[T]he power of each [Roman water mill’s] wheel did not exceed that of a 250 cc motorcycle. This mordant observation highlights how technologically uncivilized we ourselves are, in destroying the environment by wasting on a few motorcycles enough energy to produce food for a whole town. But after all is said and done, our current system, based on the exploitation of nonrenewable energy sources, will last but a moment on a historical scale.

-Lucio Russo, The Forgotten Revolution