Energy: A Human History

Richard Rhodes is well known for careful research and clear writing in his several non-fiction books. This book is no exception. What makes it particularly interesting is his customary and illuminating use of narratives about individuals to illustrate the larger historical movements that he describes. Happily, the book is well documented so that the reader may follow up on details without excess searching for references. The topic is timely, and the book is valuable.

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.

I've read several Rhodes books and this one is as good as any. Rhodes writes at a different level than most authors. He makes complex subjects understandable. I read this book in five days and couldn't put it down.

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.

This is kind of a wonky look at the advance of the means of producing energy since the use of wood. It delightfully includes personal looks at the geniuses and characters who pushed the technology/science forward. It also explores the science behind the discoveries a little to in depth for this reader. But heh, I got through it and maybe a little smarter for it.The main premise of the book, is that each new step in the evolution of energy was slow to catch on in the market, but eventually would become the dominate source of energy. Rhode then makes the case that nuclear power, although hindered in development by scaredy pants environmentalist will eventually become the clean energy engine that will save the world. Although we have had three nuclear accidents, two of which left large swaths of the planet uninhabitable for hundreds (thousands?) of years, the were perfectly preventable. Rhodes proclaims the accidents were caused by a design flaw, (Fukushima) that was known but never corrected or human error (Chernobyl, Harrisburg). Of course human error is a thing of the past and no one would overlook a design flaw just to save money.Good history in the front end, advertisment for nuclear power on the back end.

A suitable follow up for the same author's award-winning book, published 30 years ago, about the origins of the atomic bomb.It is also a must read for anyone who wants to understand the science (and pseudo-science) behind the climate change theory and the realities about energy production and usage that you will have difficulty finding told in such an entertaining fashion anywhere else.This book was so good that I bought it after I read it for free from a copy I borrowed from the local public library.

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.

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.....

Ok

I enjoyed this book. It ends with a positive outlook on how humans in the past have used innovation to improve the lives. The author is hopeful that we will continue with these improvements.

Rhodes writes well and tells an important story.

No hay ni hilo conductor ni mensajes claros, sólo un borbotón de datos que no aportan nada. Gran decepción

Especially the early history of steam and electric power is superb. But it doesn't come up to Making of the Atomic bomb.