#8020
Mentioned in 4 episodes
The control of nature
Book • 1989
The Control of Nature is a 1989 nonfiction book by John McPhee that consists of three essays originally published in The New Yorker.
The essays describe human efforts to control natural processes: 'Atchafalaya' details the Army Corps of Engineers' work to prevent the Mississippi River from changing its course; 'Cooling the Lava' recounts the efforts to divert a lava flow threatening a town in Iceland; and 'Los Angeles Against the Mountains' explores the engineering solutions to debris flows in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The book highlights the complexities and challenges of human attempts to control nature, often with mixed success and unintended consequences.
The essays describe human efforts to control natural processes: 'Atchafalaya' details the Army Corps of Engineers' work to prevent the Mississippi River from changing its course; 'Cooling the Lava' recounts the efforts to divert a lava flow threatening a town in Iceland; and 'Los Angeles Against the Mountains' explores the engineering solutions to debris flows in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The book highlights the complexities and challenges of human attempts to control nature, often with mixed success and unintended consequences.
Mentioned by
Mentioned in 4 episodes
Mentioned by 
Jim Collins
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Recommended by Charlotte Howard for its exploration of humanity's attempts to control nature.
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The Intelligence: The Economist reads
Recommended by Charlotte Howard for its exploration of humanity's attempts to control nature.
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Padraic Scanlan
Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine
