Leigh Kimmel’s Reviews > Energy and Civilization: A History > Status Update
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 214 of 552
Early iron smelting. The blooming furnace, which produces a mass of iron that can be subsequently worked to beat out the impurities -- but uses so much charcoal that whole regions are deforested to produce relatively small numbers of iron weapons and tools. And then the beginnings of the modern blast furnace and pig iron (the origin of the expression "sweat like a pig" -- it's an ingot, not an animal).
— Mar 15, 2026 02:29PM
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Leigh’s Previous Updates
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 224 of 552
From metallurgy to warfare, and how until the introduction of gunpowder, all weapons (save fire) were muscle-powered -- the source of our expression "arms" for weapons, because the arm that wielded the sword or lance powered it. Even bows and catapults were powered by human energy put into a mechanism, be it a length of wood under tension or a coiled rope.
— 9 hours, 2 min ago
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 210 of 552
The beginnings of metalworking, and the problem of using up all the wood in an area to make charcoal for smelting metals from ore.
— Mar 14, 2026 10:15AM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 204 of 552
The use of tools in public works, and particularly the construction of monumental buildings. How were the giant blocks that compose the Pyramids of Giza moved into position? Giant ramps and rollers, or some form of levers? The Roman invention of concrete, and the creation of the Pantheon with its dome. Technologies that wouldn't reappear until the Industrial Age and Portland cement.
— Mar 11, 2026 08:51PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 196 of 552
Sailing ships vs. ships using fossil fuels
— Mar 10, 2026 06:01PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 194 of 552
The development of the sailing ship and the ability to sail in unfavorable winds. It reached its apex just as the steamship became able to cross oceans.
— Mar 03, 2026 01:55PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 190 of 552
How the bicycle went from dangerous curiosity to one of the most efficient forms of body-powered transportation. The development of canals, particularly the development of locks to move barges between high and low water levels.
— Mar 02, 2026 05:22PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 184 of 552
Human gaits and their energy costs. The building of roads in various civilizations.
— Mar 01, 2026 11:28AM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 178 of 552
Pre-industrial methods of heating. For much of history open fires have been the norm, but at times we see such things as hypocausts (warm air drawn from a fire through under-floor passages) and various types of stoves, mostly brick or ceramic. Lighting also weak and flickering, based upon combustion.
— Feb 28, 2026 05:26PM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 165 of 552
Waterwheels and windmills -- humanity's first non-biological energy source for getting work done. But both depend upon environmental factors not under human control. Various kinds of water wheels, horizontal and vertical, and the necessities of managing water flow for maximum output. Their replacement by water turbines in the Nineteenth Century. Early Dutch and other windmills...
— Feb 27, 2026 08:45AM
Leigh Kimmel
is on page 146 of 552
The urban horse, and the horrific conditions these animals had to toil under -- and the sheer volume of waste they produced.
— Feb 26, 2026 02:21PM
