W. S. Jevons classic book The Coal Question (1865) explained how coal (and by implication, gas and oil) were uniquely suited for—and indeed, prerequisites for—the machine age. His insights are even more applicable to today’s ultra-reliable, always-on energy requirements than when he first made them nearly 150 years ago. Indeed, it is hard to imagine an Industrial Revolution without reliable energy, and harder to imagine today’s world without plentiful, reliable, affordable energy.