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Cargando... Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy (2006)por Alfred W. Crosby
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. I read over 100 books a year and this probably ranks as the most unmemorable book I read in the past 12 months. There is nothing terribly wrong with it, it's mostly factually accurate and well written, just very conservative, unimaginative, not totally up to date on current thought and adds nothing new. It might be a good introduction for someone who has no background on the subject and it is very short. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
All life on earth is dependent on energy from the sun, but one species has evolved to be especially efficient in tapping that supply. This is the story of the human species and its dedicated effort to sustain and elevate itself by making the earth's stores of energy its own. A story of slow evolutionary change and sharp revolutionary departures, it takes readers from the origins of the species to our current fork in the road.nbsp;With a winning blend of wit and insight, Alfred W. Crosby reveals the fundamental ways in which humans have transformed the world and themselves in their quest for energy. When they first started, humans found fuel much like other species in the simple harvesting of wild plants and animals. A major turn in the human career came with the domestication of fire, an unprecedented achievement unique to the species. The greatest advantage from this breakthrough came in its application to food. Cooking vastly increased the store of organic matter our ancestors could tap as food, and the range of places they could live. As they spread over the earth, humans became more complicated harvesters, negotiating alliances with several other species--plant and animal--leading to the birth of agriculture and civilizations. For millennia these civilizations tapped sun energy through the burning of recently living biomass--wood, for instance. But humans again took a revolutionary turn in the last two centuries with the systematic burning of fossilized biomass. Fossil fuels have powered our industrial civilization and in turn multiplied our demand for sun energy. Here we are then, on the verge of exceeding what the available sources of sun energy can conventionally afford us, and suffering the ill effects of our seemingly insatiable energy appetite. A found of the field of global history, Crosby gives a book that glows with illuminating power. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)333.79Social sciences Economics Economics of land & energy Land, recreational and wilderness areas, energy EnergyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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This book is a brief account of humanity's still growing quest for usable energy. It offers no real recommendation for where that will be found, other than a cautious nod toward nuclear power and especially the hope of fusion at some point in the future. It does not, however, foresee the delay to the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) and seems to place more hope on it than perhaps is warranted given the delays, cost increases, and political uncertainty surrounding it. It also doesn't foresee advances in the efficiency of solar voltaic cells or their declining cost, and seems to dismiss their potential too quickly. Although this was published in 2006, it already feels a bit dated. Perhaps this is simply another example of how quickly things change in our age. ( )