This book was written by H. T. Odum and Elisabeth C. Odum and published in 1976. The first paragraph of the Introduction states: “Everything is based on energy. Energy is the source and control of all things, all values, and all the actions of human beings and nature. This simple truth, long known to scientists and engineers, has generally been omitted from most of the education in this century. When energy sources are rich, economies, knowledge, and aspirations grow; when energy sources are all being used as fast as the earth receives them, activities, values, and aspirations settle into a steady pattern. So it has been throughout the history of humanity and nature.” On pages 39 through 44, he provides a definition and a discussion of the “maximum-power principle.” This appears to be the first time he used that specific name for this principle in his published work.
Odum, H. T., Odum, E. C. 1976. Energy Basis for Man and Nature. New York: McGraw-Hill.