Includes bibliographical references (pages 250-269) and index.
Contents:
The energy of slaves -- Slaves to energy -- The oil pioneer -- The new servitude -- The unsettling of agriculture -- The Viagra of the species -- The urban fire -- The economist's delusion -- Peak science -- The petrostate -- The surplus devolution -- Oil and happiness -- Japan and the fragility of the petroleum age.
Summary:
Ancient civilizations routinely relied on the energy of slaves to plant crops, clothe emperors, and build cities. In the early 19th century, the slave trade became one of the most profitable enterprises on the planet. Economists described the system as necessary for progress. The abolition movement that finally triumphed in the 1850s had an invisible ally: coal and oil. As the world's most portable and versatile workers, fossil fuels replenished slavery's ranks with combustion engines and other labor-saving tools. Since then, oil has changed the course of human life on a global scale. But ...we still behave like slaveholders in the way we use energy, and that urgently needs to change.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.