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Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262536161
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 564
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Book Description
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.
Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262536161
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 564
Get Book Here
Book Description
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.
Author: Harrison Schmitt
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387310649
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 346
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Book Description
Former NASA Astronaut Harrison Schmitt advocates a private, investor-based approach to returning humans to the Moon—to extract Helium 3 for energy production, to use the Moon as a platform for science and manufacturing, and to establish permanent human colonies there in a kind of stepping stone community on the way to deeper space. With governments playing a supporting role—just as they have in the development of modern commercial aeronautics and agricultural production—Schmitt believes that a fundamentally private enterprise is the only type of organization capable of sustaining such an effort and, eventually, even making it pay off.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 101
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Book Description
Author: William A. Ambrose
Publisher: AAPG
ISBN: 0891813829
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223
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Book Description
The book's purpose is to provide the quantitative foundation for beginning to think about developing energy and minerals outside of Earth's atmosphere that are necessary to support scientific missions, space and extra-terrestrial scientific stations and permanent colonies, and ultimately expand Earth's economy beyond the near-earth environment to include space resources. We cannot envision a situation where all resources required for future space activities are exported from Earth, therefore, this book clearly illustrates that an effective economy is possible beyond Earth's surface when we consider the resources available in near-Earth space. Our first audience is members of AAPG, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) and other professionals engaged in energy and resource development. As energy professionals, we are concerned on a daily basis with providing the necessary energy and minerals required for our growing world population and the increasing standard of living that comes with ample energy availability. And more than anything else, AAPG members are explorers. We are the professionals who have pushed back the boundaries of our resource base, from capturing petroleum resources from surface seeps, to drilling onshore wells to extract oil and gas, and to venturing offshore into increasingly difficult and hostile environments to supply the cheap and abundant energy made available by our advances in technology. There are more similarities than differences between deepwater exploration and development, and space exploration. Beyond our own members, however, our audience is every rational human being who understands human health and well-being, quality of life, education and freedom are dependent on the energy and minerals that support our advanced civilization. Space is the next frontier, and as the world civilization expands beyond Earth's surface we hope this publication serves to illustrate there are abundant opportunities to support and maintain - and in fact, allow to prosper - civilization's expansion into space -- Publisher's website.
Author: ECE Seminar on the Impact of Energy Considerations on the Planning and Development of Human Settlements (1977 : Ottawa)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : City planning
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: James Keirstead
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415529018
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 338
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Book Description
This book analyses the technical and social systems that satisfy these needs and asks how methods can be put into practice to achieve this.
Author:
Publisher: UN-HABITAT
ISBN: 9789211311440
Category : Energy conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 140
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Book Description
Author: Barry Lord
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1933253940
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 471
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Book Description
In Art & Energy, Barry Lord argues that human creativity is deeply linked to the resources available on Earth for our survival. From our ancient mastery of fire through our exploitation of coal, oil, and gas, to the development of today's renewable energy sources, each new source of energy fundamentally transforms our art and culture—how we interact with the world, organize our communities, communicate and conceive of and assign value to art. By analyzing art, artists, and museums across eras and continents, Lord demonstrates how our cultural values and artistic expression are formed by our efforts to access and control the energy sources that make these cultures possible.
Author: Sam Stuart
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 1483161722
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
An Efficient Energy Future: Prospects for Europe and North America is a two-part book exploring the energy problems and policies for Europe and North America. The first part deals with energy demand problems and policies of the countries; two possible energy futures based on the scenarios of the MEDEE model; and energy demand projections for specific sectors: buildings, transport, and industry. The second part presents a collection of relevant energy demand indicators for the housing, transport, and industry sectors for all 17 covered countries.
Author: Linda McQuaig
Publisher: Anchor Canada
ISBN: 0385672160
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 386
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Book Description
National bestseller It’s the Crude, Dude is back — with a slick new title and updated material. In War, Big Oil, and the Fight for the Planet, McQuaig focuses on a truly planetary issue: the cataclysmic effects our addiction to oil is having on our environment and our ability to co-exist in the world. McQuaig’s research, analysis, and eye for detail combine to produce a riveting tale about the battle over oil that shapes our times and will determine our future. Readers of all political stripes will find this book provocative, timely, and impossible to put down.
