In the Servitude of Power: Energy and Civilisation through the Ages by Jean-Claude Debeir, et al

Abstract

708 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE not providing a historiographic survey of this new economic theory as it applies to business history. Perhaps the essay most useful to historians of technology is the one by JoAnne Yates, which describes information supply and demand factors inside the business firm in the period 1850—1920 through a case study of Scovill Manufacturing Company. However, this example has already been given thorough analysis in her book, Control through Communication (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989). The papers, which resulted from a conference organized by the (U.S.) National Bureau of Economic Research, were not refereed. As the telling comments in the published commentaries, especially those of Hounshell and Charles Sabel, make clear, the essays would have profited from rewriting. All in all, these studies give at best an emblem­ atic vision of what economic theory might contribute to business history, and they leave me wondering whether economists have the will to pursue this goal. William Aspray Dr. Aspray writes on the history of information and is the editor of Technological Competitiveness: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives on the Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Industries (IEEE Press). In the Servitude of Power: Energy and Civilisation through the Ages. By Jean-Claude Debeir, Jean-Paul Deléage, and Daniel Hémery. Lon­ don: Zed Books, 1991; distributed by Humanities Press Interna­ tional, Atlantic Highlands, N.J. Pp. xv + 286; tables, notes, glossary, appendix, index. $55.00/£32.95 (cloth); $19.95/£12.95 (paper). First published in 1986 in France and recently revised and translated into English, this collaborative effort between two French historians and a French physicist seeks to provide an alternative perspective on the energy crisis by moving “beyond the limits of existing approaches to the energy crisis ... to place it in an historical perspective” (p. xv). The authors argue that the existing approaches based on empirical studies do not provide a solid foundation for the analysis of society’s relation to energy. Convinced that one-dimensional modes of analysis will not provide solutions for the future, they address economic, social, and ecological interdependence as a means ofdetermining and assessing the role of energy on the future of humanity. A variety of past energy structures of the ancient Western world and medieval Europe, imperial China, industrial Europe, and North America are discussed, as are the more contemporary issues of the oil crisis, the breakup of energy structures of the Third World, and nuclear power. The book is divided into eleven well-written chapters. The first two document the ecological and social regulations of energy, discuss energy systems and rent, and provide an overview of energy from TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 709 prehistory to antiquity. Chapter 3 discusses the Chinese energy model as an exemplary one that has lasted through the centuries. Focusing on the energy structure of food production, high-calorie yield con­ verters, cultivation of the soil, fuel sources, and social control of energy are covered. Chapters 4 and 5, in contrast to the stable Chinese energy model, address the impact of mechanization on European industrialization, focusing on agriculture, mill development, and capi­ talism. Chapters 6 and 7 concentrate on coal, artificial light, oil, and electricity as components of production over demand characteristics of the capitalist energy system and the oil crisis. Nuclear power is discussed in chapters 8—10, using the French model of electronuclear develop­ ment. Chapter 10 centers on the problems of the nuclear energy industry. The final chapter looks at the worldwide energy crisis. The book is well-researched and written in a clear and concise manner. Numerous tables, graphs, and maps support the material in each chapter and add a refreshing note to the text. References are found in the chapter notes located at the end of the book and testify to the tremendous amount of research undertaken. The glossary is enhanced with graphics and charts. Included in the appendix are graphic repre­ sentations of firewood availability in selected countries, extent of risk of desertification, and oil and uranium production and consumption. Historians and students of technology will find the social and ecological emphasis on energy most refreshing. The authors have provided detailed accounts of technical developments and...