Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of forty books, including Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses and Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing, both 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."
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.
發表於2024-12-25
Energy and Civilization 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
圖書標籤: 能源 曆史 世界史 科學 比爾蓋茨 2017比爾蓋茨推薦 英文 美國
作者旁徵博引,資料相當豐富。隻可惜化石燃料之後戛然而止,沒有任何關於新能源的篇幅,不免有點失望。可能作者是覺得沒辦法像分析到和傳統能源一樣的水平,所以乾脆不涉及。
評分想必這本書都是看比爾蓋茨紀錄片瞭解到的,但是讀瞭前麵的一段覺得內容並不是特彆的吸引人,有很多的資料堆砌,但是沒能夠闡述齣核心的觀點,更多的隻是在敘述。
評分能量對人類曆史進程的影響
評分能源與文明,我的公眾號上麵有免費原版e-book文本,歡迎自取
評分想必這本書都是看比爾蓋茨紀錄片瞭解到的,但是讀瞭前麵的一段覺得內容並不是特彆的吸引人,有很多的資料堆砌,但是沒能夠闡述齣核心的觀點,更多的隻是在敘述。
Energy and Civilization 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載