Energy-Substrate Scaling proposes a unified theory of technological progress, arguing that breakthroughs, from steam engines to AI, remain inert until paired with an energy substrate capable of sustaining them. History’s decisive transitions (agrarian → industrial, fossil → post-carbon) were not driven by invention alone, but by energy surpluses meeting critical EROI thresholds.

The book examines:

Novelty, Synergy, Transformation – Why some technologies scale (steam + coal) while others fail (Hero’s aeolipile)
Collapse as Energy Descent – How Rome and Ming China unraveled when their energy substrates degraded
Future Dilemmas – Why AI, quantum computing, and fusion face thermodynamic limits in a declining-EROI world

By integrating anthropology, complexity theory, and energy economics, this framework offers a lens for predicting which technologies will thrive—and which are doomed by energy realities.

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