{"product_id":"water-a-biography-9781524748234","title":"Water: A Biography","description":"\u003cb\u003eSpanning millennia and continents, here is a stunningly revealing history of how the distribution of water has shaped human civilization. Boccaletti, of The Nature Conservancy, \"tackles the most important story of our time: our relationship with water in a world of looming scarcity\" (Kelly McEvers, NPR Host).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Writing with authority and brio, Giulio Boc­caletti--honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Univer­sity of Oxford--shrewdly combines environmental and social history, beginning with the earliest civ­ilizations of sedentary farmers on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates Rivers. Even as he describes how these societies were made possible by sea-level changes from the last glacial melt, he incisively examines how this type of farming led to irrigation and multiple cropping, which, in turn, led to a population explosion and labor specialization. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e We see with clarity how irrigation's structure informed social structure (inventions such as the calendar sprung from agricultural necessity); how in ancient Greece, the communal ownership of wells laid the groundwork for democracy; how the Greek and Roman experiences with water security resulted in systems of taxation; and how the modern world as we know it began with a legal framework for the development of water infrastructure. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Extraordinary for its monumental scope and piercing insightfulness, \u003ci\u003eWater: A Biography \u003c\/i\u003erichly enlarges our understanding of our relationship to--and fundamental reliance on--the most elemental substance on earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Pantheon Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/14\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781524748234\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/08\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2021 pg. 41\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2021 pg. 84\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2021\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Giulio Boccaletti","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40793468010677,"sku":"9781524748234","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_732753d6-d35b-45b1-af54-bed2a396a2dc.jpg?v=1629205378","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/water-a-biography-9781524748234","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}