Leigh Kimmel’s Reviews > Energy and Civilization: A History > Status Update
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 23 of 552
The fundamental problems of comparing the efficiencies of traditional and industrial agriculture. How to treat the inputs of fossil fuels (stored solar energy from ancient life) vs. the food and fodder of people using animal traction for power? The net energy cost of human labor whether using body-powered tools or externally powered tools and the human providing executive function. Natural history of genus Homo.
— Feb 15, 2026 12:03PM
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Leigh’s Previous Updates
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 36 of 552
Food choices, food preferences and attitudes toward the work necessary to forage preferred vs. non-preferred foods. The taste for fatty animals vs. lean ones, at least partly because fat has more energy (viz polar bears eating the blubber of seals).
— 22 hours, 30 min ago
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 34 of 552
Studying foraging behaviors among present-day hunter-gatherers. Tropical rain forests may *look* rich in life, but it turns out that available calories aren't as common as appearances would suggest. Many are out of reach, requiring risky climbs or other techniques that have a high chance of leaving skilled foragers dead or badly injured. Oddly enough, available calories are more abundant in grasslands.
— Feb 16, 2026 04:57PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 14 of 552
Key concepts: Energy density, or why lionesses don't chase mice and humans don't subsist entirely on fruit. Power density, or how much can be generated in a given area. Conversion efficiency -- changing from one kind to another is inherently lossy, as generation or consumption involves various kinds of friction or inefficiency. Waste heat, waste volume, whatever.
— Feb 14, 2026 01:10PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 4 of 552
An introduction on just how fundamental energy is to life -- the energy of nuclear fusion powering a G-class star 93 million miles from Earth, which provides light energy that powers photosynthesis of carbohydrates in plants, which in turn provides energy for the herbivores that eat them, and the carnivores that eat those animals.
— Feb 13, 2026 06:03PM
