Water has long been associated with the magical, the mysterious and the divine. From sacred springs to holy wells, and from hydropathic cures and temperance reform to the modern spa, Ian Bradley explores how water's creative, health-giving and restorative powers have been conceived, worshipped and marketed in an essentially spiritual way. In pre-Christian times, springs and rivers were seen as the dwelling places of deities with magical life-giving and curative powers, associated especially with the feminine and with ritual cleansing and rebirth. With the coming of Christianity, water was incorporated into Christian ritual and tradition through baptism and the cult of holy wells. From the 16th century onwards, the benefits of water came to be seen more in terms of therapeutic healing than the miraculous. Through the development of drinking and bathing cures, spas and hydrotherapy, a more scientific but still essentially spiritual understanding of the curative properties of water was developed. By the eighteenth century, spas and watering places had acquired their own enchanted and mysterious qualities, in many ways taking the place of medieval pilgrim shrines. Now, a new, more hedonistic kind of pilgrim comes to modern spas to experience a potent post-modern elixir of self-oriented well-being.
Other than air, the only substance more vital to life is water. Our bodies brim with it, and if we’re deprived of it for even a few days, the results can be fatal. Our planet, too, is mostly water, with oceans across approximately seventy percent of its surface. But potable water has in many times and places been a scarce resource, and with Water, Ian Miller traces the history of our relationship with drinking water—our attempts to find it, keep it clean, and make it widely available. Miller’s history ranges widely, from ancient times to the present, exploring all the many ways that we’ve rendered water palatable—from boiling it for tea or distilling it as part of alcoholic beverages to piping it from springs, bubbles and all. He covers the histories of water treatment and supply, belief in its medicinal powers, and much more, all supported by fascinating historical illustrations. As access to fresh water becomes an ever more potent problem worldwide, Miller’s book is a fascinating reminder of our long engagement with this most vital fluid.
One of the main problems confronting the world of the 21st Century is a shortage of water. There is already severe scarcity in many regions of the world, causing tremendous problems for local populations and indeed entire societies. There is insufficient water available for the production of food to alleviate poverty and starvation; the lack of water hampers industrial, urban and tourism development, forcing restrictions on other sectors, especially agriculture; health problems arise as the deterioration of ground and surface waters favours water-borne diseases, which flourish in the absence of decent water distribution and sewerage systems. Water conflicts still arise in areas under stress, while water for nature has become a vanishing priority in such zones. This book is a guide to the establishment of regional and/or local guidelines for developing and implementing new ideas for coping with water scarcity. The basic premise underlying the book is that water scarcity will persist, so personal, human and society-wide skills will be needed to cope with it while living in harmony with the necessary environmental constraints. The book provides basic information to assist decision makers, water managers, engineers, agronomists, social scientists and other professions (and their students) in formulating coherent, hopefully harmonious and consolidated views on the issue. Guidelines are also given for introducing the general public to the concept of water scarcity and how to deal with it.
This text explores the music making that went on in the spas and watering places in Europe and the United States during their heyday between the early-18th and the mid-20th centuries.
Blue Revolution upturns some environmental applecarts - not for the hell of it, but so we can manage our environment better.' Fred Pearce, New Scientist This updated and revised edition of The Blue Revolution provides further evidence of the need to integrate land management decision-making into the process of integrated water resources management. It presents the key issues involved in finding the balance between the competing demands for land and water: for food and other forms of economic production, for sustaining livelihoods, and for conservation, amenity, recreation and the requirements of the environment. It also advocates the means and methodologies for addressing them. A new chapter, 'Policies, Power and Perversity,' describes the perverse outcomes that can result from present, often myth-based, land and water policies which do not consider these land and water interactions. New research and case studies involving ILWRM concepts are presented for the Panama Canal catchments and in relation to afforestation proposals for the UK Midlands.
Each book in this series follows a packet of energy along a journey. Each stage of the journey is described in a short chapter, and we learn what alternative paths the energy might have taken along the way. This book shows how the energy in falling water is turned into energy to power an electric car. It explains how hydroelectric power stations work, the science of electricity, how cars are made and how they use electricity, and how electric cars work. The topics covered are illustrated with experiments, amazing facts and scientific discoveries.
Why does ice float? How much water do people need? Why are sea levels rising? Read this book to find the answers to these questions and more. Each book in the Managing Our Resources series examines a valuable natural resource, explaining where the resource is found, how it is extracted and processed, what it is used to make, and how the resource can be used sustainably.
Investigating Groundwater provides an integrated approach to the challenges associated with locating groundwater. Uniquely, the book provides a review of the wide range of techniques that can be deployed to investigate this important resource. Many of the practical examples given are based upon Australian experience but the methods have worldwide applicability. The book is published in colour and includes many original diagrams and photographs. Particular effort has been made to provide consistent terminology and SI units are used throughout the text Investigating Groundwater starts with an introduction to the historical significance of groundwater and gives an account of climate change. A description of the occurrence of groundwater in different rock types is then provided. A detailed account of surface water techniques is then followed by an account of the interconnections between surface water and groundwater. Four chapters describing groundwater hydraulics are then followed by four chapters describing the latest geophysical techniques. Once the best location of a borehole is determined using these techniques; chapters then describe appropriate drilling methods to use; provide a wide ranging review of geophysical logging, hydrochemical and isotopic techniques, before concluding with a detailed description of groundwater flow to a well. Written for a worldwide audience of degree level geology/engineering practitioners, academics and students involved in groundwater resource investigation methods; Investigating Groundwater is essential reading for those involved in groundwater research. Key Features: Presents the theoretical background and a detailed description of the techniques used in the investigation of groundwater. Describes the general occurrence of groundwater in different rock types; surface water hydrology and interconnected surface and groundwater systems. Provides detailed descriptions of geophysical techniques (seismic, electrical, gravity and heat) and an account of available geophysical logging methods. Reviews hydrochemical and isotope methods, followed by an account of drilling techniques. Gives a detailed account of radial flow to a well, including appropriate modelling and pump-testing techniques and a consideration of non-linear flow. Of interest to anyone involved in the development of groundwater resources, either for domestic supply, for agriculture or for mining.
Hydrology covers the fundamentals of hydrology and hydrogeology, taking an environmental slant dictated by the emphasis in recent times for the remediation of contaminated aquifers and surface-water bodies as well as a demand for new designs that impose the least negative impact on the natural environment. Major topics covered include hydrological principles, groundwater flow, groundwater contamination and clean-up, groundwater applications to civil engineering, well hydraulics, and surface water. Additional topics addressed include flood analysis, flood control, and both ground-water and surface-water applications to civil engineering design.
Using the experiences of large water infrastructure projects involving the transfer of water from basins considered to have surplus water to those where the demand for water has exceeded or is expected to exceed supplies, this book examines case studies within diverse geographical, climatic, economic, and policy regimes.
The contamination of both drinking and recreational water supplies by cyanobacteria is increasingly a cause for concern worldwide. While contamination causes livestock deaths with relative frequency, acute poisoning is rare in humans. However, there is growing apprehension over the possible role of cylindrospermopsins and microcystins in gastrointe
Hydrology covers the fundamentals of hydrology and hydrogeology, taking an environmental slant dictated by the emphasis in recent times for the remediation of contaminated aquifers and surface-water bodies as well as a demand for new designs that impose the least negative impact on the natural environment. Major topics covered include hydrological principles, groundwater flow, groundwater contamination and clean-up, groundwater applications to civil engineering, well hydraulics, and surface water. Additional topics addressed include flood analysis, flood control, and both ground-water and surface-water applications to civil engineering design.
This paper reviews perceived notions of the relationships between catchment land use and hydrology and explores whether much of the widely disseminated folklore, so often inextricably linked with issues of land use, is based on myth or reality. Gaps in our knowledge of the underlying processes in relation to land use and hydrology are identified. Our ability to apply this knowledge at different scales ranging from the plot to the catchment and regional scales are discussed and specific examples are drawn from Indian and African case studies. Methods for linking spatially distributed land-use hydrological models with economics and ecology through decision support systems are outlined and proposed as a framework for the integrated management of land and water developments at the catchment scale.
Blackly comic novel which does for Brighton what WITHNAIL & I did for Camden Town Caroline Woolfit, non-smoking vegetarian and wannabe new-age traveller, soon discovers that her new housemates at 23 Bloomsbury Place are a strange lot. There's Blossom, the writer manqué and betting-shop intellectual, Dave, the sexy sailor with a boat on the roof and Cats, who sniffs ladies' underwear. Not to mention Frances, the cultural studies lecturer. As soon as Caroline puts her suitcase down they nick her stereo. From then on it is all downhill.
Climate change is here and will be with us for the long term. The challenge facing water professionals is how to make decisions in the face of this new uncertainty. This book outlines a new management approach that moves beyond technical quick fixes towards a more adaptive style that is inclusive and innovative. Only by thinking, working and learning together can we tackle the impacts on water resources and uncertainties induced by climate change.
Drawn from the Buddha’s teachings, contemporary literature, and the author’s own life, this collection of stories, anecdotes, and aphorisms provides inspiration and refreshment for practitioners of meditation. A sympathetic, observant, and compassionate voice drives these narratives, offering practitioners guidance and strength in their pursuit of eternal bliss. The anecdotes pair lasting truths with contemporary concepts, pointing to Dharma in all things, from a shoe repair shop to the World Wide Web. With one story, poem, or aphorism per page, Buddhism’s ancient wisdoms are presented in an easily digestible format.
A short story detailing the mystical relationship between stone and water, the known and the unknown, and time and chance as they relate to the journey one undertakes towards self-actualization, spirituality, and eternity.
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