What Is Water?: The History of a Modern Abstraction (Nature | History | Society) - Softcover

Linton, Jamie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 077481702X ISBN 13: 9780774817028

Publisher: UBC Press, 2010

Synopsis

We all know what water is, and we often take it for granted. Because it seems so natural, we seldom question how we see water. But the spectre of a worldwide water crisis suggests that there might be something fundamentally wrong with the way we think about water.

Jamie Linton dives into the history of the modern concept of water, that water can be stripped of its wider environmental, social, and cultural contexts and reduced to a scientific abstraction – to mere H₂0. This abstraction has given modern society licence to dam, divert, and manipulate water with impunity, giving rise to a growing suite of problems. Linton argues that part of the solution to the water crisis involves deliberately reinvesting water with social content.

About this title

About the Author

Jamie Linton is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Queen’s University.

From the Back Cover

Jamie Lintondives into the history of water as an abstract concept, stripped of its environmental, social, and cultural contexts. Reduced to a scientific abstraction - to mere H20 - this concept has given modern society licence to dam, divert, and manipulate water with apparent impunity. Part of the solution to the water crisis involves reinvesting water with social content, thus altering the way we see water.

From the Inside Flap

Jamie Lintondives into the history of water as an abstract concept, stripped of its environmental, social, and cultural contexts. Reduced to a scientific abstraction - to mere H20 - this concept has given modern society licence to dam, divert, and manipulate water with apparent impunity. Part of the solution to the water crisis involves reinvesting water with social content, thus altering the way we see water.

Edition details

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 077481702X
• ISBN 13: 9780774817028
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352