Teaching Earth Sciences - Earth Science Teachers' Association

Reviews
The Control of Nature
John McPhee
Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 1990
ISBN13: 978-0-374-52259-9 $9.46
First published in
1989, this book
may not be a new
addition to Earth
Science teachers’
bookshelves but
is nevertheless an
engaging book
that has charm
and relevance to
those interested
in the engineering
challenges faced
in tackling some
of man’s biggest
battles with nature.
It is of particular interest to those following the WJEC
AS Geology specification (GL3 – Geology & the Human
Environment).
More of an historical account of events than a geological
one, McPhee details the strategies and tactics through
which people attempt to control nature and carries us to
the front lines of the still-raging battle between man and
nature.
The book focuses on three key locations : Louisiana, on
the lower Mississippi River, USA, where even today
engineers are fighting a continuing battle with the river
which threatens to follow a new route to the sea and cut
off New Orleans and Baton Rouge from the rest of the
United States; Iceland where inhabitants confront the red
hot lava of the 1973 volcanic eruption in an attempt to
save the crucial harbour of Heimaey, Westmann Islands;
and Los Angeles, USA where basins are built to catch
devastating debris flows from the San Gabriel Mountains.
Unflinchingly honest, yet unashamedly editorial, the three
long stories (or chapters) pit relentless nature against
mankind in a clash of wills reminiscent of Greek tragedy.
What emerges are tales of determination, folly and grim
triumph; a modern mythology where nature supplies the
gods and man plays himself at his imperfect best.
If you have been lucky enough to visit the Westmann
Islands, Iceland yourself, Chapter Two is perhaps of most
interest. Here, McPhee brings to life the 1973 eruption and
the people involved in the taming of the volcano – Eldfell.
There are vivid comparisons made to Vesuvius in AD79,
Hawaiian eruptions and the controlled bombing of Etna,
Sicily by the military in an attempt to divert the devastating
lava flows and save land and lives. McPhee’s research
involves eye witness accounts and key quotes from those
involved in the battle at the time. The stories are well told
and bear witness to the ultimate resilience of the people of
the Westmann Islands.
McPhee doesn’t just write about science, he writes
about people who apply and sometimes defy science in
their struggle to control nature and protect themselves
from the inevitable. Blending the best of Sunday-paper
feature writing with the drama and insight of a novelist,
he has produced a fascinating account of the struggle of
the engineers in New Orleans, the Icelandic people on
Heimaey and the head-in-the-sand mentality of Southern
Californians when it comes to mudslides.
I would recommend the book to any students of Geology,
or indeed Geography but also to Earth Science teachers to
gain a further insight into some of the major geological/
historic events of the last 40 years. My only real criticism of
the book is that whilst there are illustrations, there are no
maps (or diagrams) in the book to put the locations into
a geographical context and readers would have benefited
greatly from such inclusions.
Dawn Windley
www.esta-uk.net Vol 35 No 1 2010 Teaching Earth Sciences 57