… In April1991, just as General Energetics was being published, I came across an announcement
of a new book series on world history edited for Westview Press by William H. McNeill …

… This article examines both of these contrasting views of energy and world history. …
interpretations of energy’s role in world history seems to be a natural proposition, with history seen …

… and human response during the early modern period. Vaclav Smil undertakes a sweeping
but careful synthesis of global history as seen from the perspective of energy technologies. …

… of energies by tapping water and wind power and by deploying more working animals. However,
unit capacities of inanimate energy … low even during the early modern era (Smil, 1994). …

… The twentieth century was thus thefirst era dominated by fossil fuels, and the 16-fold rise
of their use since1900 created the first high-energy global civilization in human history. …

… of energy resources, they represent the most concentrated and the most devastating
release of destructive power, and their common consequence is a major disruption of energy …

… and human response during the early modem period. Vaclav Smil undertakes a sweeping
but careful synthesis of global history as seen from the perspective of energy technologies. …

… a key evolutionary trend of human history. That some gains … "solution" see Vaclav Smil,
"Renewable energies: How much … , France in 1994 "to discuss their belief that human activities …

… The book is a revised and expanded version of the earlier primer “Energy in World History”
[23]. … Smil also throws in a few calculations of his own on subjects such as the energy costs of …

… Historical perspectives show that transitions to new energy sources have been a critical factor
in human … the most likely timing of peak production put between 1994 and 1997 (figure 2). …