Smil 4 first half

key concepts:

• energy--all types treated as somewhat interchangeable
• technology to get more power from available energy
• economic systems, particularly the rise of capitalism
• political systems/political power
  

key point of these two chapters:

• what were energy systems like before fossil fuels?
• energy available was limited
• a lot of cleverness went into improved technology to use those earlier sources of energy
• animal vs. human power
• if human power was scarce and land plentiful then animal power might be used more
• the more powerful the government the more effectively you can use human power on a large scale
• other sources of power: water and wind
  

sources of power before fossil fuel energy:

• humans (with simple machines like levers and pulleys)
  
• animals
• windmills
• water wheels
• burning wood and other fuels
  
• gunpowder

Smil's examples of complex machines shows that a great deal of knowledge of machines--gears, cams...--was ready before the steam engine
his main point is that there was a great deal of improvement in machines over the centuries just using human and animal power
ox mill video

water power:

more types
water wheels were used fairly significantly in Roman times, very often in the high middle ages

how much difference did they make?

• where there was good water power it was put to lots of uses
  
• but still wasn't a major source of energy because good water power was scarce
  

wind power:
early Iranian windmills
used for grinding grain and pumping water, most significantly in Holland, New England, and later in the great plains (western midwest of the US)
grinding grain requires only intermittent wind, water pumping in Holland was more essential but the mills were located in areas with quite steady wind

biomass fuels (wood and alternatives):
this was a major limit on society, and alternatives when wood was scarce were problematic
charcoal was made by partially burning wood and was important for kilns (pottery, lime, brickmaking) and smelting iron

need for clean fuels at least for kilns and smelting iron
Wood is comes from trees and is processed into charcoal
Coal is mined from underground and can be processed into coke

Other energy:
food required not only cooking but grinding grain
light often came from oil lamps or candles made from animal fat