Rivers in History

Rivers in History PDF Author: Christof Mauch
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822973413
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Throughout history, rivers have run a wide course through human temporal and spiritual experience. They have demarcated mythological worlds, framed the cradle of Western civilization, and served as physical and psychological boundaries among nations. Rivers have become a crux of transportation, industry, and commerce. They have been loved as nurturing providers, nationalist symbols, and the source of romantic lore but also loathed as sites of conflict and natural disaster.Rivers in History presents one of the first comparative histories of rivers on the continents of Europe and North America in the modern age. The contributors examine the impact of rivers on humans and, conversely, the impact of humans on rivers. They view this dynamic relationship through political, cultural, industrial, social, and ecological perspectives in national and transnational settings. As integral sources of food and water, local and international transportation, recreation, and aesthetic beauty, rivers have dictated where cities have risen, and in times of flooding, drought, and war, where they've fallen. Modern Western civilizations have sought to control rivers by channeling them for irrigation, raising and lowering them in canal systems, and damming them for power generation. Contributors analyze the regional, national, and international politicization of rivers, the use and treatment of waterways in urban versus rural environments, and the increasing role of international commissions in ecological and commercial legislation for the protection of river resources. Case studies include the Seine in Paris, the Mississippi, the Volga, the Rhine, and the rivers of Pittsburgh. Rivers in History is a broad environmental history of waterways that makes a major contribution to the study, preservation, and continued sustainability of rivers as vital lifelines of Western culture.

Rivers in History

Rivers in History PDF Author: Christof Mauch
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822973413
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description
Throughout history, rivers have run a wide course through human temporal and spiritual experience. They have demarcated mythological worlds, framed the cradle of Western civilization, and served as physical and psychological boundaries among nations. Rivers have become a crux of transportation, industry, and commerce. They have been loved as nurturing providers, nationalist symbols, and the source of romantic lore but also loathed as sites of conflict and natural disaster.Rivers in History presents one of the first comparative histories of rivers on the continents of Europe and North America in the modern age. The contributors examine the impact of rivers on humans and, conversely, the impact of humans on rivers. They view this dynamic relationship through political, cultural, industrial, social, and ecological perspectives in national and transnational settings. As integral sources of food and water, local and international transportation, recreation, and aesthetic beauty, rivers have dictated where cities have risen, and in times of flooding, drought, and war, where they've fallen. Modern Western civilizations have sought to control rivers by channeling them for irrigation, raising and lowering them in canal systems, and damming them for power generation. Contributors analyze the regional, national, and international politicization of rivers, the use and treatment of waterways in urban versus rural environments, and the increasing role of international commissions in ecological and commercial legislation for the protection of river resources. Case studies include the Seine in Paris, the Mississippi, the Volga, the Rhine, and the rivers of Pittsburgh. Rivers in History is a broad environmental history of waterways that makes a major contribution to the study, preservation, and continued sustainability of rivers as vital lifelines of Western culture.

Rivers, Memory, And Nation-building

Rivers, Memory, And Nation-building PDF Author: Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782384324
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
Rivers figure prominently in a nation’s historical memory, and the Volga and Mississippi have special importance in Russian and American cultures. Beginning in the pre-modern world, both rivers served as critical trade routes connecting cultures in an extensive exchange network, while also sustaining populations through their surrounding wetlands and bottomlands. In modern times, “Mother Volga” and the “Father of Waters” became integral parts of national identity, contributing to a sense of Russian and American exceptionalism. Furthermore, both rivers were drafted into service as the means to modernize the nation-state through hydropower and navigation. Despite being forced into submission for modern-day hydrological regimes, the Volga and Mississippi Rivers persist in the collective memory and continue to offer solace, recreation, and sustenance. Through their histories we derive a more nuanced view of human interaction with the environment, which adds another lens to our understanding of the past.

Rivers

Rivers PDF Author: Peter Goes
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781776572168
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Looks at the major rivers around the world, describing the myths, events, popular culture, and historical figures associated with each.

The Indus River

The Indus River PDF Author: Shane Mountjoy
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438120036
Category : Indus River Valley
Languages : en
Pages : 117

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Book Description
Discusses the Indus River, which is the chief river of Pakistan.

Rivers of History

Rivers of History PDF Author: Harvey H. Jackson
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817307710
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
"Jackson weaves a seamless tale stretching from the Native-American river settlements ... to the paper mills and hydroelectric plants of the late twentieth century". -- Southern Historian

Land of seven rivers

Land of seven rivers PDF Author: Sanjeev Sanyal
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184756712
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
DID THE GREAT FLOOD OF INDIAN LEGEND ACTUALLY HAPPEN? WHY DID THE BUDDHA WALK TO SARNATH TO GIVE HIS FIRST SERMON? HOW DID THE EUROPEANS MAP INDIA? The history of any country begins with its geography. With sparkling wit and intelligence, Sanjeev Sanyal sets off to explore India and look at how the country’s history was shaped by, among other things, its rivers, mountains and cities. Traversing remote mountain passes, visiting ancient archaeological sites, crossing rivers in shaky boats and immersing himself in old records and manuscripts, he considers questions about Indian history that we rarely ask: Why do Indians call their country Bharat? How did the British build the railways across the subcontinent? Why was the world’s highest mountain named after George Everest? Moving from the geological beginnings of the subcontinent to present-day Gurgaon, Land of the Seven Rivers is riveting, wry and full of surprises. It is the most entertaining history of India you will ever read.

Great Rivers History

Great Rivers History PDF Author: Environmental and Water Resources Institute (U.S.)
Publisher: Amer Society of Civil Engineers
ISBN: 9780784410325
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
This volume contains 18 papers presented at the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress and Great Rivers History Symposium held in Kansas City, Missouri, from May 17 to 21, 2009. Great Rivers History focuses on the great rivers of the world and the engineering challenges of balancing the urgency for development and growth with the environmental need for a sustainable future. This seminal collection offers a fascinating history of: · the Paris sewer system · the Turtle Creek Reservoir · the Missouri River channel project · Columbia River exploration and mapping · major U.S. dam failures · Darcy s Law This publication will be valuable to practitioners, professors, and students interested in environmental and water resources engineering history.

Two Rivers, One History

Two Rivers, One History PDF Author: Lewiston Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781597253611
Category : Asotin County (Wash.)
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Rivers of Power

Rivers of Power PDF Author: Laurence C. Smith
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
ISBN: 0316411981
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
An "eye-opening, sometimes alarming, and ultimately inspiring" natural history of rivers and their complex and ancient relationship with human civilization (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction). Rivers, more than any road, technology, or political leader, have shaped the course of human civilization. They have opened frontiers, founded cities, settled borders, and fed billions. They promote life, forge peace, grant power, and can capriciously destroy everything in their path. Even today, rivers remain a powerful global force -- one that is more critical than ever to our future. In Rivers of Power, geographer Laurence C. Smith explores the timeless yet underappreciated relationship between rivers and civilization as we know it. Rivers are of course important in many practical ways (water supply, transportation, sanitation, etc). But the full breadth of their influence on the way we live is less obvious. Rivers define and transcend international borders, forcing cooperation between nations. Huge volumes of river water are used to produce energy, raw commodities, and food. Wars, politics, and demography are transformed by their devastating floods. The territorial claims of nations, their cultural and economic ties to each other, and the migrations and histories of their peoples trace back to rivers, river valleys, and the topographic divides they carve upon the world. And as climate change, technology, and cities transform our relationship with nature, new opportunities are arising to protect the waters that sustain us. Beautifully told and expansive in scope, Rivers of Power reveals how and why rivers have so profoundly influenced our civilization and examines the importance this vast, arterial power holds for the future of humanity. "As fascinating as it is beautifully written."---Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and Upheaval

Turbulent Streams

Turbulent Streams PDF Author: Roderick I. Wilson
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004438238
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
In Turbulent Streams: An Environmental History of Japan’s Rivers, 1600–1930, Roderick I. Wilson shows how rivers have played an important role in Japanese history and moves beyond conventional stories of technological progress and environmental decline to provide a dynamic history of environmental relations.