The Control of Nature

The Control of Nature chronicles three attempts to control natural processes that had varying success. The book combines three long essays previously published in The New Yorker:
"Atchafalaya," about the Old River Control Structure regulating inflow to the Atchafalaya River; 
"Cooling the Lava," on the Eldfell volcanic eruption of 1973; and 
"Los Angeles Against the Mountains," about the constant land slides ("debris flow") into downtown Los Angeles from the San Gabriel Mountains (the fastest eroding, but also fastest growing, mountains in the world).