Energy and Civilization: A History

Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil

How has energy influence the course of history? This book takes a look at the history of humanity from the perspective of energy. Almost all energy consumed originates from the son. Plants are able to utilize photosynthesis to (somewhat inefficiently) convert this to biomass.) Animals get energy from these plants.  Early hunter gatherers would expend a significant amount of energy to get enough food to support themselves. Agriculture led to the ability to harness more energy. 

With humans working beyond subsistence, additional sources of energy could be found. Animals were domesticated and served to harness other sources of energy. Biomass (such as trees or dung) was burned to produce heat. The wind was harnessed via windmills and sailing ships. More efficient ways of harnessing energy included harnesses fossil fuels such as oil and gas. These were portable and had high energy density, but also take much longer to replenish than other sources.

Wars have been fought, regimes have tumbes and many societal changes have occured due to energy. Sometimes it is due to availability of types of energy in one location. Other times, technological innovations help to harness energy better. The world still only harnesses a small fraction of the available solar energy with fairly low efficiency. 

This book is fairly long, and tries to cover an entire history of the inter-relation and evolution of energy and civilization. It could probably still go into much greater detail. It is an interesting topic that does serve as the basis for much of culture.