MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 03208cam a2200385 a 4500
001 2010014620
003 DLC
005 20101125082240.0
008 100405s2010 enka b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2010014620
015 $aGBB046098$2bnb
016 7 $a015522271$2Uk
020 $a9780521766937
020 $a0521766931
020 $a9780521131858 (pbk.)
020 $a0521131855 (pbk.)
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn609871222
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dYDX$dYDXCP$dUKM$dBWK$dCDX$dBWX$dDLC
043 $ae-uk---
050 00 $aHD9502.G72$bW75 2010
082 00 $a333.790942/09034$222
100 1 $aWrigley, E. A.$q(Edward Anthony),$d1931-
245 10 $aEnergy and the English Industrial Revolution /$cE.A. Wrigley.
260 $aCambridge ;$aNew York :$bCambridge University Press,$c2010.
300 $axiii, 272 p. :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
520 $a"The industrial revolution transformed the productive power of societies. It did so by vastly increasing the individual productivity, thus delivering whole populations from poverty. In this new account by one of the world's acknowledged authorities the central issue is not simply how the revolution began but still more why it did not quickly end. The answer lay in the use of a new source of energy. Pre-industrial societies had access only to very limited energy supplies. As long as mechanical energy came principally from human or animal muscle and heat energy from wood, the maximum attainable level of productivity was bound to be low. Exploitation of a new source of energy in the form of coal provided an escape route from the constraints of an organic economy but also brought novel dangers. Since this happened first in England, its experience has a special fascination, though other countries rapidly followed suit"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 8 $aMachine generated contents note: List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. A Sketch of the Argument: 1. The limits to growth in organic economies; 2. The transition from an organic to an energy-rich economy; Part II. Favourable Developments: 3. Agricultural change and urbanisation; 4. Energy and transport; 5. Occupational structure, aggregate income, and migration; 6. Production and reproduction; Part III. What Set England Apart from her Neighbours: 7. The timing and nature of change in the industrial revolution; 8. Modernisation and the industrial revolution; Part IV. Retrospective: 9. The industrial revolution and energy; Appendix 1. Fuller versions of three tables printed in the main text; Bibliography; Index.
650 0 $aPower resources$zGreat Britain$xHistory.
650 0 $aCoal trade$zGreat Britain$xHistory.
650 0 $aIndustrial revolution$zGreat Britain.
856 42 $3Publisher description$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1008/2010014620-d.html
856 41 $3Table of contents only$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1008/2010014620-t.html
856 42 $3Contributor biographical information$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1008/2010014620-b.html
856 42 $3Cover image$uhttp://assets.cambridge.org/97805217/66937/cover/9780521766937.jpg