Energy: A Human History

      普立茲獎及國家圖書獎得主理查．羅德斯於此書中揭示了能源——從木材、煤炭、石油到電力等——隨著時間推移而轉換，其背後迷人的歷史。


　　從人類的生存到死亡，企業的繁榮到失敗，一個國家的崛起到衰退，都與能源息息相關，而能源的歷史回溯將所有上述相關的故事都回歸到人性本身。羅德斯透過了五個世紀中對推動能源進步佔有一席之地的極富影響力的人物，從伊莉莎白女王一世、詹姆士國王一世、班傑明．富蘭克林、赫爾曼．梅爾維爾（白鯨記作者）、約翰．洛克菲爾到亨利．福特，解釋了社會使用的主要能源如何從木材到煤炭，煤炭又變身為石油，接著轉化為天然氣，至今則往核能與可再生能源發展。

　　而從能源本身，羅德斯重點講述了能源進化中每次突破的成功與失敗，從動物產生的能源到水力再到蒸汽機，從內燃機到發電機。並由此解釋了人們如何從這些挑戰中學習並掌握這些轉變，因此抓住了讓社會更加進步的機會。羅德斯更著眼於當前的能源大局，關注風能如何與煤炭及天然氣供應互相競爭，同時提及了全球暖化的重大影響，也提醒世人全球人口總數更將於 2100 年暴增到 100 億。（文 / 博客來編譯）

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.

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.