What Smil concludes about the early modern period provides some of the most insightful passages among a vast number of offerings. The immense stretches of time when most humans remained either hunter-gatherers or toiling peasants can, of course, be approached along an energy perspective. Interpretations of these tedious periods by many authors nevertheless tend to lean on mere assumptions about motive and on various anthropological analogies that are sometimes plausible but commonly arbitrary. They typically amount to pronouncements about indifference to accumulation (readily but unconvincingly supported by material poverty) and chronic aversion to physical labor. Nor is Smil impressed by assertions about the labor supposedly required to erect the great monuments of the past, such as the Great Pyramid, and demonstrates how exaggerated they often are. Better documented detail is available once 1850 is passed, when the Western world took up fossil fuels on a grand scale and soon became a fossil fuel civilization. From that date he pays even closer attention to the energy implications of inventions in sphere after sphere after sphere. He offers a new and informative slant on many of these developments. In principle all this is, however, familiar ground.
Energy and Civilization: A History (MIT Press)
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows -- ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity -- for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel--driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts -- from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 2017. Hardcover. 6-1/4 x 9-1/4", tan boards, vii, 552pp, addenda, bibliographical notes, references, name index, subject index, illus. Item #900587 ISBN: 9780262035774 A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization.Fine in dust wrapper and protective mylar.
Admired by Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, Smil is a prolific writer on energy and environmental issues, with a penchant for history. This is especially valuable today, when renewables such as wind and solar power are set to disrupt the fossil-fuel-based energy system. Our use of energy has been transformed since the late nineteenth century with the extraction of oil and natural gas, the diffusion of technologies driven by electricity and the expansion of power-distribution networks. History offers guidance on paradigm shifts, and how we adapt.
The book is a significantly revised, updated and more detailed version of Smil's Energy in World History (Westview, 1994). It takes us back to prehistory to quantify the energy expended by foragers, hunters and agrarian societies. Smil uses evidence from the !Kung people in Botswana, the Maasai in Kenya and Alaskan whalers, and discusses 500,000-year-old spear tips found in South Africa and the role of hunting in the extinction of the mammoths.
Although these risks have been tolerated, Smil reminds us that concerns about air pollution have encouraged transitions away from coal in Europe and China. Chinese investment in wind turbines and solar panels has driven down the price of renewable power so that in many locations it is the cheapest source of electricity. Although it is too early to say, we could be witnessing a dramatic new chapter in energy history. But a lesson from history is that solving one environmental problem often leads to another: increased energy consumption.
Because of the vast literature on energy written since Smil's 1994 history, this radically revised version is 60% longer. Structurally and in terms of message, the books are similar, however, probably because the new literature has not fundamentally changed our interpretation of the energy landscape. It is also a credit to Smil's original and enlightening way of seeing energy in world history. Read it and be dazzled by the panoply of ways in which humanity has powered progress, with forces, materials and sheer blazing ingenuity.
"Read and get books click =0262536161 Energy and Civilization: A History (The MIT Press)A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization.Energy is the only universal currency it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows?ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity?for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel?driven civilization.Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts?from the simplest " 2ff7e9595c
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