Figure 2. A low-energy-future scenario envisioned in the late 1970s. By 2000, the energy being consumed from petroleum, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power were all on the rise, and renewable energy supplied a smaller fraction of total energy. SOURCE: Steinhart et. al, 1978.

John Ericsson, born at Langbanshyttan, in the province of Varmland, Sweden, on July 31, 1803, was the youngest of three children of a mine owner. Ericsson acquired his skills as a mechanical draftsman at the age of thirteen, working on the construction of the Göta Canal. Against all advice Ericsson left the canal company to embark on a military career in 1820. At an early age Ericsson had experimented with mechanics and continued to do so when in the military, constructing what he termed a "flame engine" to challenge the steam engine. This engine worked by internal combustion, and the success of a small...