{"product_id":"the-subterranean-forest-energy-systems-and-the-industrial-revolution-9781874267539","title":"The Subterranean Forest: Energy Systems and the Industrial Revolution","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Subterrranean Forest\" studies the historical transition from the agrarian solar energy regime to the use of fossil energy, which has fuelled the industrial transformation of the last 200 years. The author argues that the analysis of historical energy systems provides an explanation for the basic patterns of different social formations. It is the availability of free energy that defines the framework within which socio-metabolic processes can take place. This thesis explains why the industrial revolution started in Britain, where coal was readily available and firewood already depleted or difficult to transport, whereas Germany, with its huge forests next to rivers, was much later. This landmark text was originally published in German in 1982 and was thoroughly revised and updated for the White Horse Press in 2001.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSELECTED REVIEWS OF 2001 WHITE HORSE PRESS EDITION 'If anyone is still wondering what environmental history has to offer, this is a book they should read'. Paul Brassley in Environment and History  'Sieferle's account of this transition, its preconditions and its lasting consequences, is an excellent contribution to the still inexplicably sparse literature on energy in human history: well informed, well written, revealing in many ways'. Vaclav Smil in Journal of Economic History  'An engaging source for anyone grappling with the history of the Industrial Revolution'. Fredric Quivik in Technology and Culture\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTABLE OF CONTENTS Preface I. Energy Systems and Social Evolution 1. Palaeolithic Hunter-gatherer Societies 2. The Neolithic Revolution and the Problem of Dynamics 3. Traditional Agriculture - A Controlled Solar Energy System 4. The Structure of the Agrarian Energy System 5. The Dynamics of Agrarian Society 6. Crisis and Transformation 7. The Industrial System and Fossil Energy  II. Forest and Wood in Preindustrial Germany 1. Natural Foundations     The forest as a component of the agricultural biotope     Forms of forest use     The transportation problem 2. Preindustrial Wood Consumption     Commercial consumption     Iron smelting     Private households 3. Regulation Problems  III. England: Coal in the Industrial Revolution 1. Substitution of Wood by Coal     Why was coal first used in England?     The rise and decline of coal consumption in the Middle Ages     A new rise     Resistance to coal burning     Coal as trump in the trade war     Land gained with coal use     Was England dependent on coal? 2. Wood and Coal in Iron Smelting     Technical problems     Fuel shortage and stagnation     The breakthrough in iron smelting 3. Transport and Steam Power     Transportation of coal     Power sources for draining coal pits     From the steam pump to the rotating steam engine 4. Significance of Coal in the Industrial Revolution  IV. Germany in the 18th Century: Wood Crisis and Strategies for Solutions 1. Conserving Wood     Fuel conserving stoves     Problems in the commercial field 2. Functional Separation of Agriculture and Forestry 3. Substitution for Wood     Substitution of wood by coal     State measures in favour of coal     Resistance and prejudices     Ascendancy of coal 4. Was the Wood Crisis an Energy Crisis?  V. Perceptions of Fossil Energy 1. The Finiteness of Fossil Fuels 2. Classical Political Economy and the Stationary State 3. Jevons and the Contraction of the Industrial System 4. Nuclear or Solar Energy     Bibliography","brand":"White Horse Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771676950871,"sku":"9781874267539","price":27.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-subterranean-forest-energy-systems-and-the-industrial-revolution-9781874267539","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}