Fire

A Brief History

Stephen J. Pyne (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

224 Seiten

2001
University of Washington Press (Verlag)
978-0-295-98144-4 (ISBN)

Infos

"The fate of humanity, like the fate of the earth, is tied to the fires that have made the world as we know it—the fires whose history is told as well in this book as it has ever been told before. If one wants to understand just how completely the story of the human past is also the story of fire on earth, there is no better place to start than this small book."—William Cronon

Here, in one concise book, is the essential story of fire. Noted environmental historian Stephen J. Pyne describes the evolution of fire through prehistoric and historic times down to the present, examining contemporary attitudes from a long-range, informed perspective. Fire: A Brief History surveys the principles behind aboriginal and agricultural fire practices, the characteristics of urban fire, and the relationship between controlled combustion and technology. Pyne describes how fire’s role in cities, suburbs, exurbs, and wildlands has been shaped by an industrialized, urban way of thinking.

Fire: A Brief History will be of value to readers interested in the environment from the standpoint of anthropology, geography, forestry, science and technology, history, or the humanities.

Inhalt

Acknowledgments

Foreword: Small Book, Big Story

Introduction: Kindling

FIRE AND EARTH: CREATING COMBUSTION

How Fire Came to Be

How Life Accommodated Fire

First Fire Today

Touched by Fire

FRONTIERS OF FIRE (PART 1): FIRE COLONIZING BY HOMINIDS

What Made Early Fires Effective

First Contact: When Fire Arrives

Lost Contact: When Fire Departs

ABORIGINAL FIRE: CONTROLLING THE SPARK

Why They Burned

Where and How They Burned

Dying Fire: When the Firestick Leaves

AGRICULTURAL FIRE: CULTIVATING FUEL

The FIre in Agriculture's Hearth

How to Cultivate Fire

What They Meant to Each Other

Rites of Fire

FRONTIERS OF FIRE (PART 2): FIRE COLONIZING BY AGRICULTURE

How Conversion Leads to Colonization

Stories from the Fire Frontier

Comings and Goings of Agricultural Fire Today

URBAN FIRE: BUILDING HABITATS FOR FIRE

Hearth and House: Making a Home for Fire

Built to Burn: A Fire Ecology for the City Combustible

The Eternal Flame Invisible: Fire in the Industrial City

PYROTECHNICS: FIRE AND TECHNOLOGY

Prometheus Uncained

Cycles of Pyrotechnology: How Fire Has Cooked the Earth

Fire Powers: Controlled--and Not-So-Controlled--Fire as Mover and Shaker

Fire in the Mud

FRONTIERS OF FIRE (PARK 3): FIRE COLONIZING BY EUROPE

How Europe Expanded Fire's Realm

How Europe Contained Fire's Realm

How Europe Redefined Fire's Realm

INDUSTRIAL FIRE: STOKING THE BIG BURN

How Industrial Combustion Has Added Fire

How Industrial Combustion Has Subtracted Fire

How Industrial Combustion Has Rearranged Fire Regimes

THE FUTURE OF FIRE: BURNING BEYOND THE MILLENIUM

As the World Burns: What Is and Isn't Burning, and Where

Still the Keeper of the Flame

Selected Sources and Further Reading

Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.9.2001
• Reihe/Serie: Weyerhaueser Cycle of Fire
• Verlagsort: Seattle
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 152 x 229 mm
• Gewicht: 318 g
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Themenwelt: Weitere Fachgebiete ► Land- / Forstwirtschaft / Fischerei
• ISBN-10: 0-295-98144-X / 029598144X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-295-98144-4 / 9780295981444
• Zustand: Neuware