Energy in the pre-industrial world

This source collection looks at how our use of energy evolved prior to the Industrial Revolution. Learning how to use fire, domesticating plants and animals, and using energy from wind and water enabled humans to sustain larger groups of people and grow more complex societies. Knowledge of how to capture and use energy was passed on from one generation to the next. As a result, humans took over much of the land that was previously used by other species. The rate of innovation, however, could never keep up with the increase of people, which - without any means of birth control available - grew exponentially. Because of this it was always a matter of time before food became scarce. This source collection aims to demonstrate continuity and change in humans’ approaches to energy use in a pre-industrial world. It can also provide students with useful historical context for understanding the significance of the Industrial Revolution in transforming our relationship with energy and global resources.

This source collection was made by Steven Stegers and Grace Sahota as part of the Europeana DSI4 project, which is co-financed by the European Union Connecting Europe Facility. The collection makes use of sources from Europeana Collection.