Fire / Stephen J. Pyne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pyne, Stephen J., 1949-

Series:

Earth series (Reaktion Books (Firm))

Earth series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fire.

Combustion.

Fires in art.

Fires--History.

Fires.

Fires--Mythology.

Fires--Social aspects.

Wildfires.

Forest fires.

Mythology.

History.

Physical Description:

207 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps (some color) ; 21 cm.

Other Title:

Subtitle on cover: Nature and culture

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion Books, 2012.

Summary:

"Fire has been an integral feature of our planet for over 400 million years. It has defined human culture from the beginning; it is something without which we cannot survive. For while fire is among the most destructive forces on earth, it has equally tremendous powers of cleansing renewal and controlled energy. In this book the author delivers a masterclass history of fire and its use by humanity, explaining how fire has always been at the core of how people have made their world habitable, whether hunting, foraging, farming, herding or urbanizing, and of course in managing nature reserves. Fire was deployed in the bast by aboriginal communities, and early agricultural societies began to cornol and contain fire and fuel. But our mastery of the science and art of fire has not given us absolute power: fire disasters have altered the course of history, and unexpected fires that begin as the result of other disasters can have shocking efffects. In addition, wildfires are a crucial component of natural regeneration. The past 200 years has also seen the growth of a massive new role of combustibles in the form of fossil biomass: 'people burn fuels from the geological past and release their effluents into the geological future. The present they overload with noxious emissions and greenouse gases.' New combusion practices have radically changed the world's ecological balance.

Contents:

Creating combustion

Burning bright, burning wide, burning deep

Fire creature

Fire works: anthropogenic fire practices

Famous fires: an anthology

Fire studied and fire made

Fire painted

Fire celebrated

The great disruption

Megafire.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-198) and index.

ISBN:

9781780230467

178023046X

OCLC:

788270203