The Control of Nature | The Control of Nature

At a glance:

Author: John McPhee
First Published: 1989
Type of Work: Social and natural history
Time of Work: The twentieth century
Setting: Louisiana, Iceland, Hawaii, and California
Genres: Nonfiction, Social issues, History
Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, California, West, U.S., Rivers or waterways, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Ocean, Volcanoes, Land settlement, Geology or geologists, Iceland or Icelanders, Military art or science
Locales: California, Louisiana, Hawaii, Iceland

John McPhee’s books include three others—Basin and Range (1981), In Suspect Terrain (1983), and Rising from the Plains (1986)—about geological science and the people who make it. All three show his abilities as a creator of human portraits and as a translator of science into lay terms. The Control of Nature shows these same strengths. It is personalized geology emphasizing a human time scale. Its title comes from an inscription McPhee once saw on the University of Wyoming engineering building (“STRIVE ON-THE CONTROL OF NATURE is WON, NOT GIVEN”)....

The Control of Nature | The Control of Nature

At a glance:

Join eNotes