) chronicles the long story of driverless vehicles and imagines a future that’s almost upon us. From the perspective of an auto-industry insider, the book goes deep into the history of automation, from the US Defense Department’s sponsored races in the Mojave Desert to the innovations of traditional car manufacturers. Lawrence D. Burns describes a world of Silicon Valley geeks and rugged inventors in a narrative that should interest anyone pondering the world to come.
Autonomy Review
Autonomy (2018) by Lawrence D. Burns is a captivating exploration of the self-driving car revolution and its potential impact on society. Here's why you should add it to your reading list:
- Offering in-depth insights into the emergence of autonomous vehicles, the book delves into the technologies, challenges, and opportunities that lie ahead.
- Backed by extensive research and firsthand experiences, Burns presents a comprehensive view of the potential benefits and possible consequences of self-driving cars.
- The book combines technical expertise with a human perspective, making it accessible and intriguing for both tech enthusiasts and those interested in societal advancements.
Best quote from Autonomy
In almost every way imaginable, the car, as it is deployed and used today, is insane. – Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Edward Humes
—Lawrence D. Burns
Who should read Autonomy?
- Technology buffs interested in the story of automation
- Car aficionados worried about a future full of driverless vehicles
- Budding roboticists
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Autonomy FAQs
What is the main message of Autonomy?
The main message of Autonomy is that self-driving cars have the potential to drastically change our transportation system and society as a whole.
How long does it take to read Autonomy?
It takes several hours to read Autonomy. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Autonomy a good book? Is it worth reading?
Autonomy offers fascinating insights into self-driving cars and their impact on the future. Worth reading for those interested in technological advancements.
Who is the author of Autonomy?
The author of Autonomy is Lawrence D. Burns.
What to read after Autonomy?
If you're wondering what to read next after Autonomy, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin
- A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- The Other Significant Others by Rhaina Cohen
- A History of Fake Things on the Internet by Walter Scheirer
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
- How Should We Live? by Roman Krznaric
- Power Play by Tim Higgins