From the harnessing of fire and inventing the plow to harnessing steam power and breaking the atom, human societies have advanced based on using the most affordable and reliable energy sources. [...] For example, steam conveys the energy from coal to a turbine to generate electricity (another conveyor) and then the electricity takes that energy along to the computer screen that the reader of the report is using right now. [...] However, the more detached daily lives have become from these machines, the easier it is to take it all for granted and to lose sight of the energy technology at the foundations of our modern way of life. [...] This first chapter of the story of energy leading to human advancement has highlighted the tangible and mechanical nature of energy and how it has built the modern world. [...] The forced labor transfer of farmers to cities, the lack of a mechanized harvesters, the formation of agricultural communes, and the ecological devastation of key animal species exacerbated the famine.
- Pages
- 33
- Published in
- United States of America
