If you are interested in the history of technology, this is a great book.
Things I learned: the Steam engine was originally developed mainly to pump water out of deep coal mines. The whole genesis was, “Hey, we have this abundant energy source at the minehead, and this intractable problem of flooding in mines. Can we come up with a solution that addresses the two?” I had previously had vague notions that steam engines were developed for ships. Also lots of great stuff on railroads. Why use rails at all? Answered.
Anyway, the book is geared towards nerds who are interested in that kind of thing.
But, also some good stuff at the end on the evolution of energy sources - great sweeping curves through history ... and policy going forward.
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