Martin Schöneld
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195132182
- eISBN:
- 9780199786336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195132181.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter explores Kant’s studies from 1754 to 1757, the application of his dynamic perspectives to fire, tides, the Earth’s rotation, climate, winds, and earthquakes. Section 1 surveys the ...
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This chapter explores Kant’s studies from 1754 to 1757, the application of his dynamic perspectives to fire, tides, the Earth’s rotation, climate, winds, and earthquakes. Section 1 surveys the background of Kant’s efforts in the 1750s, such as how his earthquake papers relate to the Lisbon tsunami (1755), and describes his co-discovery of sea wind patterns and his discovery of the monsoon dynamics. Section 2 examines Kant’s study of the fate of Earth’s rotation (1754) and its correct determination of the dynamic interplay among lunar period, tidal forces, oceanic friction, and the long-term slowdown of Earth’s rotation. Section 3 discusses Kant’s Master’s Thesis (1755), his chemical conjectures on fire, and his attempt to clarify the spatial energy field, the ether. Section 4 examines Kant’s qualitative approach to cosmological questions and his heuristic reliance on analogical reasoning.Less
This chapter explores Kant’s studies from 1754 to 1757, the application of his dynamic perspectives to fire, tides, the Earth’s rotation, climate, winds, and earthquakes. Section 1 surveys the background of Kant’s efforts in the 1750s, such as how his earthquake papers relate to the Lisbon tsunami (1755), and describes his co-discovery of sea wind patterns and his discovery of the monsoon dynamics. Section 2 examines Kant’s study of the fate of Earth’s rotation (1754) and its correct determination of the dynamic interplay among lunar period, tidal forces, oceanic friction, and the long-term slowdown of Earth’s rotation. Section 3 discusses Kant’s Master’s Thesis (1755), his chemical conjectures on fire, and his attempt to clarify the spatial energy field, the ether. Section 4 examines Kant’s qualitative approach to cosmological questions and his heuristic reliance on analogical reasoning.
Stephen E. Lahey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195183313
- eISBN:
- 9780199870349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183313.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter provides the basic biographical material necessary to understand the course of Wyclif’s life. The first section traces Wyclif’s career at Oxford University, specifically at Merton and ...
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This chapter provides the basic biographical material necessary to understand the course of Wyclif’s life. The first section traces Wyclif’s career at Oxford University, specifically at Merton and Balliol Colleges. Wyclif was a prolific writer, and while establishing a precise chronology for his works as they have come down to us is difficult, given his apparently extensive re-editing of his works, the chapter describes the organization of his two major philosophical collections, the Summa de Ente and the Summa Theologie. The second section surveys Wyclif’s career in the service of the Duke of Lancaster, his subsequent dismissal from Oxford University, and his ongoing disputes with Bishop William Courtenay of London. During his final years in exile in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, Wyclif produced a significant body of writing, ranging from exegesis to polemics, remaining active in his criticisms of the ecclesiastical status quo.Less
This chapter provides the basic biographical material necessary to understand the course of Wyclif’s life. The first section traces Wyclif’s career at Oxford University, specifically at Merton and Balliol Colleges. Wyclif was a prolific writer, and while establishing a precise chronology for his works as they have come down to us is difficult, given his apparently extensive re-editing of his works, the chapter describes the organization of his two major philosophical collections, the Summa de Ente and the Summa Theologie. The second section surveys Wyclif’s career in the service of the Duke of Lancaster, his subsequent dismissal from Oxford University, and his ongoing disputes with Bishop William Courtenay of London. During his final years in exile in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, Wyclif produced a significant body of writing, ranging from exegesis to polemics, remaining active in his criticisms of the ecclesiastical status quo.
Donald Miller
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520234925
- eISBN:
- 9780520929142
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520234925.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
A remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people, this book documents the lives of Armenians in the last two decades. Based on intimate interviews with 300 Armenians, it brings together ...
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A remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people, this book documents the lives of Armenians in the last two decades. Based on intimate interviews with 300 Armenians, it brings together firsthand testimony about the social, economic, and spiritual circumstances of Armenians during the 1980s and 1990s, when the country faced an earthquake, pogroms, and war. The book is a story of extreme suffering and hardship, a searching look at the fight for independence and a complex portrait of the human spirit. A companion to Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide by the same authors, it focuses on four groups of people: survivors of the earthquakes that devastated northwestern Armenia in 1988; refugees from Azerbaijan who fled Baku and Sumgait because of pogroms against them; women, children, and soldiers who were affected by the war in Nagorno-Karabakh; and ordinary citizens who survived several winters without heat because of the blockade against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The authors' narrative situates these accounts contextually and thematically, but the voices of individuals remain paramount.Less
A remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people, this book documents the lives of Armenians in the last two decades. Based on intimate interviews with 300 Armenians, it brings together firsthand testimony about the social, economic, and spiritual circumstances of Armenians during the 1980s and 1990s, when the country faced an earthquake, pogroms, and war. The book is a story of extreme suffering and hardship, a searching look at the fight for independence and a complex portrait of the human spirit. A companion to Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide by the same authors, it focuses on four groups of people: survivors of the earthquakes that devastated northwestern Armenia in 1988; refugees from Azerbaijan who fled Baku and Sumgait because of pogroms against them; women, children, and soldiers who were affected by the war in Nagorno-Karabakh; and ordinary citizens who survived several winters without heat because of the blockade against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The authors' narrative situates these accounts contextually and thematically, but the voices of individuals remain paramount.
S. LADSTÄTTER and A. PÜLZ
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264027
- eISBN:
- 9780191734908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264027.003.0016
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The third century marked a profound change in the urban landscape of Ephesus and proved to exert a profound influence on the city's later development. There is conclusive evidence for catastrophic ...
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The third century marked a profound change in the urban landscape of Ephesus and proved to exert a profound influence on the city's later development. There is conclusive evidence for catastrophic disasters when the city was afflicted by a series of earthquakes which led to a temporary downturn in its economic circumstances. These destructive earthquakes not only had long-term consequences for the city's appearance, but also affected the very foundations of urbanism. This chapter traces the history of Metropolis Asiae after the earthquakes of the third and fourth centuries. The archaeological evidence proves that rebuilding took place and within public areas, such as agorae or buildings along the roads and included fountains and baths. The work was not limited only to the reconstruction of buildings but efforts were made to restore the splendid appearance of the city, reflecting the restoration of its high urban status and commercial importance. This chapter also describes the city's numerous churches that graphically attest to the growing importance of Christianity as the state religion.Less
The third century marked a profound change in the urban landscape of Ephesus and proved to exert a profound influence on the city's later development. There is conclusive evidence for catastrophic disasters when the city was afflicted by a series of earthquakes which led to a temporary downturn in its economic circumstances. These destructive earthquakes not only had long-term consequences for the city's appearance, but also affected the very foundations of urbanism. This chapter traces the history of Metropolis Asiae after the earthquakes of the third and fourth centuries. The archaeological evidence proves that rebuilding took place and within public areas, such as agorae or buildings along the roads and included fountains and baths. The work was not limited only to the reconstruction of buildings but efforts were made to restore the splendid appearance of the city, reflecting the restoration of its high urban status and commercial importance. This chapter also describes the city's numerous churches that graphically attest to the growing importance of Christianity as the state religion.
Frank H. T. Rhodes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801478239
- eISBN:
- 9780801466212
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801478239.001.0001
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Environmental Geography
This book provides a sweeping, accessible, and deeply informed guide to the home we all share, showing us how we might best preserve the Earth's livability for ourselves and future generations. The ...
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This book provides a sweeping, accessible, and deeply informed guide to the home we all share, showing us how we might best preserve the Earth's livability for ourselves and future generations. The book begins by setting the scene for our active planet and explaining how its location and composition determine how the Earth works and why it teems with life. It emphasizes the changes that are of concern to us today, from earthquakes to climate change and the clashes over the energy resources needed for the Earth's exploding population. It concludes with an extended exploration of humanity's prospects on a complex, protean, and ultimately finite world. It is not a question of whether the planet is sustainable; the challenge facing life on Earth—and the life of the Earth—is whether an expanding and high-consumption species like ours is sustainable. Only new resources, new priorities, new policies and, most of all, new knowledge, can reverse the damage that humanity is doing to our home—and ourselves. A sustainable human future, the book concludes, will require a sense of responsible stewardship, for we are not owners of this planet; we are tenants. Surveying the systems, large and small, that govern Earth's processes and influence its changes, the book addresses the negative consequences of human activities for the health of its regulatory systems but offers practical suggestions as to how we might effect repairs, or at least limit further damage to our home.Less
This book provides a sweeping, accessible, and deeply informed guide to the home we all share, showing us how we might best preserve the Earth's livability for ourselves and future generations. The book begins by setting the scene for our active planet and explaining how its location and composition determine how the Earth works and why it teems with life. It emphasizes the changes that are of concern to us today, from earthquakes to climate change and the clashes over the energy resources needed for the Earth's exploding population. It concludes with an extended exploration of humanity's prospects on a complex, protean, and ultimately finite world. It is not a question of whether the planet is sustainable; the challenge facing life on Earth—and the life of the Earth—is whether an expanding and high-consumption species like ours is sustainable. Only new resources, new priorities, new policies and, most of all, new knowledge, can reverse the damage that humanity is doing to our home—and ourselves. A sustainable human future, the book concludes, will require a sense of responsible stewardship, for we are not owners of this planet; we are tenants. Surveying the systems, large and small, that govern Earth's processes and influence its changes, the book addresses the negative consequences of human activities for the health of its regulatory systems but offers practical suggestions as to how we might effect repairs, or at least limit further damage to our home.
Gregory Smits
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824838171
- eISBN:
- 9780824870997
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824838171.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
What are we to make of contemporary newspapers in Japan speculating about the possible connection between aquatic creatures and earthquakes? Why, between 1977 and 1993, did Japan's government spend ...
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What are we to make of contemporary newspapers in Japan speculating about the possible connection between aquatic creatures and earthquakes? Why, between 1977 and 1993, did Japan's government spend taxpayer money to observe catfish in aquariums as part of its mandate to fund earthquake prediction research? These actions are direct legacies of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake, one of the major natural disasters of the period. This book examines this earthquake in a broad historical context. The Ansei Edo earthquake shook the shogun's capital during a year of special religious significance and at a time of particularly vigorous seismic activity. It was also a turning point because, according to the prevailing understanding of earthquakes at the time, it should never have happened. Many Japanese, therefore, became receptive to new ideas about the causes of earthquakes as well as to the notion that by observing some phenomena—for example, the behavior of catfish—one might determine when an earthquake would strike. All subsequent major earthquakes in Japan resulted in claims, always made after the fact, that certain phenomena had been signs of the impending catastrophe. Indeed, earthquake prediction in Japan from 1855 to the present has largely consisted of amassing collections of alleged or possible precursor phenomena. In addition, the Ansei Edo earthquake served as a catalyst accelerating socio-political trends already underway. It revealed bakufu military weaknesses and enhanced the prestige of the imperial deity Amaterasu at the expense of the bakufu deity Kashima.Less
What are we to make of contemporary newspapers in Japan speculating about the possible connection between aquatic creatures and earthquakes? Why, between 1977 and 1993, did Japan's government spend taxpayer money to observe catfish in aquariums as part of its mandate to fund earthquake prediction research? These actions are direct legacies of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake, one of the major natural disasters of the period. This book examines this earthquake in a broad historical context. The Ansei Edo earthquake shook the shogun's capital during a year of special religious significance and at a time of particularly vigorous seismic activity. It was also a turning point because, according to the prevailing understanding of earthquakes at the time, it should never have happened. Many Japanese, therefore, became receptive to new ideas about the causes of earthquakes as well as to the notion that by observing some phenomena—for example, the behavior of catfish—one might determine when an earthquake would strike. All subsequent major earthquakes in Japan resulted in claims, always made after the fact, that certain phenomena had been signs of the impending catastrophe. Indeed, earthquake prediction in Japan from 1855 to the present has largely consisted of amassing collections of alleged or possible precursor phenomena. In addition, the Ansei Edo earthquake served as a catalyst accelerating socio-political trends already underway. It revealed bakufu military weaknesses and enhanced the prestige of the imperial deity Amaterasu at the expense of the bakufu deity Kashima.
Michael Lavalette and Vasilios Ioakimidis (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847427182
- eISBN:
- 9781447303558
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847427182.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
What is the relationship between social work and the state? Who controls which services' needs are addressed and how? This book looks at social work responses in different countries to extreme ...
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What is the relationship between social work and the state? Who controls which services' needs are addressed and how? This book looks at social work responses in different countries to extreme social, economic and political situations in order to answer these questions. Examples include war situations, military regimes, earthquakes and tsunamis. The results show the innovative nature of grass-roots provision and social work intervention.Less
What is the relationship between social work and the state? Who controls which services' needs are addressed and how? This book looks at social work responses in different countries to extreme social, economic and political situations in order to answer these questions. Examples include war situations, military regimes, earthquakes and tsunamis. The results show the innovative nature of grass-roots provision and social work intervention.
Paul Charbonneau
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691176840
- eISBN:
- 9781400885497
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691176840.001.0001
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Programming
This book provides a short, hands-on introduction to the science of complexity using simple computational models of natural complex systems—with models and exercises drawn from physics, chemistry, ...
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This book provides a short, hands-on introduction to the science of complexity using simple computational models of natural complex systems—with models and exercises drawn from physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. By working through the models and engaging in additional computational explorations suggested at the end of each chapter, readers very quickly develop an understanding of how complex structures and behaviors can emerge in natural phenomena as diverse as avalanches, forest fires, earthquakes, chemical reactions, animal flocks, and epidemic diseases. This book provides the necessary topical background, complete source codes in Python, and detailed explanations for all computational models. Ideal for undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and researchers in the physical and natural sciences, this unique handbook requires no advanced mathematical knowledge or programming skills and is suitable for self-learners with a working knowledge of precalculus and high-school physics. The book enables readers to identify and quantify common underlying structural and dynamical patterns shared by the various systems and phenomena it examines, so that they can form their own answers to the questions of what natural complexity is and how it arises.Less
This book provides a short, hands-on introduction to the science of complexity using simple computational models of natural complex systems—with models and exercises drawn from physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. By working through the models and engaging in additional computational explorations suggested at the end of each chapter, readers very quickly develop an understanding of how complex structures and behaviors can emerge in natural phenomena as diverse as avalanches, forest fires, earthquakes, chemical reactions, animal flocks, and epidemic diseases. This book provides the necessary topical background, complete source codes in Python, and detailed explanations for all computational models. Ideal for undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and researchers in the physical and natural sciences, this unique handbook requires no advanced mathematical knowledge or programming skills and is suitable for self-learners with a working knowledge of precalculus and high-school physics. The book enables readers to identify and quantify common underlying structural and dynamical patterns shared by the various systems and phenomena it examines, so that they can form their own answers to the questions of what natural complexity is and how it arises.
Beverly Bell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452123
- eISBN:
- 9780801468322
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452123.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than a quarter-million people and leaving another two million Haitians homeless. This book is a searing account of the first ...
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On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than a quarter-million people and leaving another two million Haitians homeless. This book is a searing account of the first year after the earthquake. It explores how strong communities and an age-old gift culture have helped Haitians survive in the wake of an unimaginable disaster, one that only compounded the preexisting social and economic distress of their society. The book examines the history that caused such astronomical destruction, and draws in theories of resistance and social movements to scrutinize grassroots organizing for a more just and equitable country. The book offers rich perspectives rarely seen outside Haiti. It takes the reader through displaced persons camps, shantytowns, and rural villages, where they get a view that defies the stereotype of Haiti as a lost nation of victims. It also combines excerpts of more than one hundred interviews with Haitians, historical and political analysis, and investigative journalism. The book investigates and critiques U.S. foreign policy, emergency aid, standard development approaches, the role of nongovernmental organizations, and disaster capitalism. Woven through the text are comparisons to the crisis and cultural resistance in the city of New Orleans, when the levees broke in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately a tale of hope, the book will give readers a new understanding of daily life, structural challenges, and collective dreams in one of the world's most complex countries.Less
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than a quarter-million people and leaving another two million Haitians homeless. This book is a searing account of the first year after the earthquake. It explores how strong communities and an age-old gift culture have helped Haitians survive in the wake of an unimaginable disaster, one that only compounded the preexisting social and economic distress of their society. The book examines the history that caused such astronomical destruction, and draws in theories of resistance and social movements to scrutinize grassroots organizing for a more just and equitable country. The book offers rich perspectives rarely seen outside Haiti. It takes the reader through displaced persons camps, shantytowns, and rural villages, where they get a view that defies the stereotype of Haiti as a lost nation of victims. It also combines excerpts of more than one hundred interviews with Haitians, historical and political analysis, and investigative journalism. The book investigates and critiques U.S. foreign policy, emergency aid, standard development approaches, the role of nongovernmental organizations, and disaster capitalism. Woven through the text are comparisons to the crisis and cultural resistance in the city of New Orleans, when the levees broke in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately a tale of hope, the book will give readers a new understanding of daily life, structural challenges, and collective dreams in one of the world's most complex countries.
Yasuyuki Sawada
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199841936
- eISBN:
- 9780199950157
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199841936.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Japan is vulnerable to a wide variety of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods, landslides and avalanches. Of these natural disasters, earthquakes are ...
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Japan is vulnerable to a wide variety of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods, landslides and avalanches. Of these natural disasters, earthquakes are the most serious and frequently occurring. In this chapter, after reviewing the two contrasting cases of the Kobe and Chuetsu earthquakes, we discuss the role of public policy in facilitating risk management at the household level in the case of natural disasters. The Kobe earthquake hit the urban centre, where industries and residence are densely located, while the Chuetsu earthquake occurred in mountainous and remote farming areas. A comparison of Kobe and Chuetsu earthquakes shows differences in income, consumption, and other household level socio-economic variables that help us to identify the effectiveness of formal and informal insurance mechanisms.Less
Japan is vulnerable to a wide variety of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods, landslides and avalanches. Of these natural disasters, earthquakes are the most serious and frequently occurring. In this chapter, after reviewing the two contrasting cases of the Kobe and Chuetsu earthquakes, we discuss the role of public policy in facilitating risk management at the household level in the case of natural disasters. The Kobe earthquake hit the urban centre, where industries and residence are densely located, while the Chuetsu earthquake occurred in mountainous and remote farming areas. A comparison of Kobe and Chuetsu earthquakes shows differences in income, consumption, and other household level socio-economic variables that help us to identify the effectiveness of formal and informal insurance mechanisms.
Andrew T. McDonald and Verlaine Stoner McDonald
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780813176079
- eISBN:
- 9780813176109
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813176079.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Chapter 1 traces Paul Rusch’s early life in Louisville as the son of a grocer and as a soldier in World War I. After the war, Rusch led an effort to establish a bohemian art colony in Louisville, ...
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Chapter 1 traces Paul Rusch’s early life in Louisville as the son of a grocer and as a soldier in World War I. After the war, Rusch led an effort to establish a bohemian art colony in Louisville, though his venture eventually went bankrupt and landed Rusch in court. Rusch left Kentucky and then on a lark volunteered to help rebuild the Tokyo and Yokohama YMCA branches after the Great Kanto Earthquake. His connections at Holy Trinity Church in Tokyo led to positions on the Rikkyo University faculty and as a fund-raiser for St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo. As Rusch worked to convert young Japanese men to Christianity by relaunching the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Japan was swept up in political and social turmoil and militarism. Along the way, he staged the first organized game of American football in Japan and laid the foundation for Japan’s collegiate football league. Dr. Rudolf Teusler mentored Rusch during tours in America, honing Rusch’s skills in fund-raising, expanding his network to include wealthy patrons, and shaping Rusch’s staunch anti-Communist views.Less
Chapter 1 traces Paul Rusch’s early life in Louisville as the son of a grocer and as a soldier in World War I. After the war, Rusch led an effort to establish a bohemian art colony in Louisville, though his venture eventually went bankrupt and landed Rusch in court. Rusch left Kentucky and then on a lark volunteered to help rebuild the Tokyo and Yokohama YMCA branches after the Great Kanto Earthquake. His connections at Holy Trinity Church in Tokyo led to positions on the Rikkyo University faculty and as a fund-raiser for St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo. As Rusch worked to convert young Japanese men to Christianity by relaunching the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Japan was swept up in political and social turmoil and militarism. Along the way, he staged the first organized game of American football in Japan and laid the foundation for Japan’s collegiate football league. Dr. Rudolf Teusler mentored Rusch during tours in America, honing Rusch’s skills in fund-raising, expanding his network to include wealthy patrons, and shaping Rusch’s staunch anti-Communist views.
Greg Clancey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520246072
- eISBN:
- 9780520932296
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520246072.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Accelerating seismic activity in late Meiji Japan climaxed in the legendary Great Nobi Earthquake of 1891, which rocked the main island from Tokyo to Osaka, killing thousands. Ironically, the ...
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Accelerating seismic activity in late Meiji Japan climaxed in the legendary Great Nobi Earthquake of 1891, which rocked the main island from Tokyo to Osaka, killing thousands. Ironically, the earthquake brought down many “modern” structures built on the advice of foreign architects and engineers, while leaving certain traditional, wooden ones standing. This book considers the cultural and political ramifications of this and other catastrophic events on Japan's relationship with the West, with modern science, and with itself. The book argues that seismicity was both the Achilles' heel of Japan's nation-building project — revealing the state's western-style infrastructure to be surprisingly fragile — and a new focus for nativizing discourses which credited traditional Japanese architecture with unique abilities to ride out seismic waves. Tracing the subject from the Meiji Restoration to the Great Kant Earthquake of 1923 (which destroyed Tokyo), the book shows earthquakes to have been a continual though mercurial agent in Japan's self-fashioning; a catastrophic undercurrent to Japanese modernity. This study moves earthquakes nearer the center of modern Japan change — both materially and symbolically — and also shows how fundamentally Japan shaped the global art, science, and culture of natural disaster.Less
Accelerating seismic activity in late Meiji Japan climaxed in the legendary Great Nobi Earthquake of 1891, which rocked the main island from Tokyo to Osaka, killing thousands. Ironically, the earthquake brought down many “modern” structures built on the advice of foreign architects and engineers, while leaving certain traditional, wooden ones standing. This book considers the cultural and political ramifications of this and other catastrophic events on Japan's relationship with the West, with modern science, and with itself. The book argues that seismicity was both the Achilles' heel of Japan's nation-building project — revealing the state's western-style infrastructure to be surprisingly fragile — and a new focus for nativizing discourses which credited traditional Japanese architecture with unique abilities to ride out seismic waves. Tracing the subject from the Meiji Restoration to the Great Kant Earthquake of 1923 (which destroyed Tokyo), the book shows earthquakes to have been a continual though mercurial agent in Japan's self-fashioning; a catastrophic undercurrent to Japanese modernity. This study moves earthquakes nearer the center of modern Japan change — both materially and symbolically — and also shows how fundamentally Japan shaped the global art, science, and culture of natural disaster.
Robert W. Righter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195149470
- eISBN:
- 9780199788934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149470.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Two leaders emerged as San Francisco pursued the valley: Mayor James Phelan and naturalist John Muir. Both were determined and led strong constituencies, and each held competing views of the meaning ...
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Two leaders emerged as San Francisco pursued the valley: Mayor James Phelan and naturalist John Muir. Both were determined and led strong constituencies, and each held competing views of the meaning of progress. Phelan was convinced a great dam symbolized human determination and ingenuity, and would enhance nature. Muir was skeptical that humans could improve on nature, and certainly not in the mountain sanctuary of Hetch Hetchy. John Muir and the Sierra Club held the upper hand until the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 intervened to change everything. The prostrate city with four square miles of its heart in smoldering ruins became an object of both pity and charity. Who could deny the city its desire for abundant water? Furthermore, many blamed the fire on the privately-owned Spring Valley Water Company. San Francisco reapplied for a permit. With the support of US Forest Service chief Gifford Pinchot and the sympathy of Secretary of the Interior James Garfield, the city felt assured that soon its engineers would be damming the Hetch Hetchy Valley and building an aqueduct to transport the water to the city.Less
Two leaders emerged as San Francisco pursued the valley: Mayor James Phelan and naturalist John Muir. Both were determined and led strong constituencies, and each held competing views of the meaning of progress. Phelan was convinced a great dam symbolized human determination and ingenuity, and would enhance nature. Muir was skeptical that humans could improve on nature, and certainly not in the mountain sanctuary of Hetch Hetchy. John Muir and the Sierra Club held the upper hand until the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 intervened to change everything. The prostrate city with four square miles of its heart in smoldering ruins became an object of both pity and charity. Who could deny the city its desire for abundant water? Furthermore, many blamed the fire on the privately-owned Spring Valley Water Company. San Francisco reapplied for a permit. With the support of US Forest Service chief Gifford Pinchot and the sympathy of Secretary of the Interior James Garfield, the city felt assured that soon its engineers would be damming the Hetch Hetchy Valley and building an aqueduct to transport the water to the city.
Frank Baldwin and Anne Allison
- Published in print:
- 1953
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479889389
- eISBN:
- 9781479830893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479889389.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
The earthquake, tidal wave, and nuclear meltdown in 2011 brought enormous loss of life and destruction to a Japan already grappling with recession, demographic dilemmas, and challenges from China. ...
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The earthquake, tidal wave, and nuclear meltdown in 2011 brought enormous loss of life and destruction to a Japan already grappling with recession, demographic dilemmas, and challenges from China. Could the country rally, recover economic vitality, and face the future confidently or was the natural disaster the tipping point to national decline? Although there is no consensus among the authors in this volume--guarded pessimism vies with tentative optimism—they all see Japan’s future as precarious.Less
The earthquake, tidal wave, and nuclear meltdown in 2011 brought enormous loss of life and destruction to a Japan already grappling with recession, demographic dilemmas, and challenges from China. Could the country rally, recover economic vitality, and face the future confidently or was the natural disaster the tipping point to national decline? Although there is no consensus among the authors in this volume--guarded pessimism vies with tentative optimism—they all see Japan’s future as precarious.
Christian P. Sorace
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501707537
- eISBN:
- 9781501708503
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501707537.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This book examines the political mechanisms at work in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the broader ideological energies that drove them. The book takes Chinese Communist Party ideas ...
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This book examines the political mechanisms at work in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the broader ideological energies that drove them. The book takes Chinese Communist Party ideas and discourse as central to how that organization formulates policies, defines legitimacy, and exerts its power. It argues that the Communist Party has never abandoned its conviction that discourse can shape the world and the people who inhabit it. It demonstrates how the Communist Party's planning apparatus continues to play a crucial role in engineering the Chinese economy and market construction, especially in the countryside. It takes a distinctive and original interpretive approach to understanding Chinese politics, and demonstrates how Communist Party discourse and ideology influenced the official decisions and responses to the Sichuan earthquake. The book provides a clear view of the lived outcomes of Communist Party plans, rationalities, and discourses in the earthquake zone. The three case studies presented each demonstrates a different type of reconstruction and model of development: urban–rural integration, tourism, and ecological civilization. The book emphasizes the need for a grounded literacy in the political concepts, discourses, and vocabularies of the Communist Party itself.Less
This book examines the political mechanisms at work in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the broader ideological energies that drove them. The book takes Chinese Communist Party ideas and discourse as central to how that organization formulates policies, defines legitimacy, and exerts its power. It argues that the Communist Party has never abandoned its conviction that discourse can shape the world and the people who inhabit it. It demonstrates how the Communist Party's planning apparatus continues to play a crucial role in engineering the Chinese economy and market construction, especially in the countryside. It takes a distinctive and original interpretive approach to understanding Chinese politics, and demonstrates how Communist Party discourse and ideology influenced the official decisions and responses to the Sichuan earthquake. The book provides a clear view of the lived outcomes of Communist Party plans, rationalities, and discourses in the earthquake zone. The three case studies presented each demonstrates a different type of reconstruction and model of development: urban–rural integration, tourism, and ecological civilization. The book emphasizes the need for a grounded literacy in the political concepts, discourses, and vocabularies of the Communist Party itself.
Mary Ashburn Miller
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449420
- eISBN:
- 9780801460845
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449420.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
How did the French Revolutionaries explain, justify, and understand the extraordinary violence of their revolution? In debating this question, historians have looked to a variety of ...
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How did the French Revolutionaries explain, justify, and understand the extraordinary violence of their revolution? In debating this question, historians have looked to a variety of eighteenth-century sources. This book suggests that it is perhaps in the study of the natural world that we might find the best clues for understanding the French Revolution. In their attempts to portray and explain the events of the Revolution, political figures, playwrights, and journalists often turned to nature: phenomena such as hailstorms and thunderbolts found their way into festivals, plays, and political speeches as descriptors of revolutionary activity. The particular way that revolutionaries deployed these metaphors drew on notions derived from the natural science of the day about regeneration, purgation, and balance. In examining a series of tropes (earthquakes, lightning, mountains, swamps, and volcanoes) that played an important role in the public language of the Revolution, the book reveals that understanding the use of this natural imagery is fundamental to our understanding of the Terror. Eighteenth-century natural histories had demonstrated that in the natural world, apparent disorder could lead to a restored equilibrium, or even regeneration. This logic drawn from the natural world offered the revolutionaries a crucial means of explaining and justifying revolutionary transformation. If thunder could restore balance in the atmosphere and if volcanic eruptions could create more fertile soil, then so too could episodes of violence and disruption in the political realm be portrayed as necessary for forging a new order in revolutionary France.Less
How did the French Revolutionaries explain, justify, and understand the extraordinary violence of their revolution? In debating this question, historians have looked to a variety of eighteenth-century sources. This book suggests that it is perhaps in the study of the natural world that we might find the best clues for understanding the French Revolution. In their attempts to portray and explain the events of the Revolution, political figures, playwrights, and journalists often turned to nature: phenomena such as hailstorms and thunderbolts found their way into festivals, plays, and political speeches as descriptors of revolutionary activity. The particular way that revolutionaries deployed these metaphors drew on notions derived from the natural science of the day about regeneration, purgation, and balance. In examining a series of tropes (earthquakes, lightning, mountains, swamps, and volcanoes) that played an important role in the public language of the Revolution, the book reveals that understanding the use of this natural imagery is fundamental to our understanding of the Terror. Eighteenth-century natural histories had demonstrated that in the natural world, apparent disorder could lead to a restored equilibrium, or even regeneration. This logic drawn from the natural world offered the revolutionaries a crucial means of explaining and justifying revolutionary transformation. If thunder could restore balance in the atmosphere and if volcanic eruptions could create more fertile soil, then so too could episodes of violence and disruption in the political realm be portrayed as necessary for forging a new order in revolutionary France.
Jacqui True
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199755929
- eISBN:
- 9780199979516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755929.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Chapter 9 investigates how global environmental forces in the form of natural disasters from floods, droughts, and famines to earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes affect the life expectancies of ...
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Chapter 9 investigates how global environmental forces in the form of natural disasters from floods, droughts, and famines to earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes affect the life expectancies of women and men differently. The first part of the chapter reveals that women's low social and economic status is a major determinant of their experiences during and after a disaster and conceptualizes natural disasters as social disasters that magnify existing, socially constructed inequalities and oppressions. Looking at the case of the South Asian tsunami disaster, the second part of the chapter investigates the gendered impact of the disaster in Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia, in terms of mortalities, increases in gender-based violence, the impact of humanitarian relief, compensation schemes, and recovery programs after the tsunami and the agency of women compared with men in decisions about reconstruction and future disaster preparedness and planning. The third part of the chapter argues that gender-sensitive planning and deliberation involving women can prevent this violence and offers some lessons based on primary research of responses to the 2009–10 Christchurch earthquakes. The final part of the chapter draws implications from these natural disasters for climate change and its impact on gendered violence.Less
Chapter 9 investigates how global environmental forces in the form of natural disasters from floods, droughts, and famines to earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes affect the life expectancies of women and men differently. The first part of the chapter reveals that women's low social and economic status is a major determinant of their experiences during and after a disaster and conceptualizes natural disasters as social disasters that magnify existing, socially constructed inequalities and oppressions. Looking at the case of the South Asian tsunami disaster, the second part of the chapter investigates the gendered impact of the disaster in Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia, in terms of mortalities, increases in gender-based violence, the impact of humanitarian relief, compensation schemes, and recovery programs after the tsunami and the agency of women compared with men in decisions about reconstruction and future disaster preparedness and planning. The third part of the chapter argues that gender-sensitive planning and deliberation involving women can prevent this violence and offers some lessons based on primary research of responses to the 2009–10 Christchurch earthquakes. The final part of the chapter draws implications from these natural disasters for climate change and its impact on gendered violence.
Florin Curta and Siu-lun Wong
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638093
- eISBN:
- 9780748670741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638093.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The examination of the archaeological evidence from the main urban centers of late antique Greece shows that only in a few cases (Thessalonica, Nikopolis) did the ancient urban layout and street grid ...
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The examination of the archaeological evidence from the main urban centers of late antique Greece shows that only in a few cases (Thessalonica, Nikopolis) did the ancient urban layout and street grid survive beyond ca. 500. In most other cases, the urban occupation was considerably diminished and re-grouped on a fortified acropolis, while previously grand buildings were turned into modest houses or workshops. Another parallel phenomenon is the appearance of intramural burials, often right in the agora. Neither earthquakes, nor the plague or barbarian invasions can be blamed for this phenomenon, which seems to have been associated instead with the withdrawal of the urban elites and the interruption of long-distance trade connections. When troops and administration were finally withdrawn from the Balkans in ca. 620, most urban centers in Greece were abandoned.Less
The examination of the archaeological evidence from the main urban centers of late antique Greece shows that only in a few cases (Thessalonica, Nikopolis) did the ancient urban layout and street grid survive beyond ca. 500. In most other cases, the urban occupation was considerably diminished and re-grouped on a fortified acropolis, while previously grand buildings were turned into modest houses or workshops. Another parallel phenomenon is the appearance of intramural burials, often right in the agora. Neither earthquakes, nor the plague or barbarian invasions can be blamed for this phenomenon, which seems to have been associated instead with the withdrawal of the urban elites and the interruption of long-distance trade connections. When troops and administration were finally withdrawn from the Balkans in ca. 620, most urban centers in Greece were abandoned.
Walter Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157771
- eISBN:
- 9781400845972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157771.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter discusses certain events surrounding Kierkegaard's twenty-second birthday—most notably the occurrence of a “great earthquake,” a “frightful upheaval” which serves as a turning point in ...
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This chapter discusses certain events surrounding Kierkegaard's twenty-second birthday—most notably the occurrence of a “great earthquake,” a “frightful upheaval” which serves as a turning point in the young Kierkegaard's life. Here, Kierkegaard describes the earthquake in conjunction with the end of his childhood—or at any rate the period prior to which he had struck out his own path, independent from his father's will. The chapter also quotes from a few of Kierkegaard's stories which hint at the secret that lies at the heart of Kierkegaard's earth-shattering revelations, such as that of a story between David and Solomon. The secret here, as the chapter surmises, may be that for Kierkegaard the Great Earthquake was the revelation of his father's sensuality.Less
This chapter discusses certain events surrounding Kierkegaard's twenty-second birthday—most notably the occurrence of a “great earthquake,” a “frightful upheaval” which serves as a turning point in the young Kierkegaard's life. Here, Kierkegaard describes the earthquake in conjunction with the end of his childhood—or at any rate the period prior to which he had struck out his own path, independent from his father's will. The chapter also quotes from a few of Kierkegaard's stories which hint at the secret that lies at the heart of Kierkegaard's earth-shattering revelations, such as that of a story between David and Solomon. The secret here, as the chapter surmises, may be that for Kierkegaard the Great Earthquake was the revelation of his father's sensuality.
Walter Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157771
- eISBN:
- 9781400845972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157771.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter details Kierkegaard's initial forays into young adulthood. Though the events of the Great Earthquake had crushed him, it had also liberated him from his father's dominance—and, as he ...
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This chapter details Kierkegaard's initial forays into young adulthood. Though the events of the Great Earthquake had crushed him, it had also liberated him from his father's dominance—and, as he would realize later on, from God. In addition, the incident had aroused the intellectual side of his nature, and allowed him to take stock of his own self in a deliberate and thorough way. He took on the Socratic maxim, “Know thyself,” to illustrate this task. The chapter goes on to furnish the reader with several excerpts of Kierkegaard's letters and deliberations, revealing the choices Kierkegaard found himself making and the sense of exhilaration he experienced in making them as he further emancipated himself from his father and from Christianity, though he would later claim that he had never given up the latter.Less
This chapter details Kierkegaard's initial forays into young adulthood. Though the events of the Great Earthquake had crushed him, it had also liberated him from his father's dominance—and, as he would realize later on, from God. In addition, the incident had aroused the intellectual side of his nature, and allowed him to take stock of his own self in a deliberate and thorough way. He took on the Socratic maxim, “Know thyself,” to illustrate this task. The chapter goes on to furnish the reader with several excerpts of Kierkegaard's letters and deliberations, revealing the choices Kierkegaard found himself making and the sense of exhilaration he experienced in making them as he further emancipated himself from his father and from Christianity, though he would later claim that he had never given up the latter.
