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Energy and Civilization: A History

Energy and Civilization: A History

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  • Create Date：2021-11-01 09:53:18
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Vaclav Smil
  • ISBN：0262536161
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Summary

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 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。

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Reviews

Jeremy ，

An impressive feat of research。 Smil throws an immense amount of information at you， I'm not sure I really absorbed that much。 I listened as an audiobook， and if you really want to get into this book that is not the best way。 He covers energy in every way possible it seems， from the amount of energy ancient humans spent farming， to horse power， to modern forms of energy。 There are lots of good reviews out there， not much else for me to say。 An impressive feat of research。 Smil throws an immense amount of information at you， I'm not sure I really absorbed that much。 I listened as an audiobook， and if you really want to get into this book that is not the best way。 He covers energy in every way possible it seems， from the amount of energy ancient humans spent farming， to horse power， to modern forms of energy。 There are lots of good reviews out there， not much else for me to say。 。。。more

Dennis Murphy ，

Energy and Civilization: A History is a bit of a bizarre book。 Vaclav clearly has a very large amount of knowledge about the subject， and sometimes says something bordering on profound， but the book's organization is poor。 There are a selection of thematic chapters which seemed interesting at first， but I gradually lost interest as the book continued， to the point where it eventually became a chore。 While there is a chronology to the thematic lectures， I would rather if this book kept more to it Energy and Civilization: A History is a bit of a bizarre book。 Vaclav clearly has a very large amount of knowledge about the subject， and sometimes says something bordering on profound， but the book's organization is poor。 There are a selection of thematic chapters which seemed interesting at first， but I gradually lost interest as the book continued， to the point where it eventually became a chore。 While there is a chronology to the thematic lectures， I would rather if this book kept more to its premise: providing a historical narrative of how energy influenced civilization。 Imagine chapters were shorter， ordered more clearly， and had its themes woven throughout it。。。 That could have been a fantastic book。 This。。。 this is just a missed opportunity。 75/100 。。。more

Thomas ，

A great overview of the history of energy and how it shaped civilizations。 Everything from the water-wheel， nuclear， to Nigerian Delta。

Lubinka Dimitrova ，

A very densely written book， I would definitely need to read a few more times if I want to be truly capable of grasping all the information it contains。 Hopefully， an updated version will be published soon， which would take into account the current climate change challenges。

Peter Sidell ，

Smil provides almost too much data about energy use in civilization and poorer capital throughout history。 He sees energy as an important element in historical advance but nearly incidental to ethics and art。 He refers to automobiles as an addiction and notes no addiction is without costs。 He speculates on how out of the world can wean itself from hydrocarbon energy。 While full of many answers it raises even more questions。

Yves ，

Indispensable text book

Jakob Sønstebø ，

Lenge siden jeg lærte så mye av en bok， men blir litt uoversiktlig mot slutten så får ikke helt fem stjerner。 Her fant jeg alt jeg ikke visste at jeg ikke visste om hestekosthold， irrigasjonssystemer， kumøkk， vannmøller og dampmaskiner。 Alt regnet ut i SI enheter og sammenlignet på tvers av kontinenter og tidsaldre。 Anbefales hvis man gleder seg til joule！

Martin Lumiste ，

Bill Gates introduces Vaclav Smil as the foremost expert of energy in the world。 After reading this， I tend to agree。 While the author considers himself a pure scientist， he reminds me more of a modern day Socrates， an archetypical scientist-philosopher who seamlessly blends multidisciplinary research with his own value judgements on how to live a good life。 Combine this with his eccentric personality （no doubt derived from his extensive research into the nature of things） and you have a fascina Bill Gates introduces Vaclav Smil as the foremost expert of energy in the world。 After reading this， I tend to agree。 While the author considers himself a pure scientist， he reminds me more of a modern day Socrates， an archetypical scientist-philosopher who seamlessly blends multidisciplinary research with his own value judgements on how to live a good life。 Combine this with his eccentric personality （no doubt derived from his extensive research into the nature of things） and you have a fascinating author， to say the least。 This book is unique in many ways。 Energy seems a more plausible single explanation of the world affairs than any other that is commonly proposed in popular history books - finance， material base， culture， religion， class struggle etc。 And Smil's treatment is truly fascinating。 Going into astonishing depth， he reconstructs the energy contents of prehistoric diets， the return on calorie investment of establishing permanent agriculture， the natural bounds on population densities as a function of diet， the nitrogen content of different fertilisers and so on。 Every aspect of energy and history which you might have just taken for granted or treated as a footnote is made subject of a rigorous analysis and modelled quantitatively。 These comparison tables alone are a reason to read the book。 Another thing I loved is the use of enlightenment era engravings from Diderot's Encyclopedia to illustrate all kinds of concepts related to pre-oil societies - it adds a degree of venerability to the content。 This book will help you appreciate how much of a boon fossil fuels have been to support our current wellbeing and what a momentous task replacing them with something else will be。 It even makes you wonder whether our whole Age of Reason and innovation are not just byproducts of finding cheap fuel from the ground， which kickstarted us out of the Malthusian cycle of poverty。 Smil himself， outside of this book， advocates degrowth by returning to a 1960s in the West like standard of living but like others， does not know of ways to get there。 In Energy and Civilization he remains open for other futures though， including a technooptimistic scenario and biospheric collapse。 The only certainty in the future will be that energy transitions are a marathon， taking up to multiple generations， and our current wind/solar/other revolution will not be any different。My only criticism of the book is that it seems self-published and could do with heavy abridging， some of the later chapters seem to be just filler and there are many repetitions of the same thoughts。 。。。more

Tom ，

This book is a basically a collection of facts interspersed with tables。 There are good facts and good tables。 I certainly learned some things from it; it's informative on the history of population density and energy consumption。 The reading experience， though， is a slog。 Imagine if Professor Binns （from Harry Potter） wrote a comprehensive book about energy。 I wish I had given myself permission to start skimming it earlier。 This book is a basically a collection of facts interspersed with tables。 There are good facts and good tables。 I certainly learned some things from it; it's informative on the history of population density and energy consumption。 The reading experience， though， is a slog。 Imagine if Professor Binns （from Harry Potter） wrote a comprehensive book about energy。 I wish I had given myself permission to start skimming it earlier。 。。。more

Jorge I。 Zuluaga ，

Este libro es el “Ideas” de la tecnología y Vaclav Smil ha hecho por la historia de la relación de la humanidad con la energía， lo que Watson hizo por las ideas。 Una lectura indispensable en tiempos en los que entender nuestra adicción energívora es indispensable para prepararnos para las transiciones inminentes （e inevitables si queremos que lo que hemos construído en 10。000 años tenga algún futuro）。Es mi primer libro de Smil， a quién conocí a través de las repetidas recomendaciones que en libr Este libro es el “Ideas” de la tecnología y Vaclav Smil ha hecho por la historia de la relación de la humanidad con la energía， lo que Watson hizo por las ideas。 Una lectura indispensable en tiempos en los que entender nuestra adicción energívora es indispensable para prepararnos para las transiciones inminentes （e inevitables si queremos que lo que hemos construído en 10。000 años tenga algún futuro）。Es mi primer libro de Smil， a quién conocí a través de las repetidas recomendaciones que en libros， documentales y columnas hace Bill Gates sobre su obra。 No será， definitivamente el último。 Y es que Gates definitivamente no se equivoca en su recomendación。 Vaclav Smil es sencillamente un "monstruo" y eso queda reflejado en este impresionante libro。La primera sorpresa que me lleve fue la de encontrarme con un libro de divulgación tecnológica que parece más bien un artículo científico de revisión de 600 páginas。 Antes que huyan despavoridos de la reseña y del libro， déjenme aclararlo mejor。 A diferencia de la mayoría de los libros de ensayo divulgativo， llenos de notas y referencias al final （que a veces llegan a ser hasta la mitad del libro） o de （incómodas） notas al pie， Smil usa el estilo académico de citar las fuentes al estilo Harvard （Smil， 2021）。 A pesar de esto， y muy curiosamente el libro no tiene una sección de bibliografía （en la que tampoco cabrían "cómodamente" las centenares de citas bibliográficas）; entiendo， sin embargo， a los editores por haber decidido suprimirla。 Ello habría implicado un exceso de páginas para incluir información que puede encontrarse en cualquier parte。Justamente viendo las citas de este libro llega uno a reconocer por qué Smil ha sido reconocido como el más influyente experto mundial en temas de energía。 Calculo que entre un 30% y un 40% de las referencias incluidas en el libro son a sus propios trabajos， la mayoría de los últimos 10 a 15 años。 Unos dirán que es obvio que se cite a si mismo。 Para otros， como yo， este hecho me dio razones permanentes para seguir leyendo el texto， a pesar de que puede volverse un poco denso a ratos。 Otra cosa que me gusto del libro， y que es más propio de un texto académico， es el uso de recuadros explicativos （el equivalente a las notas del final de la mayoría de los libros de ensayo） en los que Smil profundiza en algunos temas interesantes， realiza una reflexión particular sobre algún asunto。 o presenta un "cálculo" cuyo resultado cita en el texto。"¿Cálculo？ ¡no me jodás！"Si， así como lo oyen。 Si se van a animar a leerlo hay que prepararse para una buena dosis de física y un poco de aritmética。 Y es que para entender la energía， que es un concepto físico， y la historia de nuestra relación con ella， no se puede ir simplemente por allí soltando anécdotas， conceptos y reflexiones。 Como decimos por aquí "sin números， ni pio"。 Pero tampoco se imaginen un libro lleno de ecuaciones o diagramas técnicos。 A lo sumo multiplicaciones， conversiones de unidades， múltiplos y submúltiplos de 10 y muchos prefijos griegos （kilo， mega， giga， tera， exa， etc。）El libro es un tesoro de datos asombrosos y una ruina en notas pots-it para quien quiera resaltarlos todos （yo tuve que， con dificultad， contenerme un poco）。 Les suelto algunos al azar （en realidad voy a abrir el libro en páginas al azar y citar el primer dato que me encuentre）: los humanos en la era industrial no comemos patatas producidas con energía solar， sino patatas parcialmente producidas con petróleo; toda transición del uso de unas formas primarias de energía a otras （madera， carbón， petróleo， luz solar）， requiere el uso intensivo de energía existentes y es por eso que la transición a las renovables no dejará de usar combustibles fósiles; los microchips se han convertido en el artefacto complejo más omnipresente de la civilización moderna， cada año se producen más de 200。000 millones de ellos; en 2000， un lumen de luz en Reino Unido costaba solo el 0。01% de lo que costaba en 1500 y el 1% de los que costaba en 1900。 Y así podría continuar por dos o tres reseñas más。La estructura del libro es quizás su mejor atributo。 Tampoco es muy impredecible: una presentación cronológica de la relación de la humanidad con la energía， desde nuestros remotos antepasados que extraían energía del sol capturada en los frutos que recogían o en los animales que se alimentaban de ella， hasta los reactores de fusión nuclear experimentales del presente。 Literalmente 2 millones de años de manipulaciones energéticas comprimidas en 600 páginas。Los primeros capítulos son pesados， especialmente el de la agricultura tradicional。 Como es fácil que sean también estos primeros capítulos los que deberían enganchar， le recomiendo a cualquiera que se vaya a montar en este tren que tenga paciencia y no se apresure a abandonar el libro porque no le interesa mucho el papel que jugaron las innovaciones en el collar de los caballos de tiro o en el arado durante la dinastía Qing。 Las cosas empiezan a ponerse realmente emocionantes a partir del capítulo 4。 Si son del team impacientes pueden saltarse el capítulo 3 completo e ir directamente al capítulo 4。 Pero si son aún más impacientes y no quieren una clase de 500 páginas y más bien gozar un buen resumen de la historia de la civilización en función de la energía， lean primero el capítulo final "La energía en la historia del mundo"， una verdadera joya。En fin， son 600 páginas y miles de datos y goodreads solo me da como 30。000 caracteres （y a los que verdaderamente les gusta la historia de la tecnología， posiblemente solo necesitaran 240 caracteres para animarse a leer）。 Dejen de consumir energía en la pantalla y vayan a consumir energía intelectual （que como aprendí en este libro， es de las más baratas que existen） leyendo el fantástico libro de Smil。 。。。more

Jan ，

I did enjoy this， but it's one of those books that would have been better consumed in print due to all the numbers。 I did enjoy this， but it's one of those books that would have been better consumed in print due to all the numbers。 。。。more

Adam ，

I finally finished this。。。 I didn't know what I was getting into when I picked it up at least a year ago。 And what it is is exactly what it claims to be， a compendium of how energy has been generated and used by various civilizations throughout history。Make no mistake， this is a textbook， and （I hope） Smil's magnum opus。 The book is littered with references， most of them to Smil articles。 Without knowing anything else about the study of energy， I have to assume that Smil is the expert on how muc I finally finished this。。。 I didn't know what I was getting into when I picked it up at least a year ago。 And what it is is exactly what it claims to be， a compendium of how energy has been generated and used by various civilizations throughout history。Make no mistake， this is a textbook， and （I hope） Smil's magnum opus。 The book is littered with references， most of them to Smil articles。 Without knowing anything else about the study of energy， I have to assume that Smil is the expert on how much energy single everything in history has produced or had needed to be produced。 Which were more efficient: water wheels in ancient China or ancient Rome？ What technologies displaced livestock as prime movers？ This book'll tell you。I'm thoroughly amused that this book exists: it's completely fascinating。 I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anybody I know and I'm glad I don't have to read it anymore。 。。。more

Gonçalo Gato ，

One could simply say that this book is a must。 It makes an incomparable relation between the energy use and respective state of civilization。 A complex and hard web to follow， all the correlations between energy converters and historical social and cultural transitions well written in one masterpiece。 As an energy master and enthusiast， I might say this book is in my top 3 of all time。

Samer Salem ，

Nearly two years… but didn’t give up。 Denser and more world encompassing than my brain might be ready for， but the complex and nonlinear progression of various energy flows is a great historical knowledge to attempt to grasp for the purpose of trying the help chart histories next 50 years。

Will Blasingame ，

3。5。 Very comprehensive。

Kai ，

This book seems to be authoritative at looking at the drivers of human growth， innovation， culture as a function of energy usage and energy manipulation。 The limits of animate power。Just reading it for the historical anecdotes is worth enough。Perhaps the author is too dismissive about solar energy。Indeed， higher energy use by itself does not guarantee anythingexcept greater environmental burdens （Smil 1991）。 The historicalevidence is clear。 Higher energy use will not ensure a reliable foodsuppl This book seems to be authoritative at looking at the drivers of human growth， innovation， culture as a function of energy usage and energy manipulation。 The limits of animate power。Just reading it for the historical anecdotes is worth enough。Perhaps the author is too dismissive about solar energy。Indeed， higher energy use by itself does not guarantee anythingexcept greater environmental burdens （Smil 1991）。 The historicalevidence is clear。 Higher energy use will not ensure a reliable foodsupply （wood-burning czarist Russia was a grain exporter; theUSSR， the hydrocarbon superpower， had to import grain）; it willnot confer strategic security （the United States was surely moresecure in 1915 than in 2015）; it will not safely underpin politicalstability （whether in Brazil， Italy， or Egypt）; it will not necessarilylead to a more enlightened governance （it surely has not in NorthKorea or Iran）; and it will not bring widely shared increases in anation’s standard of living （it has not done so in Guatemala orNigeria）。 This book goes well with 'The Vital Question， Why is Life the Way it is' by Nick Lane about the energetic determinants of evolution。 。。。more

Joe Hoggard ，

For a rigorously detailed history of world civilizations and their use of different forms of energy available on earth， and commentary on how these advances have altered the course of history， this book has the capacity to see our modern life in a new light， so to speak。 One of the key takeaways for me was that high energy utilizing societies do not always use the resources wisely and it can take a crisis to spur innovation into cleaner and less destructive forms of energy to power our cities。

Jeffrey ，

Energy and Civilization is an excellent deep dive into the role of energy has played and continues to play in our society。 As Smil notes at the start: “To talk about energy and the economy is a tautology: every economic activity is fundamentally nothing but a conversion of one kind of energy to another， and the monies are just a convenient （and often rather unrepresentative） proxy for valuing the energy flows。” （p344） But indeed this is something that those of us living in modern cities easily f Energy and Civilization is an excellent deep dive into the role of energy has played and continues to play in our society。 As Smil notes at the start: “To talk about energy and the economy is a tautology: every economic activity is fundamentally nothing but a conversion of one kind of energy to another， and the monies are just a convenient （and often rather unrepresentative） proxy for valuing the energy flows。” （p344） But indeed this is something that those of us living in modern cities easily forget。Smil covers the history of the development of energy sources， from the beginning of man kind where collecting enough energy to cover our basic metabolic requirements was not guarantee， to present day where the opposite is true in some places。 But having overcome the challenge of mustering sufficient energy resources， is there any value to understanding the history of energy and its development in previous societies？ Of course， as the future will be defined in how successful we are in managing to master new methods of generating and distributing energy。 As figure 6。20 （p363） - ensuring an adequate quality of life for a significant part of the world population will require increasing the energy available to them， but the returns are questionable once a threshold of about 100GJ/capita is reached。 Understanding this will be a fundamental part in efficiently using our energy resources as part of the challenge to meet climate change。Also important is to understand how this transition will take place and not to fall into the trap of those who argue we are doomed to fail or be taken in by unreasonable promises of a magical new technology which will be a panacea。 As Smil has shown， “it takes two to three generations， or 50-70 years， for a new resource to capture a large share of the global energy market…” （p395） - this is because the scale of energy production required is constantly increasing （coal moving from 10% to 20% market share required less than 4 EJ of extra production， but for natural gas this same step would represent around 55 EJ）。 Not only that， but “…a fundamental fact of energetics， … [is] every transition to a new form of energy supply has to be powered by the intensive deployment of existing energies and prime movers: the transition from wood to coal had to be energised by human muscles， coal combustion powered the development of oil， and … today’s solar photovoltaic cells and wind turbines are embodiments of fossil energies required to smelt the requisite metals， synthesise the needed plastics， and process other materials requiring high energy inputs。” （p230）But despite demonstrating the central role that energy plays in society， Smil is careful to note that it not the only factor: “The only rewarding and revealing way to assess energy's importance in human history is neither to succumb to the simplistic， deterministic explanations buttressed by recitals of countless energy imperatives nor to belittle it by reducing it to a marginal role compared to many other history-shaping factors， be they climatic changes and epidemics or human whims and passions。 Energy conversion is always necessary to get anything accomplished， but none of the extrasomatic conversions initiated and controlled by people is predestined， and only a few of them arise simply from chaos or accident。 This dichotomy is as important for interpreting the past as it is for understanding future possibilities: they too are not predestined， but their scope is definitely restricted， and energy flows impose the most fundamental limits。” （p418 - emphasis added）。In that way， this is a fantastic book to understand the role of energy in our society。 Smil presents us with a terrific amount of detail （sometimes perhaps too much） and goes to length to ensure that the fundamentals are covered。 By recognising its importance， but at the same time the importance of other factors， Smil keeps the role of energy in context。 This book is a must-read for those who want to understand our history better - perhaps form a new perspective they rarely think about when flipping the light switch to read a book at night。 。。。more

Christopher Arnold ，

The audiobook version is an excellent sleep aid。 5 minutes and I’m fast asleep。

Oktawian Chojnacki ，

Excellent！

Chris ，

Da leggere e rileggere : la chiave per comprendere il ruolo primario dell’energia ，soprattutto oggi。

Chris ，

Excellent， detailed history providing a solid sense of perspectiveto many of today’s real and imagined urgent transitions。 Yes， wewill probably need nuclear energy to bridge the gap between fossilfuels and fissile， but no， we should not let the real and imaginedurgencies of climate change enable us to skip the necessary stepsof validating the safety and soundness of nuclear reactor designs，nor let us skip the equally important steps of validating regulatoryregimes and including the general publi Excellent， detailed history providing a solid sense of perspectiveto many of today’s real and imagined urgent transitions。 Yes， wewill probably need nuclear energy to bridge the gap between fossilfuels and fissile， but no， we should not let the real and imaginedurgencies of climate change enable us to skip the necessary stepsof validating the safety and soundness of nuclear reactor designs，nor let us skip the equally important steps of validating regulatoryregimes and including the general public in their review processes。 。。。more

Tianxiao ，

用量化数据的方式，以能量转换和利用的角度，看人类文明如何一步一步走到今天。很棒的视角。

Jiri ，

5% pleasure 15% pain 30% citations， 20% square boxes， 10% pretty good。

Liquidlasagna ，

Heavy on the data， light on the analysis， terrible in the writing。 And adding almost nothing since the Club of Rome。At least reading all the editions of The Limits to Growth gives something insightful， with meaningful data。Really is the waste of a tree。

Logan Streondj ，

Very thorough analysis of energy use from prehistory to the present。 he missed food forests as a low energy means of producing food。 He is mostly a status quo supporter but since it is a history book gotta forgive him。 He does admit that transitioning to more sustainable society that can function based on current solar radiation is necessary。 He also somehow endorsed the official story of 911， which is absurd considering WTC7 and the obvious planned demolition。

Mo ，

Small masterpiece， look on energy from every possible angle。 However， boring from time to time due to large number of technical details and formulas。

ilya murychev ，

Отличная книга。 Самый обширный охват знаний， который я встречал в одной книги。 Очень любопытный взгляд на мир и на историческое развитие через призмы энергии。 Вполне возможно， что он один из самых рациональных。 Одна из лучших научно-популярных книг， которые я читал。

Regan ，

This is a very very very thorough examination of humankind's relationship with the somewhat abstract concept of energy。 From the time when hominids relied only on their own muscles to survive， to when draft animals were first harnessed to pull an early plow， to when steam engines were used for pumping water out of coal mines， to the present situation where the globe's energy consumption is growing faster and faster。 The sheer amount of numbers he uses can get tedious， but Smil uses them to tell This is a very very very thorough examination of humankind's relationship with the somewhat abstract concept of energy。 From the time when hominids relied only on their own muscles to survive， to when draft animals were first harnessed to pull an early plow， to when steam engines were used for pumping water out of coal mines， to the present situation where the globe's energy consumption is growing faster and faster。 The sheer amount of numbers he uses can get tedious， but Smil uses them to tell his comprehensive story。 He is at his best when discussing the transition and relationship between the different prime movers - he emphasizes how gradual the transitions were。 Many of the energy sources reached their maximum efficiency when they were in the process of being replaced。 For example - the use of draft animals peaked well after technologies such as steam engines existed to replace a lot of their work。 He emphasizes that throughout history， almost all transitions between energy sources and prime movers have been very gradual。He also gives special attention to electricity， since it didn't involve simply swapping out an energy source （such as replacing a horse with a water wheel in a mill）- but it involved re-organizing an entire system around its production， transmission， and distribution。 Towards the end of the book as he gets into the modern era， the book can feel a little bit scattered as he tries to reach into every aspect of society - part of his explanation of human's relationship with energy also involves explaining areas where energy considerations were NOT the main motivator of sweeping social change。 But overall， absolutely loved this book and will definitely be looking for more by this author。Some fun facts that stuck with me:- Han China had a huge collection of sophisticated technologies over 1000 years before the rest of the world caught on （using coal， drilling for natural gas， cast-iron steel）- Draft animals were extremely inefficient for most of agricultural history since no one invented a proper harness- A water-wheel powered mill in the medieval era working for 10 hours could produce enough flour to feed up to 3000 people。 。。。more

Ranga Kalyanasundaram ，

A very interesting topic and some thought provoking content。 However， this book is not for everyone。 The quality of the content is superior， perhaps so high that it seems like an academic read。 And that's where it fell short for me。 The book is as much about science and numbers as it is about the history of energy。 I'd expected it to be more of the latter。 A bit more relaxed and entertaining writing style would have been ideal for me。 A very interesting topic and some thought provoking content。 However， this book is not for everyone。 The quality of the content is superior， perhaps so high that it seems like an academic read。 And that's where it fell short for me。 The book is as much about science and numbers as it is about the history of energy。 I'd expected it to be more of the latter。 A bit more relaxed and entertaining writing style would have been ideal for me。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Energy and Civilization: A History

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Energy and Civilization: A History&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Energy and Civilization: A History&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0