To Understand Humanity, You Have To Understand Water

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2021

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

For decades, the author and scientist Giulio Boccaletti has studied the substance that's come to define life as we know it: water. And in his book Water: A Biography, he traces the history of how humanity, regardless of continent or creed, has shaped entire civilizations around a resource that's both fickle and essential for life on earth. In this episode, All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro talks to Boccaletti about our long, complicated history with water, and why understanding the past is crucial to the fight with climate change.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's NPR's book of the day, with a history that informs our understanding of the present.
0:08.2	Host Ari Shapiro talks with climate scientist Giulio Bucoletti about his new book, Water, a Biography.
0:14.3	They consider what this most basic and vital substance on Earth, water, can teach us about the climate today.
0:24.6	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:29.5	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
0:36.0	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
0:39.8	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:43.3	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:49.7	What is the one thing that has shaped the course of human civilization more than any other?
0:55.6	Well, according to the author, Giulio Bocoletti, the answer is water.
0:59.7	The title of his new book is Water, A Biography.
1:02.5	It travels over centuries across continents to show how humans have built their lives around this fickle, precious resource.
1:12.4	Giulio Bocoletti, welcome to all things considered. Thank you. Great to be here. This is one of the most ambitious books that I've
1:16.4	read in a long time. It is both deep and broad. You've spent your life researching water,
1:22.7	working at universities, consulting firms, NGOs. What made you think that this history of human civilization
1:28.8	through the lens of water was the book that needed to be written right now?
1:33.0	Well, I thought so. I hope so. One of the pathologies of water debates is that they tend to be
1:41.2	very sort of technological. You end up having discussions about dissemination,
1:46.2	about whether the dams are a good idea or not.
1:48.8	But really what matters in water is the ideas that we have about it.
1:51.8	And ideas have histories.
1:53.0	And I started wondering where those ideas came from.
	...

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