Burning Table Mountain

An Environmental History of Fire on the Cape Peninsula

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Human Geography, Health & Well Being, Medical, Reference, Public Health, History
Cover of the book Burning Table Mountain by S. Pooley, Palgrave Macmillan UK
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: S. Pooley ISBN: 9781137415448
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK Publication: September 19, 2014
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan Language: English
Author: S. Pooley
ISBN: 9781137415448
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication: September 19, 2014
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Language: English

Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain and the surrounding peninsula has been a crucible for attempts to integrate the social and ecological dimensions of wild fire. This environmental history of humans and wildfire outlines these interactions from the practices of Khoikhoi herders to the conflagrations of January 2000. The region's unique, famously diverse fynbos vegetation has been transformed since European colonial settlement, through urbanisation and biological modifications, both intentional (forestry) and unintentional (biological invasions). In all the diverse visions people have formed for Table Mountain, aesthetic and utilitarian, fire has been regarded as a central problem. This book shows how scientific understandings of fire in fynbos developed slowly in the face of strong prejudices. Human impacts were intensified in the twentieth century, which provides the temporal focus for the book. The disjunctures between popular perception, expert knowledge, policy and management are explored, and the book supplements existing short-term scientific data with proxies on fire incidence trends recovered from historical records.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain and the surrounding peninsula has been a crucible for attempts to integrate the social and ecological dimensions of wild fire. This environmental history of humans and wildfire outlines these interactions from the practices of Khoikhoi herders to the conflagrations of January 2000. The region's unique, famously diverse fynbos vegetation has been transformed since European colonial settlement, through urbanisation and biological modifications, both intentional (forestry) and unintentional (biological invasions). In all the diverse visions people have formed for Table Mountain, aesthetic and utilitarian, fire has been regarded as a central problem. This book shows how scientific understandings of fire in fynbos developed slowly in the face of strong prejudices. Human impacts were intensified in the twentieth century, which provides the temporal focus for the book. The disjunctures between popular perception, expert knowledge, policy and management are explored, and the book supplements existing short-term scientific data with proxies on fire incidence trends recovered from historical records.

More books from Palgrave Macmillan UK

Cover of the book Gender-Technology Relations by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Minimum Wages, Collective Bargaining and Economic Development in Asia and Europe by S. Pooley
Cover of the book The Function and Use of TO and OF in Multi-Word Units by S. Pooley
Cover of the book American TV Detective Dramas by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Literature and Politics in the 1620s by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Politicizing European Integration by S. Pooley
Cover of the book British Crime Film by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Urban Enlightenment and the Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essay by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Time, Media and Modernity by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Women Political Leaders and the Media by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Digital Cities: The Interdisciplinary Future of the Urban Geo-Humanities by S. Pooley
Cover of the book The Renaissance Extended Mind by S. Pooley
Cover of the book The State Visits of Edward VII by S. Pooley
Cover of the book Housing Finance Systems by S. Pooley
Cover of the book East Asian Film Stars by S. Pooley
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy