This book--written by nine scholars based in Europe and another eight in the United States--is an undertaking in American Studies where, typically, transnational intellectual currents and cross-currents meet. Its sixteen chapters unite around three major themes and one common goal. The themes are, first, technology and energy; second, place, space, and the environment; and, third, the theory and method of American Studies. At the same time, the goal is to pay tribute to David E. Nye, one of the leading American Studies scholars of our time. Not only has he dedicated the major part of his academic life to exploring those exact three themes; as an "absent native son" born in the United States yet working in Europe and for nearly three decades chairing the Center for American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, he has contributed mightily to stimulating those intellectual currents and cross-currents that make up the stuff of American Studies.