Elixir spans five millennia, from ancient Mesopotamia to the parched present of the Sun Belt. As Brian Fagan shows, every human society has been shaped by its relationship toour most essential resource. Fagan's sweeping narrative moves across the world, from ancient Greece and Rome, whose mighty aqueducts still supply modern cities, to China, where emperors marshaled armies of laborers in a centuries-long struggle to tame powerful rivers. He sets out three ages of water: In the first age, lasting thousands of years, water was scarce or at best unpredictable-so precious that it became sacred in almost every culture.

By the time of the Industrial Revolution, human ingenuity had made water flow even in the most arid landscapes.This was the second age: water was no longer a mystical force to be worshipped and husbanded, but a commodity to be exploited. The American desert glittered with swimming pools- with little regard for sustainability. Today, we are entering a third age of water: As the earth's population approaches nine billion and ancient aquifers run dry,we will have to learn once again to show humility, even reverence, for this vital liquid. To solve the water crises of the future, we may need to adapt the water ethos of our ancestors.

• We started tracking this book on July 10, 2011.
• This book was $15.40 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 108 times in the past 5,130 days.
• The current price of this book is $9.99 last checked 16 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on April 25, 2014.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $19.60 last reached on June 28, 2025.
• This book has been $19.60 7 times since we started tracking it.

• Engineering & TransportationEngineeringCivilEnvironmentalHydrology

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 477 Pages
• File Size: 96 KB