The Artificial River

Author : Carol Sheriff
Publisher : Hill and Wang
ISBN 13 : 1429952482
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.84/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Artificial River written by Carol Sheriff and published by Hill and Wang. This book was released on 1997-06-12 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rediscover the Gems of Antiquity in The Artificial River Woven from a rich tapestry of research, The Artificial River is more than just a historical account of the Erie Canal—it encapsulates a pivotal era in United States history, especially the monumental strides in engineering, commerce, and socio-cultural shifts between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Join Carol Sheriff as she vividly paints the human endeavor behind the making of the Erie Canal—an artificial river that irrevocably changed landscapes and lives. This skillfully crafted narrative opens the door to the past, inviting you on a fascinating journey through time. The Artificial River immerses you in the lives of ordinary yet extraordinary individuals—farmers, businessmen, tourists, and government officials—who stood at the forefront of this significant transformation. The Erie Canal wasn’t just a waterway–it was a lifeline that laid the foundation for the capitalist democracy we know today. The Artificial River is a cleverly bound chronicle of American commerce and the spirit of public good—one that’s sure to captivate history enthusiasts and casual readers alike.

Author : Carol Sheriff
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780809016051
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Artificial River written by Carol Sheriff and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1997-06-12 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the Eric Canal is the story of industrial and economic progress between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The Artificial River reveals the human dimension of the story of the Erie Canal. Carol Sheriff's extensive, innovative archival research shows the varied responses of ordinary people-farmers, businessmen, government officials, tourists, workers-to this major environmental, social, and cultural transformation in the early life of the Republic. Winner of Best Manuscript Award from the New York State Historical Association "The Artificial River is deeply researched, its arguments are both subtle and clear, and it is written with grace and an engagingly light touch. The book merits a wide readership." --Paul Johnson, The Journal of American History

Author : BJ Cummings
Publisher : University of Washington Press
ISBN 13 : 0295747447
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The River That Made Seattle written by BJ Cummings and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2020-07-15 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With bountiful salmon and fertile plains, the Duwamish River has drawn people to its shores over the centuries for trading, transport, and sustenance. Chief Se’alth and his allies fished and lived in villages here and white settlers established their first settlements nearby. Industrialists later straightened the river’s natural turns and built factories on its banks, floating in raw materials and shipping out airplane parts, cement, and steel. Unfortunately, the very utility of the river has been its undoing, as decades of dumping led to the river being declared a Superfund cleanup site. Using previously unpublished accounts by Indigenous people and settlers, BJ Cummings’s compelling narrative restores the Duwamish River to its central place in Seattle and Pacific Northwest history. Writing from the perspective of environmental justice—and herself a key figure in river restoration efforts—Cummings vividly portrays the people and conflicts that shaped the region’s culture and natural environment. She conducted research with members of the Duwamish Tribe, with whom she has long worked as an advocate. Cummings shares the river’s story as a call for action in aligning decisions about the river and its future with values of collaboration, respect, and justice.

Author : Ian McDonald
Publisher : Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1625673043
Total Pages : 584 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book River of Gods written by Ian McDonald and published by Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A superpower of two billion people, a dozen new nations from Kerela to the Himalayas, artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. This is India in 2047, one hundred years after its birth. In the new nation of Bharat, in the face of the failure of the monsoon, nine lives are swept together — a gangster, a cop, his wife, a politician, a stand-up comic, a set designer, a journalist, a scientist, and a dropout — to decide the future of Mother India. River of Gods teems with the life of a country choked with peoples and cultures — one and a half billion people, twelve semi-independent nations, nine million gods. A war is fought, a love is betrayed, a mystery from a different world decoded, as the great river Ganges flows on. Praise for River of Gods: “[A] bold, brave look at India on the eve of its centennial, 41 years from now...McDonald takes his readers from India's darkest depths to its most opulent heights, from rioting mobs and the devastated poor to high-level politicians and lavish parties. He handles his complex plot with flair and confidence and deftly shows how technological advances and social changes have subtly changed lives. RIVER OF GODS is a major achievement from a writer who is becoming one of the best sf novelists of our time.” —Washington Post “[P]erhaps his most accomplished novel to date... reminiscent of William Gibson in full-throttle cultural-immersion mode, packed with technical jargon, religious and sociological observation and allusions to art both high and low... RIVER OF GODS amply rewards careful consideration and more than delivers its share of straight-ahead entertainment. Already a multiple-award nominee following its British publication, McDonald's latest ranks as one of the best science fiction novels published in the United States this year.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A staggering achievement, brilliantly imagined and endlessly surprising ... A brave, brilliant and wonderful novel.” —Christopher Priest, The Guardian

Author : Philip José Farmer
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780932096289
Total Pages : 205 pages
Book Rating : 4.8X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book River of Eternity written by Philip José Farmer and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Mark A. Bedau
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262522908
Total Pages : 584 pages
Book Rating : 4.0X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Artificial Life VII written by Mark A. Bedau and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2000-08-01 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term "artificial life" describes research into synthetic systems that possess some of the essential properties of life. This interdisciplinary field includes biologists, computer scientists, physicists, chemists, geneticists, and others. Artificial life may be viewed as an attempt to understand high-level behavior from low-level rules—for example, how the simple interactions between ants and their environment lead to complex trail-following behavior. An understanding of such relationships in particular systems can suggest novel solutions to complex real-world problems such as disease prevention, stock-market prediction, and data mining on the Internet. Since their inception in 1987, the Artificial Life meetings have grown from small workshops to truly international conferences, reflecting the field's increasing appeal to researchers in all areas of science.

Author : Jordan B. Pollack
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262661836
Total Pages : 612 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Artificial Life IX written by Jordan B. Pollack and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proceedings from the ninth International Conference on Artificial Life; papers by scientists of many disciplines focusing on the principles of organization and applications of complex, life-like systems. Artificial Life is an interdisciplinary effort to investigate the fundamental properties of living systems through the simulation and synthesis of life-like processes. The young field brings a powerful set of tools to the study of how high-level behavior can arise in systems governed by simple rules of interaction. Some of the fundamental questions include: What are the principles of evolution, learning, and growth that can be understood well enough to simulate as an information process? Can robots be built faster and more cheaply by mimicking biology than by the product design process used for automobiles and airplanes? How can we unify theories from dynamical systems, game theory, evolution, computing, geophysics, and cognition? The field has contributed fundamentally to our understanding of life itself through computer models, and has led to novel solutions to complex real-world problems across high technology and human society. This elite biennial meeting has grown from a small workshop in Santa Fe to a major international conference. This ninth volume of the proceedings of the international A-life conference reflects the growing quality and impact of this interdisciplinary scientific community.

Author : Avijit Gupta
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 9780470723715
Total Pages : 712 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Large Rivers written by Avijit Gupta and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-02-28 with total page 712 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management explores an important topic in geomorphology and sedimentology: the form and function of major rivers. Our knowledge of the big rivers of the world is limited. It is currently difficult to recognise large rivers of the past from relict sedimentary deposits or to structure management policies for long international rivers. This exciting book brings together a set of papers on large rivers of the world, as a unique introduction to a demanding subject. The book includes thirty chapters and is organised into three sections. The first part is on the environmental requirements for creating and maintaining a major river system. The second is a collection of case studies on 14 large rivers from different continents, covering a range of physical environments. The third section includes chapters on the measurement and management of large rivers. First book to offer in a single volume state-of-the-art knowledge on management and geomorphology of large rivers of the world A pioneering study, pushing the boundaries of our knowledge related to big rivers Includes comprehensive case studies covering the major large rivers of the world including Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, Congo, Indus, and Mekong Written by a leading team of distinguished, international contributors Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management is essential reading for postgraduate students and researchers in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, sedimentary geology, and river management. It is also of relevance to engineers and environmental consultants in the private and public sectors working on major rivers of the world.

Author : Robert Jerome Glennon
Publisher : Island Press
ISBN 13 : 1597267872
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.78/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Water Follies written by Robert Jerome Glennon and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "...a book as rich in detail as it is devastating in its argument." -SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN "Water Follies deserves a place alongside the late Marc Reisner's classic Cadillac Desert." -ENVIRONMENT "a lively account of hydrology" -NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS "if you want to scare yourself silly, read Water Follies, by Robert Jerome Glennon. In it you'll learn how America is irrigating itself to death-just like the Sumerians-while sucking its groundwater aquifers dry." -TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL "Even if you are not working with water issues, you should read this book for a wider awareness of the depth and importance of groundwater impacts, right down to the bottle of water you are probably drinking right now." -CONSERVATION IN PRACTICE "To law professor Robert Glennon, the names Perrier and Poland pack a fearful punch, for they and the other huge producers of bottled water are feeding a craze that puts the environment on the brink of disaster." -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY The Santa Cruz River that once flowed through Tucson, Arizona is today a sad mirage of a river. Except for brief periods following heavy rainfall, it is bone dry. The cottonwood and willow trees that once lined its banks have died, and the profusion of birds and wildlife recorded by early settlers are nowhere to be seen. The river is dead. What happened? Where did the water go. As Robert Glennon explains in Water Follies, what killed the Santa Cruz River -- and could devastate other surface waters across the United States -- was groundwater pumping. From 1940 to 2000, the volume of water drawn annually from underground aquifers in Tucson jumped more than six-fold, from 50,000 to 330,000 acre-feet per year. And Tucson is hardly an exception -- similar increases in groundwater pumping have occurred across the country and around the world. In a striking collection of stories that bring to life the human and natural consequences of our growing national thirst, Robert Glennon provides an occasionally wry and always fascinating account of groundwater pumping and the environmental problems it causes. Robert Glennon sketches the culture of water use in the United States, explaining how and why we are growing increasingly reliant on groundwater. He uses the examples of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers in Arizona to illustrate the science of hydrology and the legal aspects of water use and conflicts. Following that, he offers a dozen stories -- ranging from Down East Maine to San Antonio's River Walk to Atlanta's burgeoning suburbs -- that clearly illustrate the array of problems caused by groundwater pumping. Each episode poses a conflict of values that reveals the complexity of how and why we use water. These poignant and sometimes perverse tales tell of human foibles including greed, stubbornness, and, especially, the unlimited human capacity to ignore reality. As Robert Glennon explores the folly of our actions and the laws governing them, he suggests common-sense legal and policy reforms that could help avert potentially catastrophic future effects. Water Follies, the first book to focus on the impact of groundwater pumping on the environment, brings this widespread but underappreciated problem to the attention of citizens and communities across America.

Author : Elizabeth M. Sharpe
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416572643
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In the Shadow of the Dam written by Elizabeth M. Sharpe and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-08-10 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early one May morning in 1874, in the hills above Williamsburg, Massachusetts, a reservoir dam suddenly burst, sending an avalanche of water down a narrow river valley lined with factories and farms. In just thirty minutes, the Mill River flood left 139 people dead and 740 homeless -- and a nation wondering how this terrible calamity had happened. In this compelling tale of a man-made disaster peopled with everyday heroes and arrogant scoundrels, Elizabeth Sharpe opens a rare window into industry and village life in nineteenth-century New England, a time when dam failures and other industrial accidents were widespread and laws favored factory owners rather than factory workers. In the Mill Valley, the townsfolk depended upon generally benevolent patriarchs who assured them that the dam was safe, when most people could see that it was not. The story of the Mill River flood is the story of those townsfolk: of George Cheney, the dam keeper whose repeated warnings about leaks in the dam had been ignored by the mill owners; of his wife, Elizabeth, who watched in disbelief as the dam burst open from the bottom; of Isabell Hayden, the mother who saw her young son swept away in the river's torrent; and of Fred Howard, a box maker who spent the days after the flood searching for bodies, burying friends, and waiting to see if the button factory he relied upon for his livelihood would be rebuilt. It is also the story of the well-meaning but overconfident businessmen who built the dam: of Onslow Spelman, the manufacturer who dismissed the dam keeper's flood warning, irrationally insisting that the dam could not break; of Lucius Fenn and Joel Bassett, the engineer and contractor whose roles in the construction of the dam would be questioned during the public inquest into the causes of the flood; of William Skinner, the factory owner who struggled to decide whether or not to rebuild his silk factory in the village that bore his name; and of many others. The flood highlighted class divisions between worker and owner, as well as the disorganized state of professional engineering, then still in its infancy. As the flood exposed the dangers of allowing mill owners -- who were not trained engineers -- to design their own dam, legislation to regulate the building of reservoir dams in Massachusetts was enacted for the first time. Engineers, politicians, and business owners battled over control of the reform measures to prevent similar tragedies, yet saw them continually repeated. In the Shadow of the Dam is the story of an event that reshaped a society. Told through the eyes of villagers like Collins Graves, lauded as a hero for his desperate ride through the valley to warn people of the impending flood, and industrialists like Joel Hayden Jr., entrusted with the responsibility of disaster relief despite his culpability in failing to maintain the leaking dam, In the Shadow of the Dam is a history of our uneasy relationship with industrial progress and a riveting narrative of a tragic disaster in small-town Massachusetts.