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Book Cover for: Energy and Civilization: A History, Vaclav Smil

Energy and Civilization: A History

Vaclav Smil

A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization.

"I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years.
--Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year


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.

Book Details

  • Publisher: MIT Press
  • Publish Date: Nov 13rd, 2018
  • Pages: 562
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.90in - 6.00in - 1.40in - 1.60lb
  • EAN: 9780262536165
  • Recommended age: 18-UP
  • Categories: EnergyWorld - General

About the Author

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of forty books, including Energy and Civilization, published by the MIT Press. In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2013 Bill Gates wrote on his website that "there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil."

More books by Vaclav Smil

Book Cover for: How to Feed the World: The History and Future of Food, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Size: How It Explains the World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energy Myths and Realities: Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Natural Gas, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: El Tamaño de Las Cosas / Size: How It Explains the World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Should We Eat Meat?: Evolution and Consequences of Modern Carnivory, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Materials and Dematerialization: Making the Modern World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Cómo Funciona El Mundo: Una Guía Científica de Nuestro Pasado, Presente Y Futuro / How the World Really Works, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives, Vaclav Smil

Praise for this book

A wise, compassionate, and valuable book.--Foreign Affairs--

This is a book to excite not just admiration, but also passion. It is a literate and precise analysis of the evolution of human societies viewed through the lens of energy.

--Literary Review of Canada--