Energy and Civilization: A History

I bought this book on Bill Gates recommendation. Now I realise why he recommended this. A fantastic read.

Vaclav Smil is one of the favourites. Books after books, he has told the real story of our civilization. I can't say I have read ample books on the industrial revolution, but I can certainly say that this book is one of the most storytelling and easy-going piece of art.

This book is a read for everyone, provides a new prospective as to how energy is the real currency and how harvesting, harnessing it provides us with real power. It also tells us that, this generation is taking a great effort to reduce deforestation.

nice book

Traces Energy sustainability from early history to modern times with emphasis on Renewable Energy.

Recebi hoje. O livro tem impressão nítida em papel de textura amarelada, e capa comum.

Lo acabo de recibir. Impaciente por leerlo, el autor es muy bueno.

Incredibly informative global historical survey of how energy conversion has been behind all human activities (including staying alive) and of how we have arrived at the astonishing (and appalling) quantities of energy we use per person today and the equally amazing (or appalling) technological changes have that come with it. With no waffle, the author tells us the facts. Essential reading to help us understand how we got where we are and what the options might be ahead.

The best text for an undergrad history of energy that I could find in 1990s was 'In the Servitude of Power: Energy through the Ages' by three French, Marxist-influenced academics -- Deleage, Debeir, Hemery. At the time, as I pursued a Ph.D in Interdisciplinary Humanities at FSU with the goal of teaching STS (Science-Tech-Society) at a American Engineering or Architecture school, the Marxist slant was (and is) a taboo point-of-view. Smil does not punctuate his narrative with Marxist critiques at each stage of energy development, concluding that an Era of Renewable energy would require Marxist transformation of society. Certainly a transition from fossil fuels-based to renewable 'Green' tech-based energy has been slow in progressing in the 25 years that have passed (also I was never able to teach history of energy in history depts. as specialized intellectual history nor as STS coursework. I sincerely hope that Smil's less ideologically-driven narrative will be accepted at engineering schools as a much-needed antidote to the conservative view that the costs of transforming fossil-fuel techs is too great to bear. So instead, govt. policy impedes this transition by subsidizing coal & oil so long as these big political donors support politicians who do as they are told. Marxist or liberal bias aside, Europe has progressed toward renewables while the U S govt policy has staggered from pro-renewable to anti-green depending on the what PAC spends most on political ads. Energy and Civiization reads more like a science text than intellectual history but this is ideal for STEM students. For those who might wish a more historical approach to history of tech, check out Boorstin's The Americans: The Democratic Experience ( last of his trilogy). The title is misleading; this is history of U S tech from post- Civil War to 1970s. Wonderfully blends tech history with entertaining narrative, i.e. , oil wild-catting, rise of a statistically-measured society and insurers, etc. With its broad sweep of energy development within world history, Smil could be specialized secondary text for a traditional World Civilization requirement. Also,for those who enjoyed this I'd recommend Diamond's Germs, Guns, and Steel from late 1990s -- it is an extraordinary synthesis of various scientific fields that explains the present-day dominance of science-based Western culture based on environmental circumstances and climate without depending upon racial biases which argue that caucasians are more intelligent than other races.

Boken borde läsas av många, beslutsfattare, politiker, alla som hoppas att vi kan undgå en klimatkollaps. Det är bra om man har en naturvetenskaplig bakgrund, men inte helt nödvändigt. Intresse att förstå viktiga samband är avgörande. Om det är ont om tid, så kan man starta med kapitel 5, som avhandlar den tekniska utvecklingen sen ungefär 1500, med början i Europa. Energi och dess omvandlingar är förbundna med ekonomin, skriver V Smil med eftertryck. Referenser upptar hela 67 sidor.