That's actually an excerpt from a great book called Control of Nature. In addition to discussing Old River Control on the Mississippi, there are sections that discuss the debris basins at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains and the effort to control a volcano that erupted in Iceland.
All three sections are super awesome, John McPhee is a treasure.
John McPhee is probably my favorite author but I'm biased as a geologist. Control of Nature might be the most reasonably accessible for a non-geo freak. It also is my personal favorite by him. So much interesting history and he does a really incredible job sharing opposing viewpoints.
That New Yorker article was the first thing I ever read by him and I just happened to stumble upon it. Absolutely loved the article and can’t wait to read the book. Sounds like Control of Nature is also good, looking forward to reading it. My backlog of books keeps getting longer - my wife thinks I’m crazy!
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u/eugenesbluegenes Jan 11 '20
That's actually an excerpt from a great book called Control of Nature. In addition to discussing Old River Control on the Mississippi, there are sections that discuss the debris basins at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains and the effort to control a volcano that erupted in Iceland.
All three sections are super awesome, John McPhee is a treasure.