Penguin (Non-Classics), 2004
In this book, Barbara Freese traces the entire history of coal, reaching all the way back to the lepidodendron forests of the Carboniferous period. These forests provided most of the organic material that turned into coal over hundreds of millions of years. She reminds us that the energy we produce through the burning of coal (and other fossil fuels) ultimately came from the sun: the carbon came from plants, like lepidodendron, that grew by harvesting solar energy through the process of photosynthesis.
But, as the book’s subtitle makes clear, this is primarily a history of humans and coal. Freese begins this history with the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 A.D. Romans, finding exposed coal deposits throughout their new territory, discovered that the material was easily carved. They made jewelery and other decorations out of it. Some burned it for fuel, but it would take another thousand years for that practice to become widespread.
From this point on, Freese chronicles a number of love-hate relationships with coal. Among other things, coal can be burned for heat, to smelt iron, to power steam engines, and to generate electricity. But doing so produces acrid black smoke and necessitates the often very dangerous task of mining the fossil fuel. Freese’s account of the Industrial Revolution in Britain provides a good example of both the desirable and undesirable products of coal power: more and better iron, steam power, mechanized factories, locomotives; blackened skies, mine explosions, slummish factory towns, child factory labor.
In addition to a great deal about coal in Britain, Freese also covers the history of the fuel in the United States. With this she brings the story up to date, detailing how coal has shaped our country’s energy infrastructure and narrating a tour of a coal-fired power plant in Minnesota. Freese offers her own expertise in the area of American energy policy and legislation: she worked for a number of years as an environmental attorney for the State of Minnesota.
The penultimate chapter is devoted to coal use in China, the history of which has many parallels to that of Britain. Here, Freese betrays a Euro-centric worldview: China is relegated to the back of the book even though Chinese people began using coal for smelting iron as early as 1100 A.D, and have been burning it for fuel since around 4000 B.C. Still, she provides an interesting overview of China’s history with coal and the country’s current struggle to balance the growing energy needs that accompany modernization with international pressure to reduce air pollution.
All in all, this is a fascinating book. Freese does a good job of connecting the historical dots: she shows just ho integral coal has been to the development of the industrialized world, sometimes coming into play in unexpected ways. This is another wonderful entry into the recent category of single-word-title materials histories.
