Philip Ball worked for over twenty years as an editor for Nature, writes regularly in the scientific and popular media, and has authored many books on the interactions of the sciences, the arts, and the wider culture. His most recent books include Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does, Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen, and Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics under Hitler, all published by the University of Chicago Press. He lives in London.
"The Water Kingdom presents us with an epic portrait of China's
water management history and its deep interlacing with culture
currents. It's essential reading for any serious understanding of
the dynamic relations between humans and nature, not only in China,
but in the world at large."--Xiaolu Guo, author of I am China
"A rewarding read. . . . At its most fascinating when describing
how in China the laws of nature seem to have embedded in them a
moral precept. . . . Ball puts water beautifully back at the heart
of China's story."
-- "Economist"
"Ball's journey along the history, politics, and culture of China's
waterways encompasses many heroes of Chinese hydrology, men who
grappled with elemental forces and imperial censure and sometimes
came out on top. . . . Ball argues that China's future, like the
past, can be read in the fate of its water."
-- "Guardian"
"In his excellent, smartly written new book, The Water Kingdom,
Ball identifies water as 'one of the most constant, significant and
illuminating themes' in China's history and culture. . . . Along
the way, the book punctures myths and draws illuminating
connections."
-- "Financial Times"
"This is a book about water in China in virtually any context
imaginable. As Ball, a longtime former editor of Nature says, he
draws on 'travellers and explorers, poets and painters,
philosophers, bureaucrats and activists, who have themselves
struggled to come to terms with what it means to live within a
world so shaped and permeated by water.' Historically, water
figures in ancient Chinese myths as essential for human life and as
a fundamental force of nature that has always ravaged China with
the relentless flooding its great rivers cause. Water is a
prerequisite for agricultural abundance and urban expansion. It
appears as a basic component in Chinese philosophy, one of the
basic five elements. Here, Ball considers water, in political,
economic, and social aspects, as a factor in environmental
pollution, political corruption, and social upheaval (the Three
Gorges Dam project is a case in point). The book closes with a
consideration of the 'fluid art of expression'--how water relates
to Chinese painting, serves as a metaphor in literature, and is
used by contemporary artists who perform their works in water. This
book will serve diverse readers interested in China from the
historical to the most contemporary perspectives. Suitable for all
audiences. Recommended."-- "Choice"
Ask a Question About this Product More... |