Pyne offers a succinct survey of fire's long coevolution with humanity. Throughout history, we have mastered the science and art of fire, but there have been many culturally defining fire disasters going back to antiquity. Over the past 200 years, however, humanity has found a massive new world of combustibles in the form of fossil biomass and with new combustion practices has radically changed the world's ecological balance. With the means to make fire, as origin myths attest, humanity diverged from the rest of creation, and began reshaping the world for its own benefit.Īboriginal societies relied on the control of ignition alone agricultural societies added control over fuel. Whether hunting, foraging, farming, herding, building towns or managing nature reserves, fire has been at the core of most human endeavours. While among the most destructive forces on Earth, fire displays equally tremendous powers of cleansing and renewal. It has defined human culture from the beginning it is something without which we cannot survive. Fire has been an integral feature of our planet for over 400 million years.
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