Energy: A Human History

New. New 2018 New Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author Richard Rhodes reveals the fascinating history behind energy transitions over time-wood to coal to oil to electricity and beyond

People have lived and died, businesses have prospered and failed, and nations have risen to world power and declined, all over energy challenges Ultimately, the history of these challenges tells the story of humanity itself

Through an unforgettable cast of characters, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes explains how wood gave way to coal and coal made room for oil, as we now turn to natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable energy Rhodes looks back on five centuries of progress, through such influential figures as Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, Benjamin Franklin, Herman Melville, John D Rockefeller, and Henry Ford

In Energy, Rhodes highlights the successes and failures that led to each breakthrough in energy production; from animal and waterpower to the steam engine, from internal-combustion to the electric motor He addresses how we learned from such challenges, mastered their transitions, and capitalized on their opportunities Rhodes also looks at the current energy landscape, with a focus on how wind energy is competing for dominance with cast supplies of coal and natural gas He also addresses the specter of global warming, and a population hurtling towards ten billion by 2100

Human beings have confronted the problem of how to draw life from raw material since the beginning of time Each invention, each discovery, each adaptation brought further challenges, and through such transformations, we arrived at where we are today In Rhodes's singular style, Energy details how this knowledge of our history can inform our way tomorrow