Need Help? +1 (210) 459-5591
0 My Cart$0.00
Fire: Nature and Culture (Earth)

Fire: Nature and Culture (Earth)

0 Reviews
In stock

$24.95

Paperback – December 15, 2012

by Stephen J. Pyne(Author)

For over 400 million years, fire has been an integral force on our planet. It can be as innocent as a bonfire or as destructive and lethal as a wildfire. Human history is rife with fires that have leveled cities—the Fire of Moscow in 1812 that destroyed seventy-five percent of the city, the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 that took down 17,000 buildings, and the fire that obliterated San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake are just a few. Fire is a force of nature that can consume everything in its wake, and yet it also has tremendous powers of cleansing and renewal. At the end of the day, we can’t live without it.
In Fire, Stephen J. Pyne offers a concise history of fire and its use by humanity, explaining how fire has been at the core of hunting, foraging, farming, herding, urbanizing, and managing nature reserves. He depicts how it gave humans power in ancient times, which resulted in humanity beginning to reshape the world for its own benefit. He describes how fire was used by aboriginal societies and the ways agricultural societies added control over fuel, but warns that our mastery of the science and art of fire has not given us complete control—fire disasters throughout history have defined cultures, and unexpected fires that begin as the result of other disasters have shocking effects. Pyne traces fire’s influence on landscapes, art, science, and even climate, exploring the power a simple spark has over our imaginations.
Lavishly illustrated with a host of rare and unexpected images, Fire is a sizzling and accessible tale of our relationship with this primal natural force.
  • Estimated delivery time 2-8 days

  • Shipping rates are calculated based on local US cities; international rates may apply for other countries.

Product details

      • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Reaktion Books (December 15, 2012)
      • Language ‏ : ‎ English
      • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 207 pages
      • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 178023046X
      • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1780230467
      • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
      • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.8 x 0.6 x 8.25 inches

Customers Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Fire: Nature and Culture (Earth)”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related products
Quick View
Buy From Amazon
Categories:

Assessment of Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: A European Perspective

0 Reviews
$128.58
Buy From Amazon

1st Edition

by Jörn Birkmann(Editor), Stefan Kienberger(Editor), David Alexander(Editor)
Assessment of Vulnerability to Natural Hazards covers the vulnerability of human and environmental systems to climate change and eight natural hazards: earthquakes, floods, landslides, avalanches, forest fires, drought, coastal erosion, and heat waves. This book is an important contribution to the field, clarifying terms and investigating the nature of vulnerability to hazards in general and in various specific European contexts. In addition, this book helps improve understanding of vulnerability and gives thorough methodologies for investigating situations in which people and their environments are vulnerable to hazards. With case studies taken from across Europe, the underlying theoretical frame is transferrable to other geographical contexts, making the content relevant worldwide.

Quick View
Buy From Amazon
Categories:

Guardians of the Wild: A History of the Warden Service of Canada's National Parks (Volume 2) (Parks and Heritage)

0 Reviews
$200.00
Buy From Amazon

Paperback – August 30, 1999

by Robert Burns(Author), Mike Schintz(Author)

Bears and bureaucrats, timber and telephone lines, poaching and predators, fires and families -- all these play a part in this fascinating and long-overdue study of Canadas National Park wardens. The Warden Service has been integral to Canadas National Parks from their earliest days. First established in Rocky Mountains Park (now Banff National Park) in 1909, the position of Fire and Game Guardian was the precursor of todays National Park Warden, whose duties now include resource management, law enforcement and public safety. Robert Burns traces the growth of the warden service from here, its formative years, and goes on to show how the role changed and developed according to the expanding park system, altered societal expectations, and technological change. Guardians of the Wild is a study of real people and their trials, triumphs and tragedies. This book creates a complete history where before there existed only sketchy accounts of single individuals and incidents. The need for such an account is undeniable; well-known historian Simon Evans describes this story as "one which deserves to be heard." Both a tribute to the enormous devotion to duty and dedicated labours of the park wardens, and a well-researched factual account of how our National Parks evolved, Guardians of the Wild is a singular study of the historical evolution of protection and management inside Canadas National Parks.
Quick View
Buy From Amazon
Categories:

Mimicking Nature's Fire: Restoring Fire-Prone Forests In The West

0 Reviews
$27.99
Buy From Amazon

Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition

by Stephen F. Arno  (Author), Carl E. Fiedler (Author)  Format: Kindle Edition

The magnificent stands of old-growth trees that characterize the forests of western North America depend on periodic fires for their creation or survival. Deprived of that essential disturbance process eventually they die, leaving an overcrowded growth of smaller trees vulnerable to intense blazes and epidemics of insects and disease. In Mimicking Nature's Fire, forest ecologists Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler present practical solutions to the pervasive problem of deteriorating forest conditions in western North America. Advocating a new direction in forest management, they explore the promise of "restoration forestry" -- an ecologically based approach that seeks to establish forest structures in which fire can once again serve as a beneficial process rather than as a destructive aberration. The book begins with an overview of fundamentals: why traditional forestry tried to exclude fire from forests, why that attempt failed, and why foresters and ecologists now recognize the need for management based on how natural ecosystems operate. Subsequent chapters consider: how fire's historic role provides a foundation for designing restoration strategies; why a hands-off approach will not return forests to their historical condition; how management goals influence the strategies used in restoration forestry. The second part of the book presents case studies of restoration projects in the western United States and Canada, representing different forest types, different historic fire regimes, and contrasting management goals. For each project, the authors describe why and how the project is being conducted, profile forest conditions, and describe methods of treatment. They also report what has been accomplished, identify obstacles to restoration, and offer their candid but understanding evaluation. Mimicking Nature's Fire concludes by placing restoration forestry in the broad context of conserving forests worldwide and outlining factors critical for its success.
Quick View
Buy From Amazon
Categories:

Wild Forests: Conservation Biology And Public Policy

0 Reviews
$16.93
Buy From Amazon

1st Edition

by William S. Alverson (Author), Don Waller (Author), Walter Kuhlmann (Author)

Wild Forests presents a coherent review of the scientific and policy issues surrounding biological diversity in the context of contemporary public forest management. The authors examine past and current practices of forest management and provide a comprehensive overview of known and suspected threats to diversity. In addition to discussing general ecological principles, the authors evaluate specific approaches to forest management that have been proposed to ameliorate diversity losses. They present one such policy -- the Dominant Use Zoning Model incorporating an integrated network of "Diversity Maintenance Areas" -- and describe their attempts to persuade the U.S. Forest Service to adopt such a policy in Wisconsin. Drawing on experience in the field, in negotiations, and in court, the authors analyze the ways in which federal agencies are coping with the mandates of conservation biology and suggest reforms that could better address these important issues. Throughout, they argue that wild or unengineered conditions are those that are most likely to foster a return to the species richness that we once enjoyed.
Quick View
Buy From Amazon
Categories:

Campbell prediction system Rx: CPS applied to prescription (Rx) burns

0 Reviews
$39.99
Buy From Amazon

Unknown Binding – January 1, 1993

by Doug Campbell (Author)
Quick View
Buy From Amazon
Categories:

Burning Questions: America's Fight with Nature's Fire

0 Reviews
$26.70
Buy From Amazon
by David Carle(Author)
A burning mix of diesel fuel and gasoline drips from handheld canisters onto the ground. Slowly a line of fire begins to creep downhill. The flames are well behaved, almost hesitant. This is a backing fire, unlikely to attract media attention unless it escapes, like the disastrous Los Alamos Cerro Grande fire did in 2000. This book explores a century of controversy over prescribed burning―using fire as a tool―and fire suppression. For more than 100 years, America waged an all-out war against wildland fire. Decades of fire suppression caused fuels to build up at alarming levels in our forests, culminating in the increasingly severe, uncontrollable fires of the late 20th century―the fires in Yellowstone, the Oakland Hills, and Los Alamos and the fires in summers of 2000 (the second worst fire season in the nation's history) and 2001.   Looking at these and earlier fires, Carle uses the voices of those who were involved, of those who were early advocates, and of today's proponents to examine the role of controlled burning. Early in the century, Harold Biswell, a pioneer in prescribed burning, dared to commit the heresy of questioning the dogma of fire suppression, despite professional controversy and opprobrium, he and a few other pioneers led the way. Their roles play an integral part in the story told here. In Biswell's words, fire is a natural part of the environment, about as important as rain and sunshine… . We must work more in harmony with nature, not so much against it. Can humanity, this book asks, learn to become a fire-adapted species?
Menu
Need Help? +1 (210) 459-5591
Back to Top
Product has been added to your cart