A “meticulously researched” ( The New York Times Book Review ) examination of energy transitions over time and an exploration of the current challenges presented by global warming, a surging world population, and renewable energy—from Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author Richard Rhodes. People have lived and died, businesses have prospered and failed, and nations have risen to world power and declined, all over energy challenges. Through an unforgettable cast of characters, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes explains how wood gave way to coal and coal made room for oil, as we now turn to natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable energy. “Entertaining and informative…a powerful look at the importance of science” (NPR.org), Rhodes looks back on five centuries of progress, through such influential figures as Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, Benjamin Franklin, Herman Melville, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford. In his “magisterial history…a tour de force of popular science” ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review), Rhodes shows how breakthroughs in energy production occurred; from animal and waterpower to the steam engine, from internal-combustion to the electric motor. He looks at the current energy landscape, with a focus on how wind energy is competing for dominance with cast supplies of coal and natural gas. He also addresses the specter of global warming, and a population hurtling towards ten billion by 2100. Human beings have confronted the problem of how to draw energy from raw material since the beginning of time. Each invention, each discovery, each adaptation brought further challenges, and through such transformations, we arrived at where we are today. “A beautifully written, often inspiring saga of ingenuity and progress… Energy brings facts, context, and clarity to a key, often contentious subject” ( Booklist , starred review).

Recommended on 1 episode:

Is Decarbonization Dead?

Biden passed the most ambitious climate legislation in American history. Trump just shredded it. What does that mean for the future of renewable energy in America? Where does the climate movement go from here? And is it too late for us to avert climate catastrophe? To answer these questions, I invited onto the show two climate experts: Jesse Jenkins, who is a leading climate modeler and a professor at Princeton University, where he runs the Princeton ZERO Lab, and Jane Flegal, who is the executive director of the Blue Horizons Foundation and served on the Biden administration’s climate policy team. We discuss how far Trump’s policies have set us back, the lessons the climate movement should learn from this loss and what the next wave of climate politics may look like.

Books recommended:

• 📕  Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology, and the Politics of Progress by Daniel Sarewitz
• 📘  Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back by Marc J. Dunkelman
• 📗  Energy: A Human History by Richard Rhodes
• 📙  Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) by Kim Stanley Robinson
• 📕  Mating: A Novel (National Book Award Winner) by Norman Rush
• 📘  An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets (Inside Technology) by Donald MacKenzie

Jesse Jenkins , Jane Flegal July 25, 2025 6 books recommended

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