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The big ones : how natural disasters have shaped us (and what we can do about them) / Dr. Lucy Jones.

by Jones, Lucile M.

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Doubleday, c2018.

Natural disasters -- History.

Natural disasters -- Social aspects.

9780385542708 (hardback)

242 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-242)

Brimstone and fire from out of Heaven : Pompeii, Roman Empire, AD 79 -- Bury the dead and feed the living : Lisbon, Portugal, 1755 -- The greatest catastrophe : Iceland, 1783 -- What we forget : California, United States, 1861-62 -- Finding faults : Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan, 1923 -- When the levee breaks : Mississippi, United States, 1927 -- Celestial disharmony : Tangshan, China, 1976 -- Disasters without borders : the Indian Ocean, 2004 -- A study in failure : New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 2005 -- To court disaster: L'Aquila, Italy, 2009 -- The Island of Ill Fortune : Tohoku, Japan, 2011 -- Resilience by design : Los Angeles, California, sometime in the future.

By the world-renowned seismologist, a surprising history of natural disasters, their impact on our culture, and new ways of thinking about the ones to come Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes--these all stem from the same forces that give our planet life. It is only when they exceed our ability to withstand them that they become disasters. Viewed together, these events have shaped our cities and their architecture; elevated leaders and toppled governments; influenced the way we think, feel, fight, unite, and pray. The history of natural disasters is a history of ourselves. In The Big Ones, renowned seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones offers a bracing look at some of our most devastating natural events, whose reverberations we continue to feel today. Spanning from the destruction of Pompeii in AD 79 to the hurricanes of 2017, it considers disaster's role in the formation of our religions; exposes the limits of human memory; and demonstrates the potential of globalization to humanize and heal. With temperatures rising around the world, natural disasters are striking with greater frequency than ever before. More than just history or science, The Big Ones presents a call to action. Natural hazards are inevitable; human catastrophes are not. With this energizing and exhaustively researched book, Dr. Jones offers a look at our past, readying us to face down the Big Ones in our future.

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