Elixir
Subtitle: a history of water and humankind
By: Brian Fagan
Edition: 1st U.S. ed.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 384
ISBN-13: 9781608190034
Other titles: Human history of water
Description: The story of our most vital resource, and how it has shaped the history of every human society, spans five millennia, from ancient Mesopotamia to the parched Sun Belt, from ancient Rome, whose mighty aqueducts still supply modern cities, to China, where emperors marshaled armies of laborers in a centuries-long struggle to tame powerful rivers. Anthropologist Fagan sets out three ages of water: In the first, lasting thousands of years, water was scarce--so precious that it became sacred in almost every culture. By the time of the Industrial Revolution, human ingenuity had brought water to the most arid landscapes. This was the second age: water as commodity. Even bone-dry regions like the American Southwest glittered with swimming pools and golf courses. Today, we are entering a third age: as our population approaches nine billion and ancient aquifers run dry, we must learn once again to treat this essence of life with humility, even reverence.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The elixir of life; title: Farmers and furrows; title: "Whoever has a channel has a wife"; title: Hohokam: "Something that is all gone"; title: The power of the waters; title: Landscapes of Enlil; title: The lands of Enki; title: "I caused a canal to be cut"; title: The waters of Zeus; title: Aquae Romae; title: Waters that purify; title: China's sorrow; title: The water lily lords; title: The triumph of gravity; title: The waters of Islam; title: "Lifting power more than that of a hundred men".