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Richard Rhodes

Energy: A Human History Hardcover – May 29, 2018

by Richard Rhodes (Author)

4.3 468 ratings

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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.

Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

May 29, 2018
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

1501105353
ISBN-13

978-1501105357
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A magisterial history...a tour de force of popular science, which is no surprise from this author."—Kirkus, Starred Review

“Rhodes doesn’t minimize the downsides of advances, both human and environmental, yet, on the whole, this is a beautifully written, often inspiring saga of ingenuity and progress, ideal for general readers. Immensely engaging, trusted, and best-selling, Rhodes will attract the usual avid interest as he brings facts, context, and clarity to a key, often contentious subject.”—BOOKLIST, Starred Review

“Once again, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Richard Rhodes takes on entangled issues around the use of science and technology and makes complicated matters more approachable. Rhodes’s study will appeal to many, not just technophiles. As always, he is an exceptionally engaging writer.”—Library Journal, Starred Review

“In this meticulously researched work, Rhodes brings his fascination with engineers, scientists and inventors along as he presents an often underappreciated history: four centuries through the evolution of energy and how we use it.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Riveting…Mr. Rhodes has scored another masterpiece.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Energy is both a work of history and a passionately written moral tale...Rhodes’s hope that a critical look at past energy technologies will benefit those of the future is heartening.”—Science Magazine

“Rhodes delivers brilliantly on the inner workings of steam engines and reactors, and his lively narrative takes readers on thrilling side trips... His fascinating tale will delight technology wonks and particularly appeal to inventors and discoverers.”—Publisher’s Weekly

“Energy is an excellent book that manages to be both entertaining and informative, and it's likely to appeal to both science fans and those of us who only passed physics by the skin of our teeth. It's also a powerful look at the importance of science.”—NPR.ORG

“Richard Rhodes’ dazzling Energy: A Human History tells a compulsively readable tale of human need, curiosity, ingenuity and arrogance... This exceptional book is required reading for anyone concerned about the human impact on the future of the world.”—Bookpage

About the Author

Richard Rhodes is the author of numerous books and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He graduated from Yale University and has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Appearing as host and correspondent for documentaries on public television’s Frontline and American Experience series, he has also been a visiting scholar at Harvard and MIT and is an affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Visit his website RichardRhodes.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; First Edition (May 29, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1501105353
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1501105357
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #461,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #139 in Oil & Energy Industry (Books)
- #479 in Environmental Economics (Books)
- #814 in History of Civilization & Culture

Customer Reviews:
4.3 468 ratings

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Richard Rhodes

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Richard Rhodes is the author of 25 works of history, fiction and letters. He's a Kansas native, a father and grandfather. His book The Making of the Atomic Bomb won a Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction, a National Book Award and a National Book Critics Circle Award. He lectures widely on subjects related to his books, which run the gamut from nuclear history to the story of mad cow disease to a study of how people become violent to a biography of the 19th-century artist John James Audubon. His latest book is Hell and Good Company, about the people and technologies of the Spanish Civil War. His website is www.RichardRhodes.com.

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Amazon Customer

Excellent Coverage Of Energy Transitions Since The 17th Century

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

Richard Rhodes has an amazing capacity to digest enormous amounts of information, digest them and present them in a manner accessible to most readers. This book is an excellent read about how energy use has progressed from wood to coal to oil, natural gas and on to nuclear and renewables. My one caveat and major disagreement with his presentation is that he veers off into propaganda for the nuclear industry and fatuously optimistic projections about how the world will continue to progress in the face of massive overpopulation and resource depletion. He ignores the dangers of nuclear terrorism, nuclear warfare and the incompetence of nuclear energy companies. As well he seems to have read nothing about our destruction of the oceans, atmosphere and agricultural resources. Despite these qualms this is a valuable book regarding the challenges facing humanity as we seek solutions to energy development and maintenance.

Helpful

Wuggins

Factual and Hard Headed

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

Free flowing and highly readable, indeed engrossing with many fascinating vignettes about historical events that shaped energy markets. And I was pleasantly surprised this was not an ideological treatise about fossil fuels and climate change, in fact reading between the lines it seemed to me that because of their inability to be scaled without huge subsidies the author is highly skeptical about renewable sources like wind and solar, waxing instead about the lost promise of nuclear, lost because in a democracy irrational fears (in this case about radioactivity) become accepted in to the public discourse as hard fact. He probably needed to be circumspect about his skepticism of wind and solar for fear of being skewered alive on the altar of political correctness by the "climate scientist" cabal, always fearful of some counterargument to the Faith jeopardizing their research grants.....

20 people found this helpful

Helpful

B. Smith

A good read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this book and found it interesting. I believe it should really have been called "Fuel" instead of energy. The difference is subtle but the author really is talking about what and where we derive energy from (sources). I found the book inconsistent at times and this effected its flow. But over all well researched and educational and a worthwhile read.

One MAJOR problem with this book, the Kindle version, and NOT the author's fault was how Amazon digitized it. Most of the diagrams where improperly digitized and as a result they were tiny. Way too small to be seen on a Kindle. And you were not able to enlarge them as in other Amazon Kindle books where yo have the ability to enlarge pictures. Some were properly coded and could be enlarged. But most were not.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

JL Wamble

Another interesting technical read from Rhodes

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 27, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent book. I enjoy the way Rhodes brings historical characters to life. I do recommend it. I have two issues, both having to do with the Kindle version. First, the illustrations are hard enough to view when you CAN expand them. I'd say half the illustrations in this book could not be expanded so were essentially worthless little blobs on my screen. Second, I was immersed in reading with about 4 hrs and 45% remaining to read when the narrative suddenly ended. Huh? Turns out that last 45% is acknowledgments, bibliography, notes and index. Kudos to Rhodes for being so thorough but I was pretty let down by my perceived loss of material. I wasn't really interested in spending 4hrs perusing the extras. I think this Kindle quirk needs to change.

10 people found this helpful

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Barbara

heavy

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book took me a very long time to read. The information was interesting but as a whole it wasn’t gripping. I learned about the different forms of energy, wood, coal and nuclear along with the internal combustion engine and the gasoline that powered it. He spent very little time on renewables, partly because in 2017 they made up such a small part of global energy use. I’m glad to finally finish this book, it was a slog.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Kindle app ruins book’s illustrations.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

The book is excellent. It explains our energy past to elucidate our energy present and future. And it’s quite well written.

However, don’t buy this or any other book with graphs, photos, or illustrations on the Kindle app. This book has many such features which I’m sure would aid in comprehending the material, if only they were rendered at a size larger than my little fingernail. As it stands, it is impossible to even see what most of the diagrams and photos are meant to convey. And yes, I tried to no avail to enlarge them.

Amazon really needs to fix this. For now, though, I’d advise folks to avoid trying to read even marginally technical books on the Kindle app.

63 people found this helpful

Helpful

Susanne Vandenbosch

World Energy history starting with the 1600"s

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the detail provided about efforts to develop energy. It involved efforts of scientists as well as average persons who were practical. Governments and wealthy investors were also contributors.

Helpful

John Bacon

Great premise, but...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this book because the premise was very appealing, and looked forward to it since Rhodes' "Making of ...." was one of the best books I have ever read. BUT, it seems that Rhodes forgot to find an editor for this book; I found it full of jumbled thoughts, places where there were no transitions (or even paragraphs), and other issues that a good editor would have fixed. When one researches as richly as Rhodes does, it takes special attention to keep all the facts and relevancies organized. That detracted from my overall enjoyment. However, if you are interested in our energy past and future it is an important read.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

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Fernando

Ok

Reviewed in Brazil 🇧🇷 on January 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

Ok

Carl van Walraven

This is a neat book

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

A nifty collection of stories linked by their relationship to our need for energy. Well written with handsome pictures and diagrams. I really enjoyed it.

いるちゃん

面白い!

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on September 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

16世紀以降の人類が使用したエネルギーの変遷を詳しく解説した本です。
もちろん，最初は木。しかし，最初に近代化に成功した英国では瞬く間に木を消費してしまい，代わりのエネルギー源として石炭を活用するようになります。石炭を採掘するには地下水の排水が必要で，そのために蒸気ポンプや蒸気機関が発明され，それを動力として機関車や自動車が発明される....という物語になっています。
そういえば，徳川家康が成功した理由のひとつは広大な関東平野に広がる豊かな森林を利用してエネルギー源として活用できた，と言う話も聞きますね。
大きく，動力，照明，原子力に分けて3部構成になっていますが，内容は極めて広範囲で，米国の照明源として活用された鯨の脂肪や，ガス灯，電気の活用，石油の発見や天然ガスの利用，それに伴うガスパイプラインの建設や不活性ガス溶接の発明まで，いろんなことが詳しくわかる良書だと思います。
また，英語は平易でわかりやすく，読みやすいと思います。
少し残念なのは，将来展望があまり書かれていないこと。将来，我々はエネルギー源をどうすべきなのか，明確に示していません。この辺，詳しく聞きたかった，と思います。

One person found this helpful

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@tonymmorley

Energy: A Human History

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on October 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

Energy is the foundation of human progress, growth and economic prosperity. In this work, Richard Rhodes provides an excellent and competent introduction to the history of energy capture and utilization within industrialized civilization. The books is written to reach a large and not exclusively academic audience; and while highly informative, should be accessible to the vast majority, particularly the audiobook. The hardback edition of this books is printed and bound to a high quality standard and the audiobook is narrated well. I highly recommend both the physical hardback edition and the audiobook.