To the question of "Is civilization inevitable?"
If we assume that intelligent life is a given on a world (certainly a bold assumption) than will that intelligent life inevitably form a civilization?
First, you would have to assume a certain form of social structure. A super intelligent alligator would be a badass hunter, but its still a solitary creature that wouldn't really build up anything or coordinate with other fellows. Though perhaps one sign of such intelligence in these creatures is that they force social structures because they recognize its utility, even if their instincts follow a more solitary path. Though imagine the constant infighting such a race might experience, we have enough trouble getting along and we are instinctively born to socialize and form bonds and connections. Imagine a race trying to build structure and coordinating resources when in their hearts they are solitary creatures?.... it just might not be feasible.
Then you would have to assume that species can either consume stationary "plants" like we can, or could find moving creatures that could be penned and cultivated (aka like a cow). Civilization started when humans settled in an area and stopped migrating constantly, if there isn't something stationary for us to live on, civilization is likely out of the question.
But if we assume that, then ultimately the benefits of civilization (better quality food, safety, resistance to predators, etc) would likely win the calculus of evolution, and become a natural consequence.
BUT....if we are talking an advanced civilization such as ours, capable of going to space or at least communicating with it, that also requires access to certain materials. Part of our success in the modern era was access to a HUGE abundance of stored energy in the form of coal and fossil fuels....born out from geologic conditions and the wealth of creatures that came before us. This might actually be the folly of a species that gets intelligence "too early" in a planet's life cycle, there just may not be enough stored energy around to kick off an industrial era.
Likewise take silicon (sand) for example. Without the abundance of that material on earth, we would not have been able to construct the ubiquitous computer networks we have. Though that said, there are other materials computers could be fashioned from, and I mean we did a whole lot with computers (go to the moon) before they were wide spread. So even with a more limited supply of said materials we might have made it to 1960s technology, but resource shortages could have prevented a push toward the modern information age.
