Elixir: A Human History of Water

Brian M. Fagan,Brian Fagan

ISBN 10: 1408815737 / ISBN 13: 9781408815731

Published by Bloomsbury UK, 2011

About this Item

Seller Inventory # E-9781408815731-2-2

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Elixir: A Human History of Water
• Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1408815737
• ISBN 13: 9781408815731
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very good

About this title

Synopsis

Elixir spans five millennia, from ancient Mesopotamia to the parched present of the Sun Belt. As Brian Fagan shows, every human society has been shaped by its relationship toour most essential resource. Fagan's sweeping narrative moves across the world, from ancient Greece and Rome, whose mighty aqueducts still supply modern cities, to China, where emperors marshaled armies of laborers in a centuries-long struggle to tame powerful rivers. He sets out three ages of water: In the first age, lasting thousands of years, water was scarce or at best unpredictable-so precious that it became sacred in almost every culture.

By the time of the Industrial Revolution, human ingenuity had made water flow even in the most arid landscapes.This was the second age: water was no longer a mystical force to be worshipped and husbanded, but a commodity to be exploited. The American desert glittered with swimming pools- with little regard for sustainability. Today, we are entering a third age of water: As the earth's population approaches nine billion and ancient aquifers run dry, we will have to learn once again to show humility, even reverence, for this vital liquid. To solve the water crises of the future, we may need to adapt the water ethos of our ancestors.

About the Author

Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Great Warming and many other books.