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Energía y civilización. Una historia

Energía y civilización. Una historia

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  • Create Date：2022-02-25 08:53:16
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Vaclav Smil
  • ISBN：8418741252
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Summary

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 todays 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 humanitys energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion offering readers a magisterial overview This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smils 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

David Ortiz ，

Really insightful read on energy matters that allows to see the full， non-utopic picture of the current direction of human civilization and the opportunities。 In a nutshell， it's a realistic -some would say pesimistic- analysis that highlights the urgent need to really use the material resources we have in a more efficient， limited and reasonable way， decoupling that of the sense of growth or progress。 I only would have liked this book having a more narrative and less scientific-paper-like， enum Really insightful read on energy matters that allows to see the full， non-utopic picture of the current direction of human civilization and the opportunities。 In a nutshell， it's a realistic -some would say pesimistic- analysis that highlights the urgent need to really use the material resources we have in a more efficient， limited and reasonable way， decoupling that of the sense of growth or progress。 I only would have liked this book having a more narrative and less scientific-paper-like， enumerative writing style。 。。。more

Troy Rauhala ，

This is a useful book that helps paint a very broad picture of human social / material development。 On the one hand it is dense with facts and data about the long evolution of human energy use and its sources （admittedly I was growing a bit punch drunk by the incessant bombardment of data by the last chapter）。 On the other hand the final chapter， where Smil not only rejects， but effectively refutes energy determinism was very insightful and proved the long journey to be a rewarding use of time。

Ken Kei ，

Excellent read。 Touches on so many areas of progress throughout civilization。 It's a bit of a slow read due to the details but most of the time the details are pertinent to the topic he's discussing。 I only give it a 4 star instead of 5 because he can get a bit repetitive in spots。 I will definitely recommend the book but with the caveat that it's a bit long and a bit slow in areas but still a great read。 Excellent read。 Touches on so many areas of progress throughout civilization。 It's a bit of a slow read due to the details but most of the time the details are pertinent to the topic he's discussing。 I only give it a 4 star instead of 5 because he can get a bit repetitive in spots。 I will definitely recommend the book but with the caveat that it's a bit long and a bit slow in areas but still a great read。 。。。more

Brent ，

So much fascinating material in this book。 It reads a lot like a textbook （except it doesn't have the end of chapter questions - ha！）， but if you can get used to the author's "textbook voice" and you're interested in both history and energy then this is well worth your time。 So much fascinating material in this book。 It reads a lot like a textbook （except it doesn't have the end of chapter questions - ha！）， but if you can get used to the author's "textbook voice" and you're interested in both history and energy then this is well worth your time。 。。。more

Marcus Berglund ，

Det ÄR ett spännande ämne och boken är helt säkert genialisk， sett till betygen den har fått på Storytel。 Problemet är att jag inte är något geni。 Jag har visserligen en kandidat i ekonomisk historia， men den här rent naturvetenskapliga genomgången av människans hushållning av energi genom historien， med exakta beräkningar ner i minsta kalori och joule， blir för tungrodd för min del。 Jag hade hoppats på en mer tvärvetenskaplig och mindre matematisk historia som ger läsaren ett grepp om det övers Det ÄR ett spännande ämne och boken är helt säkert genialisk， sett till betygen den har fått på Storytel。 Problemet är att jag inte är något geni。 Jag har visserligen en kandidat i ekonomisk historia， men den här rent naturvetenskapliga genomgången av människans hushållning av energi genom historien， med exakta beräkningar ner i minsta kalori och joule， blir för tungrodd för min del。 Jag hade hoppats på en mer tvärvetenskaplig och mindre matematisk historia som ger läsaren ett grepp om det översiktliga och viktigaste， snarare än att räkna exakt energiåtgång och vinst på varje tänkbar mänsklig aktivitet。 😅 Nåväl。 All heder åt den mycket noggranne forskaren， men jag klarar inte att läsa ut den。 。。。more

Haidong ，

Great quantitative approach to analyze the historic and societal evoluation。

Matt ，

Dense with information， much of it interesting or important， but （for me at least） an absolute slog to read。 I wasn't looking for some kind of fuzzy personality-driven pop science treatment of the topic， but my capacity to absorb tedious kitchen-sink infodumping has its limits。 Even the editor seems to have been unable to get through the whole thing without skimming， as there are plenty of ungrammatical sentences and other small errors to break the flow too。This might sound contradictory， but in Dense with information， much of it interesting or important， but （for me at least） an absolute slog to read。 I wasn't looking for some kind of fuzzy personality-driven pop science treatment of the topic， but my capacity to absorb tedious kitchen-sink infodumping has its limits。 Even the editor seems to have been unable to get through the whole thing without skimming， as there are plenty of ungrammatical sentences and other small errors to break the flow too。This might sound contradictory， but in some sections I would have liked more detailed explanations， e。g。 of the various technologies discussed; there's nothing more frustrating than being deluged with facts and figures with neither the context to appreciate their significance nor a nuts-and-bolts understanding of what they actually mean。I definitely needed Smil to do more to provide that context， especially when it came to the quantitative estimates and measurements peppered throughout the text。 My brain just doesn't have the ability to independently extract meaning from seemingly arbitrary assortments of numbers with no intuitive sense of scale or significance。I think I would have learned significantly more from a book of the same length with narrower scope （or at least less 'sit down and write everything I know about energy， then send that to the publisher' and more 'synthesise the most important insights from my research， think about how to present them in a comprehensible and memorable way， then write and edit and rewrite until it's readable'）， more complete technical explanations， and more of a coherent through-line in each chapter。 。。。more

Mike Def ，

Through history of human kinds use of energy

Alfred Wahlforss ，

A compact book filled with facts around energy。 I loved how nuanced the book is， ending on the many ways energy do not play a crucial role in history。 For example， he says that the Iraqi war was not instigated due to the oil in Iraq。 It takes a long time to read since it sometimes feels like rambling of facts。 Still， it's an incredible book and nothing like I've read before。 A compact book filled with facts around energy。 I loved how nuanced the book is， ending on the many ways energy do not play a crucial role in history。 For example， he says that the Iraqi war was not instigated due to the oil in Iraq。 It takes a long time to read since it sometimes feels like rambling of facts。 Still， it's an incredible book and nothing like I've read before。 。。。more

Lynn ，

Smil's book is equal parts science and history in which he develops the themes of identifying the primary sources that mankind has used for energy， from sunlight and human muscle to nuclear fission， along with prime movers， his term for whatever is needed to carry fuel and humans from one place to another， from feet to rocket ships。He does rightly identify our time as being out of control in its energy demands， identifying the essential problems we are all facing today， but in the spirit of both Smil's book is equal parts science and history in which he develops the themes of identifying the primary sources that mankind has used for energy， from sunlight and human muscle to nuclear fission， along with prime movers， his term for whatever is needed to carry fuel and humans from one place to another， from feet to rocket ships。He does rightly identify our time as being out of control in its energy demands， identifying the essential problems we are all facing today， but in the spirit of both a true scientist and historian abstains from too much speculation about what the future will bring。 In fact， he's liberal in demonstrating that such forecasting is invariably preposterously wrong。 。。。more

Cole Schoolland ，

A wonderfully fascinating read that breaks down human history and development to the common measure of energy。 From food - hunted， cultivated， and grown - to prime-movers， and access - Energy has defined our civilization and seen through this lens can give us guidelines for the future。

Will Lawless ，

Well written， extremely technical book that made my brain feel like mush Going to stick to spy novels aimed at pre-teens for the rest of the summer。 That said， if you’ve ever wanted to know anything about energy production / consumption / evolution ranging from early humans to now， then the answer is probably in this book。

Herman Brunborg ，

jeg er tydeligvis bare verdt 1/8 hest

Valdis Reķis ，

Vēsture un cilvēces attīstība no enerģijas skatpunkta。

Jim Witkins ，

Tried it on audiobook。 The endless chapter on horses and oxen in agriculture did me in。 Up till then I was finding lots to think about， if not entirely exciting reading。 Skipped to the end for the wrap up。 Maybe I’ll find a print copy and flip through some of the material I missed。

Cristi-Adrian Nicolaescu ，

I honestly think I understand the world better after reading this fascinating book。The book is a comprehensive account of how the energy shaped our civilization， since the very beginnings。 When I say comprehensive I mean it - the author goes at extreme lengths to put （almost） everything into an energy equation。 As such， the book can be a bit difficult to read at times， when it gets pretty technical。

Mark Voll ，

Holy smokes this is boring， very detailed and dry。 Do I really need to know all of the iterations on handheld farming tools？ The first 100+ pages are ancient farming techniques。 Once you get to fossil fuels， renewables， modern machines etc it gets more exciting。 Kind of a cool perspective on civilization though， that's forsure， glad I read it。 It just wasn't fun。Put simply this books argues that energy was the bottle neck in human development until very recently。 Holy smokes this is boring， very detailed and dry。 Do I really need to know all of the iterations on handheld farming tools？ The first 100+ pages are ancient farming techniques。 Once you get to fossil fuels， renewables， modern machines etc it gets more exciting。 Kind of a cool perspective on civilization though， that's forsure， glad I read it。 It just wasn't fun。Put simply this books argues that energy was the bottle neck in human development until very recently。 。。。more

Kirina van der Bijl ，

This book is insanely detailed and gives a really objective and clear explanation of why society has developed the way it has。 It mainly focuses on energy transactions related to food production and housing， as for most of human history this has been the main thing hampering human survival。 It does not buy in to the currently popular belief that agriculture was the worst thing that ever happened to humans， but instead gives a clear explanation as to why it was a wise decision to move from hunter This book is insanely detailed and gives a really objective and clear explanation of why society has developed the way it has。 It mainly focuses on energy transactions related to food production and housing， as for most of human history this has been the main thing hampering human survival。 It does not buy in to the currently popular belief that agriculture was the worst thing that ever happened to humans， but instead gives a clear explanation as to why it was a wise decision to move from hunter gathering to agriculture。 I googled many things not because they were poorly described in the book but because the book made me wonder why I had never heard of the innovations that were mentioned。 It was an intense read but a lot of fun！ 。。。more

Brian ，

Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil focuses on how humans have evolved in their energy use from the days of farming by hand to machinery。 It looks at the output of energy and the consumption of energy as humans evolved to draft animals and rudimentary tools to the advances in the combustion engine and steam engines。 The book follows not only energy consumption from food but also the energy that fire allowed humans to progress at。 The book compares why Europe developed faster than the east in Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil focuses on how humans have evolved in their energy use from the days of farming by hand to machinery。 It looks at the output of energy and the consumption of energy as humans evolved to draft animals and rudimentary tools to the advances in the combustion engine and steam engines。 The book follows not only energy consumption from food but also the energy that fire allowed humans to progress at。 The book compares why Europe developed faster than the east in its energy consumption and the explosion of power production with fossil fuels to the even more dramatic rise of nuclear energy。 This book goes into a great deal of detail on the scientific measurements of energy and it is easy to get bogged down in the numbers but its sweeping information is well worth the time to understand what he is getting at。 Ultimately this book drives that Energy transitions take time to achieve but the results are often dramatic and advancing the world into new stages。 This book will not be for everyone and is quite detailed but if you take the time I think it can be appreciated by everyone for the sweeping scale that Smil undertakes and shows throughout the book。 。。。more

Oleksii Shyliaiev ，

З давніх давен людству， як і іншим тваринам на Землі， для існування необхідна була енергія。 І ця енергія， в основному отримана від Сонця， перероблялася людьми та використовувалась для росту й розвитку。 Винайдення нових джерел енергії та нових ефективних механізмів її перетворення сприяло зростанню людства як у кількісному так і у якісному технологічному сенсах。 Вацлав Сміл у своїй книзі якраз розглядає те， як людство поставало та навчалося добувати та перетворювати доступну йому енергію。 Через п З давніх давен людству， як і іншим тваринам на Землі， для існування необхідна була енергія。 І ця енергія， в основному отримана від Сонця， перероблялася людьми та використовувалась для росту й розвитку。 Винайдення нових джерел енергії та нових ефективних механізмів її перетворення сприяло зростанню людства як у кількісному так і у якісному технологічному сенсах。 Вацлав Сміл у своїй книзі якраз розглядає те， як людство поставало та навчалося добувати та перетворювати доступну йому енергію。 Через призму енергії розглядається історія людства， історія винаходів。 Книга доволі цікава， якби не ряд моментів， що з'явились у ній невідомо чому。 Наприклад міра довжини староанглійська， яка використовується автором виключно для вказування зросту коней。 Хіба не можна було перевести все у сучасні одиниці СІ？ Інше， що падає в очі - використання автором приставок для позначення величин одиниць вимірювань。 І так， я розумію， що всі ці приставки існують в СІ， але， погодьтесюь， доволі дивно читати про Гм або Мм。 Так， це гігаметри та мегаметри。 Мозок ламається і до останньої сторінки не призвичаюється до таких одиниць。 Втім， як сказав сам Вацлав Сміл， він просто пише。 Не для когось。 Тому， напевно， і не варто очікувати намагань бути зрозумілим читачу。 Це просто думки розумної людини。 В яких досить складно розібратись。 Але цікаво。 。。。more

Lance McNeill ，

Sweeping historical perspectiveThe author takes a broad and comprehensive look at energy’s role in civilization。 The level of research is impressive。 Of course， no one topic can be explored exhaustively with such a broad scope， but the sweeping coverage is both interesting and educational nonetheless。

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

Dan D ，

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

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Energía y civilización. Una historia

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Energía y civilización. Una historia&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Energía y civilización. Una historia&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0