How do and how did people perceive, manage and respond to natural disasters? How are the causes of natural disasters explained in history, how are they explained today? This volume investigates relationships between forces of nature and human culture in a multidisciplinary context bridging science and the humanities. Forces of nature and cultural responses is divided into four sections: (1) ball lightnings, (2) earthquakes and tsunamis, (3) volcanic eruptions and plagues, and (4) hurricanes and floodings. Specifically, Section 1 investigates theories and case studies of ball lightning phenomena. Section 2 includes a psychological study on the impact of earthquakes on academic performance, a study on tsunami vulnerability and recovery strategies in Thailand and a study on the social and economic aftermaths of a tsunami and a hurricane in Hawaii. Section 3 consists of a chapter on volcanic eruptions and plagues as well as cultural responses in Ancient Times and a study on contemporary vulnerability and resilience under chronic volcanic eruptions. Section 4 investigates the impact of hurricane Katrina on the current jazz scene in New Orleans and cultural responses to floodings in The Netherlands in Early Modern Times.

Um 1800 diskutierte man über Naturkräfte in verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen und künstlerischen Zusammenhängen: Anziehung und Abstoßung, Lebenskräfte und elektrische Ströme, der "Bildungstrieb" und biologische Organismen wurden als Kräfte untersucht, die sich auf „natürliche" Prozesse zurückführen lassen. Literatur, Wissenschaft und Philosophie der deutschsprachigen Romantik von Schelling bis zu Günderrode und Hölderlin arbeiteten sich an Konzepten von Kräften ab, die als dynamisch und in beständiger Tätigkeit begriffen wurden – Kräfte, die auch menschliche Handlungen, soziale Strukturen und kulturelle Entwicklungen einzuschließen schienen. Der Band erkundet Vor- und Darstellungen von Naturkräften in der Romantik an der Schnittstelle von Naturwissenschaft und kulturellen Vorstellungswelten.

Archaeoseismic research provides data and information on past earthquakes but is limited by the lack of ongoing discussions about methodology. This volume is an interdisciplinary approach including archaeologists, geologists, geophysicists, seismologists, engineers, and architects from different countries to present a comprehensive recording and interpretation of ancient natural disasters on some case studies. The publication is an introduction to various aspects of the field of archaeoseismology for the knowledge of past seismicity, the reconstruction of the chronological history of a place, the interpretation and identification of seismic effects using different methods, etc. The collection provides an overview of research into archaeoseismology, making new contributions through innovative ideas on various topics. The publication can be an illustrative introduction to better understand the complexity of interpreting seismic effects on ancient and modern masonries, particularly for students with an open mind.

These conference proceedings offer an outstanding resource for academics and professionals, sharing essential findings on the latest developments in real estate and construction management. The subject is “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate” in the context of new-type urbanization. The Chinese Research Institute of Construction Management (CRIOCM), working in close collaboration with Zhejiang University, organized CRIOCM2015, the 20th International Symposium. Written by academics and professionals from all over the world, these proceedings discuss the latest achievements, research outputs and advances between frontier disciplines in the field of construction management and real estate. They cover a wide range of topics, including new-type urbanization, land development and land use, urban development and management, the real estate market and housing policies. The discussions will provide an important reference source on the implementation of new-type urbanization in China and abroad.

This describes a strategy for conserving National Forest System inventoried roadless areas and their important values. It has an analysis of management options and the Forest Service's preferred alternative.

"This is an urgently needed book that explores a number of different concepts of childhood in 21st century. The book throughout considers enduring topics and new concepts of childhood, and initiates a number of questions that students of education, childhood and early childhood studies can engage as lines of inquiries. The book offers a multidisciplinary approach of the child today, that influences practice, policy, and education, and offers diverse dimensions to provoke our thinking." - Dr. Ioanna Palaiologou, Institute of Education, University College London How we understand what ‘childhood’ means in today’s society is constantly changing, and the rate of this change is unprecedented. This new edited book explores what it really means to be a child of the 21st century, and how we as professionals, researchers, parents and adults can understand an environment seemingly in constant flux. Each chapter seeks to explore and problematise some of the different ‘labels’ that we give to children in an attempt to understand their contemporary experiences. From the Regulated Child to the Stressed Child to the Poor Child the book covers a wide array of key issues in contemporary childhood, including obesity, risk, special needs, wellbeing and poverty. The pace of change in childhood can be daunting but this book helps students, practitioners and researchers to explore and understand the variety of issues affecting children in the UK and all over the world.

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, this thoughtful collection of essays reflects on the relationship between the disaster and a range of media forms. The assessments here reveal how mainstream and independent media have responded (sometimes innovatively, sometimes conservatively) to the political and social ruptures "Katrina" has come to represent. The contributors explore how Hurricane Katrina is positioned at the intersection of numerous early twenty-first century crisis narratives centralizing uncertainties about race, class, region, government, and public safety. Looking closely at the organization of public memory of Katrina, this collection provides a timely and intellectually fruitful assessment of the complex ways in which media forms and national events are hopelessly entangled.

The first global study by a historian to fully integrate the earth-system approach of the new climate science with the material history of humanity.

Growing concerns about climate change and the increasing occurrence of ever more devastating natural disasters in some parts of the world and their consequences for human life, not only in the immediately affected regions, but for all of us, have increased our desire to learn more about disaster experiences in the past. How did disaster experiences impact on the development of modern sciences in the early modern era? Why did religion continue to play such an important role in the encounter with disasters, despite the strong trend towards secularization in the modern world? What was the political role of disasters? Historical Disasters in Context illustrates how past societies coped with a threatening environment, how societies changed in response to disaster experiences, and how disaster experiences were processed and communicated, both locally and globally. Particular emphasis is put on the realms of science, religion, and politics. International case studies demonstrate that while there are huge differences across cultures in the way people and societies responded to disasters, there are also many commonalities and interactions between different cultures that have the potential to alter the ways people prepare for and react to disasters in future. To explain these relationships and highlight their significance is the purpose of this volume.