The control of nature

As far as I'm concerned Encounters With the Archdruid will always be my favorite work of his, because of the fascinating interaction between the characters in that book. McPhee really let their personalities take center stage there, and while The Control of Nature features excellent writing as usual, the focus is more on geological features than people. Since people are on the whole more interesting than rocks, this book suffered a little in comparison, though thanks to McPhee's tremendous talents he's still able to bring his locations to life. The Control of Nature is divided into 3 sections, and the overriding theme can be summed up as "people dealing with the consequences of building things where they shouldn't". Humans have tried to show more force rigid order on restless nature with dams, basins, and barriers since the beginning of recorded history, of course, but the stakes have only gotten higher over time, and our collective efforts to impose our will on the elements is plenty fascinating here even if the characters within the book are not.

The first, longest, and best section recounts the history of the Army Corps of Engineers' struggles to tame the mighty Mississippi, with particular concern for the mounting danger posed by the Atchafalaya River and its increasingly attractive drainage basin. Over the centuries, people have built quite a civilization in one of the most frequently flooded swamps in the world, and it is the Corps' thankless task to protect that civilization, building ever-higher levees, locks, and dams in what frequently looks like a self-defeating enterprise. It seems almost impossible to balance the often-incompatible needs of the various interest groups of farmers, fishermen, and city dwellers as the Mississippi tries to flood and shift the way it's been doing since time immemorial. The inherent drama and hubris in the idea of containing a river like that from going where it wants is masterfully explored, and these lessons of the limits of simply piling up earthworks are more relevant than ever in the post-Katrina era.

The second section is about Iceland's and Hawaii's struggles with volcanoes. While both island groups are essentially at the complete mercy of the lava gods, Iceland's more defiant attitude towards its eruptions makes for the bigger share of the section. The main action of the story is the struggle to save the harbor of Heimaey, a fishing village, from a lava flow via the high-tech method of pointing a bunch of water hoses at the lava to cool it down, plus building channeling barriers. It works. Iceland is right over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which guarantees it plenty of exposure to eruptions, and residents are constantly faced with the paradoxes inherent in residing on land that suffers from constant threat of immolation. I was surprised by how effective their "pour water on the lava" tactics were in the small scale, but sometimes there's only so much about millions of cubic meters of lava you can do. Hawaii has a much more fatalistic attitude, the reasons for which are not fully explored.

The third section focused on Los Angeles' debris flows, which I hadn't realized was among the major hazards they had (at least compared to things like earthquakes), but it seems that the gradual elimination of natural fires in the chaparral scrub of the hills has generated an unhealthy cycle of brush accumulation --> incredible fires --> heavy rains --> mudslides. I found the people in this section the least sympathetic for some reason - somehow I can understand poor shrimpers living in Louisiana swamps despite the hurricanes and floods, or fishermen building on volcanic islands regardless of the occasional eruption, but a bunch of rich people building expensive houses in vulnerable arroyos and canyons leaves me feeling like they should know better, especially when the city governments have to build a bunch of catchment dams that the same people complain about constantly. Either live in the city or live in the woods, but that kind of halfway "naturish" development is a big drain on civic resources and is begging for the kind of disasters on display here. Is it hubris, or just dumb? show less

McPhee is one of my favorite authors, and this set of three long essays is one of my very favorite works by him. "Atchafalaya" deals with the monumental efforts of the Army Corps of Engineers to keep the Mississippi River from changing course. "Cooling the Lava" is about a group of Icelanders who try to save their town from an oncoming lava flow by the seemingly outlandish scheme of pumping water onto it. "Los Angeles Against the Mountains" looks at the system of debris catch-basins designed to protect Angelenos' homes during landslide season. All three have McPhee's trademark blend of crystal-clear writing, detailed description of (often) very complex things, and portraits of fascinating people. McPhee's underlying theme (the show more simultaneous nobility and futility of human attempts to control nature) is artfully handled in all three essays. show less

This is the second book of McPhee's that I have read - the first was _The Curve of Binding Energy_. It's pretty clear that McPhee has a formula and sticks to it. The great thing is, the formula really works. Of course he has a consistent style too, and that is part of his well-deserved success. But the formula: reading these books, I learn an enormous amount about some facet of the world, and I learn it through a steady stream of factual narrative; a lot of that story is first person, McPhee's investigative trail.

My Mom grew up in Los Angeles and would go skiing and camping in the San Gabriel Mountains, back in the 1930s and 1940s. I read the third chapter of _Control_ staying with her, which gave us a lot to talk about. She pulled out show more her map of Los Angeles, which gave me a visual aid to understand the placement of all the towns McPhee mentions. The general shape of the area was just how I envisioned it from the book, but the order of towns wasn't made clear in the book - not that it really made a difference.

The first chapter, on the Lower Mississippi levees etc., is much the longest of the three. The second chapter is on the pumping of sea water onto a lava flow in Iceland, to save a key fishing harbor.

I love to learn. McPhee makes learning a great joy. What a gift! show less

This is an excellent and flabbergasting read. The lengths to which mankind will go to thwart nature, and the complacency with which we settle in the shadow of menace, are amazing. These three long essays are thought-provoking, clear and full of great details. Occasionally McPhee states something as geologic fact on which consensus has not occurred, but other than that this book could not be improved. Well, I guess I also wish I knew what further developments have occurred at the sites since its publication!

Control of Nature by John McPhee is a 272 page book that consists of three essays McPhee wrote on man's attempts to thwart Mother Nature. They were initially published as New Yorker essays and gathered into this book. Two of the essays seem to highlight the folly of such actions and the third applauds the heroism, foresight, and organization of man while pointing out the futility of these efforts. It is amazing how relevant this 30 year old book still is for the reader.

The first essay is about the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana. The first point in the essay is that this river is really the Mississippi River - or would be if man left nature to make the decision. The floods of the 20th century have all been about the river finding the show more path of least resistance to the Gulf of Mexico and man's attempts to keep that from happening in order to preserve the cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and the petrochemical corridor between the two. It is clear what McPhee and most of the residents of Louisiana think of this and they are at opposite ends of the scale. The Louisianans want to keep the river where it is so that they can continue to farm, fish, and carry on as close to what they think is natural as long as possible. In telling the story McPhee makes the folly of that line of thinking very visible.

The second essay is about a volcanic eruption in Iceland in 1973. This was a continuation of the eruptions in the late 1960's that saw the birth of several new islands in the North Atlantic that included the famous island of Surtsey. In this essay, written at some point in the 1980's, McPhee chronicles the attempts of the Icelanders to save the harbor of their town and keep it from filling up with lava. What they did was cool the lava enough to change its course a few miles and thus save the harbor. In exchange they sacrificed half of the town to the lava. McPhee juxtaposes this eruption with that found on the island of Hawaii and the result is fascinating reading. The Icelanders are a pragmatic bunch and they know that there is a high likelihood that there will be another eruption that will probably destroy the harbor and they know that nature has all the time on its side, but for now they are content.

The third essay is an examination of the fire and mudslide disasters that plague the area around Los Angeles, California. There is a detailed description of the climate and the rainfall patterns. Included in this is an explanation of the infamous Santa Ana Winds and the propensity for them to dump millions of gallons of water into the San Gabriel mountains. There is a geological description of the San Gabriels and why they are the fastest growing mountains in the continental U.S. and how this contributes to the problem of cycle of fire and mudslides. There is also a detailed description of the plants that grow in the semi-arid desert, called the Chaparral. These plants keep the loose soil in place and keep the mountains from sliding. However, they are very flammable. The properties that keep them alive are the ones that make them susceptible to fire. The mudslides are the main thrust of this essay and the descriptions of the events being examined are riveting and full of interesting characters and ecological positions and so very relevant to the events of this last month. show less

48. The Control of Nature by John McPhee
OPD: 1989
format: 272-page paperback
acquired: my wife had this copy when we met read: May 16, 2023 – Aug 3, 2024 time reading: 10:26, 2.3 mpp (I read parts in May, Aug & Dec 2023, and then Jul-Aug 2024)
rating: 3
genre/style: literary nonfiction theme: none
locations: Louisiana, Iceland, Hawaii & Los Angeles
about the author: Nonfiction writing instructor at Princeton University. He was born in Princeton in 1931.

I've adored McPhee in the past. I found this one hard to get into. McPhee does topics by people, but I just wasn't captured by anyone he interviewed (until the end when he interviewed a local Los Angeles geologist and some of the homeowners of landslide-threatened homes...actually, debris show more flows). So, this was slow. I started and stopped three times - May 2023, August 2023, December 2023. Then finally on July 24 I picked up and slowly read through the second half.

It covers three topics, and all should be interesting:
1. Keeping the Mississippi River in its basin. It wants to switch course into the Atchafalaya River basin, which would bypass Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
2. Managing a volcanic eruption and lava spill on a small Icelandic island, with a short take on Hawaiian volcanoes.
3. Managing debris flows in suburban LA. The San Gabriel Mountains, made up of fault-blasted broken rock, are rising fast, and falling fast. But they make the best home sites in LA, for views and weather. Even the geologists studying the falling mountains buy homes there.

2024
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362165#8596227 show less

The hubris of mankind is amazing and sometimes they win for a while. The book is a fascinating description of three stand offs, the Mississippi River, an Icelandic volcano, and the San Gabriel Mtns by Los Angeles.