The control of nature
by John McPhee · first published 1989
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Three long essays on people fighting natural forces: Mississippi flood control, Icelandic lava diverted with seawater, and LA's debris flows. Praised for vivid storytelling and insight into engineering history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
McPhee details the strategies and tactics through which people attempt to control nature. Most striking in his vivid depiction of the main contestants: nature in complex and awesome guises, and those who would attempt to wrest control from her--stubborn, often ingenious, and always arresting characters.
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…situation to continue, because of the temporary economic benefits we all reap from inaction. An incredible overview of the problem was written 20 years ago by John McPhee[1], as part of his book "The Control of Nature". Unfortunately, solving the problem in the long term means essentially undermining the entire economy of South Louisiana, and leaving the City of New Orleans destitute. I served in Baton Rouge for 3…
on “Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline” ↗John McPhee's "Control of Nature"[0] covers a fair amount of the Mississippi River Basin Model's use and provides a lot of insight into the history of controlling waterways. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Control-Nature-John-McPhee/dp/0374522...
on “Mississippi River Basin Model” ↗Also check out John McPhee's Control of Nature on the topic.
on “Treasure in a Cornfield” ↗+1 for a mention of McPhee and The Control of Nature. Awesome book. And it's just a fascinating fact, I think, that the Mississippi "wants" to do a major reroute. I had lots of fun maybe 1.5 decades ago poking around the Old River Control Structures and…
on “Major Flood Coming Down the Mississippi River” ↗…McPhee about the control structure, linked to in the article above: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1987/02/23/1987_02_23_039_T... This and 2 other essays by McPhee were collected into a book, "The Control of Nature". The other essays, also quite long, were about debris flows in the LA basin, and about stopping an Icelandic volcanic flow which threatened a town and a port by spraying it with sea water. It's a fantastic…
on “America's Achilles' heel: the Mississippi River's Old River Control Structure” ↗Thanks for that. I read and very much enjoyed the essays collected in The Control of Nature and never thought to look for more by the same author.
on “What Did the Continents Look Like Millions of Years Ago?” ↗"The Control of Nature" was fascinating. I read it right around the time of Hurricane Katrina, which adds a new resonance to McPhee's discussion of the Army Corps of Engineers trying to protect New Orleans from floods.
on “Using the wrong dictionary” ↗Glad it references the McPhee "Los Angeles Against the Mountains.” essays. It included in the McPhee book "the control of nature'. Three interesting essays on the flood control of the mississippi, controling volcanoes in iceland and the mudslides of the sanGabriel mountains. McPhee's writing isn't always the clearest, but his…
on “The war between the city of Los Angeles and its mountains” ↗Excellent book by John McPhee on the general topic of your last paragraph: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77.The_Control_of_Nature
on “The Really Big One” ↗…http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-live-powerful-storms-moving-l-area-strongest-storm-in-years-taking-aim-at-1487305729-htmlstory.html Now's a good time to mention a book that I learned about on HN. The Control of Nature by John McPhee. It has chapters on: The lower Mississippi food control structures, Iceland's fight against flowing lava and Los Angeles's efforts to control raging water flowing down thru ravines. Here's…
on “L.A. preps for a huge storm” ↗Civil engineering: The Control of Nature by John McPhee https://www.amazon.com/Control-Nature-John-McPhee/dp/0374522... Stories about debris flows in the California mountains and forcing the Mississippi River to stay where it is.
on “Ask HN: What are some favorite books that provide insight into other industries?” ↗"Atchafalaya" is one of four articles compiled into a book, The Control of Nature, that is also excellent. One other of the four that I remember from that book is about how erosion shapes the Los Angeles basin -- "Los Angeles Against the Mountains".
on “Jackson’s water crisis: latest updates” ↗I invite you to find yourself a copy of any or all of The Control of Nature by John McPhee, A River Lost by Blaine Harden, and Marc Reisner's books Cadillac Desert and A Dangerous Place.
on “Could We Stop Yellowstone from Erupting with a Giant Geothermal Power Plant?” ↗John McPhee talks about a similar model for the Mississippi River in “The Control of Nature” Well worth a read. Fun stories about Hawaii and Los Angeles too, iirc.
on “U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model” ↗The opening to John McPhee's essay "Los Angeles Against the Mountains" is part of his book The Control of Nature. This first section of that essay is one of my favorite pieces of writing I've ever read. In Los Angeles versus the San Gabriel Mountains, it is not always clear which side is losing. For example, the…
on “The McPhee method for writing deeply reported nonfiction” ↗