Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy

Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy by Crosby, Alfred W.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780393059359.

A master historians spirited survey of humanitys strategies for tapping sun energy, past and future. We dont often recognize the humble activity of cooking for the revolutionary cultural adaptation that it is. But when the hearth fires started burning in the Paleolithic, humankind broadened the exploitation of food and initiated an avalanche of change. And we dont often associate cooking with drilling for oil, but both are innovations that allow us to tap the sun energy accumulated in organic matter. Alfred W. Crosby, a founder of the field of global history, reveals how humanitys successes hinge directly on effective uses of sun energy. But dwindling natural resources, global warming, and environmental pollution all testify to the limits of our fossil-fuel civilization. Although we havent yet adopted a feasible alternative―just look at the embarrassment of "cold fusion" or the 2003 blackout that humbled North America―our ingenuity and adaptability as a species give us hope. 10 illustrations, map.