Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.98 (950 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0393059359 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 208 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-01-26 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
This enjoyable, humorously anecdotal study provides a succinct overview of our voracious "appetite for energy," most particularly the inventive (and indiscriminate) exploitation of sunshine in its fossilized forms—peat, coal, oil and natural gas. Advances in harnessing energy trapped in organic matter followed quickly: whale oil used for lighting was supplanted by coal gas, kerosene distilled from petroleum and finally Thomas Edison's light bulb—itself powered by the electricity generated from coal and oil. This history explores how an ingenious and adaptable humankind found ever more efficient ways to harness "concentrated sun energy." Crosby is optimistic about the Earth's future—with the caveat that that future could be bleak without another energy breakthrough. . (Jan.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic era depended on muscle power to move t
He and his family live in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Alfred W. Crosby is the author of the groundbreaking work The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 and many other acclaimed works in global and environmental history. He is professor emeritus of history, geography, and American studies at the University of Texas in Austin.
Enjoyable, informative read on energy through human history West Coast Paddler As a short (167pp) and enjoyable history of the place of energy through human history, I can recommend Children of the Sun, by Alfred w. Crosby. This chronological survey of the subject -- spanning from the introduction of fire (at the time when yoga tights were ma. A little book with much to offer There aren't many books written for everybody. This one fits squarely in that limited niche. After all, fuel, in one form or another, is a universal human demand. Since the science of energy use and climate change appears to miss many readers, Alfred Crosby has dec. A Quick Gallop Through the History of Humanity's Quest for Energy In less than 170 pages of lively and entertaining prose, the author presents what essentially amounts to the story of the human race: approximately from the birth of homo sapiens to today. The main theme around which this story is woven is the need for and use of e
But when the hearth fires started burning in the Paleolithic, humankind broadened the exploitation of food and initiated an avalanche of change. Although we haven't yet adopted a feasible alternativejust look at the embarrassment of "cold fusion" or the 2003 blackout that humbled North Americaour ingenuity and adaptability as a species give us hope. Crosby, a founder of the field of global history, reveals how humanity's successes hinge directly on effective uses of sun energy. Alfred W. A master historian's spirited survey of humanity's strategies for tapping sun energy, past and future. We don't often recognize the humble activity of cooking for the revolutionary cultural adaptation that it is. And we don't often associate cooking with drilling for oil, but both are innovations that allow us to tap the sun energy accumulated in organic matter. 10 illustrations, map.. But dwindling natural resources, global warming, and environmental pollution all testify to the limits of our fossil-fuel civilization