Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization

Rating:
Summary: An enlightening survey of the energies that shape our world
Review: Energy is the only universal currency. One of its many forms must be transformed into another in order for stars to shine, planets to rotate, living things to grow, and civilizations to evolve. Recognition of this universality was one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century science, yet even today there is little literature that tries to view the world broadly through the prism of energy.

In this highly original book, ecologist Vaclav Smil takes the principle of universality seriously, presenting a comprehensive and integrated survey of all the forms of energy that shape our world, from the sun to the human body, from bread to microchips. Written in a scientifically sophisticated yet accessible style, ENERGIES consists of eighty-two short essays organized under six headings: Sun and Earth, Plants and Animals, People and Food, Preindustrial Societies, Fossil-Fueled Civilization, and Transportation and Information. Each essay explains the science of the energy form as well as its implications for the functioning of the universe, life, or human society. Cross-links and summary diagrams allow easy comparisons among the various levels and flows of energy.

Vaclav Smil is Professor of Geography at the University of Manitoba, where he does interdisciplinary studies of energy and the environment.

"From the deluge of photons out of the sovereign sun to the astonishing increase of computer power and chip compaction, this book uses energy to measure and order change from the heavens to the Internet. On a simple but quantatative basis it assembles a treasure of diagrams, graphs, maps, drawings, and photos to deepen its cogency and pleasure for readers. It is surely a reference work for the thoughtful, and a page-turning delight for whoever would grasp how we all came this way: a map of the world monsoon, animal fats compared, the linkage that lets horses sleep standing, giant gas and oil flows, and hundreds of other images!" -Philip Morrison, Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Rating:
Summary: Not a book for the layperson
Review: I recently bought this item after reading the review for this book. I found this to be a mistake. I am an engineer by trade, and I found myself reading old school books so I could understand what this book was talking about. This book covers a wide variety of information and is difficult to read. This is not a book for the layman.....

Rating:
Summary: A reference book for energy
Review: This is a fascinating book. It provides a comprehensive and integrated survey of the energies shaping our world. It is filled with diagrams, graphs, maps, drawings and photographs to support the text.

This book can't be described. It has to be experienced: energy production of the sun, global patterns of latent heat flux, a horse's suspensory and check ligaments that allow it to use hardly any additional energy for standing, preindustrial societies, cars and computers and much more.

Use this book for reference and for browsing. Spend an afternoon with a calculator and the figures listed in the tables in this book. You will begin to appreciate the complex relationships involving the energies that shape our world.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent -- a joule of a book
Review: This is an incredibly easy book to read and understand, amply illustrated by clear graphics. This is not a simple book. It is an encyclopedia of energy, from sunlight, to the biology produced by sunlight, to the energy we gain from using our environment as fuel. Reading through each section (they are clear and cogent) is an exercise in connecting simple inputs with complex outputs. The section on transportation takes you from walking to running to riding the bicycle, all the way to trains, planes, and rocket boosters, all of which developed differently and use energy very differently.

The book is packed with wonderful essays that are well written, ideas that jump off the page, and graphic illustrations that make sense. It's one of those books you can actually flop open at random and get engrossed in all over again. If there's a criticism to this book, it is that it is only a sampler. It could easily have been twice as long.