Terra

Blending history, science and eye-witness accounts, and arranged in chapters corresponding to the four elements (earth, air, fire and water), "Terra" explores the relationship between the planet and the humans who inhabit its surfaces. Through four case histories - the Lisbon earthquake of 1755; the weather-panics of the summer of 1783; the eruption of Krakatau in 1883; and, the Hilo tsunami of 1946 - Hamblyn reminds us of the earth's unimaginable force and describes what happens when that force is unleashed, both in terms of the immediate human consequences and the longer term economic and scientific implications.Serving, ultimately, as a stark and incontrovertible reminder of our vulnerability when the earth 'goes wrong', "Terra" also asks why we don't seem fully able to learn from the catastrophes, mistakes and responses of the past. Praise for Richard Hamblyn's previous book, "The Invention of Clouds": 'An elegantly written and richly diverting thesis of unusual interdisciplinary facility' - "Guardian". 'A book that accomplishes that rare feat of changing the reader's perception of the world' - "Economist".

ISBN 0330490737   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780330490733 (What's this?)   Pages 320 Publisher Pan Macmillan   Published in London Imprint Picador   Height (mm) 234 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 153 Publication date 18 Sep 2009   Academic level General DEWEY 550

		List of Illustrations
Pt. 1		Earth: The Lisbon Earthquake, 1755		1
Pt. 2		Air: European Weather Panic, 1783		63
Pt. 3		Fire: The Eruption of Krakatau, 1883		123
Pt. 4		Water: The Hilo Tsunami, 1946		181
		Afterword		239
		Notes		247
		Acknowledgements		260
		Index		262

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