Pictorial Essay

May 6, 2016 by petewcook Leave a Comment

(Clicking on the link will pull up the original document with pictures)

Going down to the river on a warm, sunny day and spending time with family is always a fun activity. There’s so much to do at the river with the family, such as fish, swim, and have a picnic. But, what makes this activity possible? If the water levels at the river were too high, then taking the family there would be dangerous. It wouldn’t be enjoyable to go to a supposed “river” that was basically dried up either. There would be no wildlife around to enjoy. While water management can be a controversial topic, engineering is essential in the management of water because it makes sure the rivers stay at an adequate, safe level, it provides reserves in case of droughts, and it is a source of energy for public use.

Water is something everyone and everything needs, but having too much or too little can be an enormous detriment. The problem of having a river overflow in flooding season or having a river become dry in a drought has been present since before the American Indians settled the North American continent.

The American west is known for its lack of precipitation, and therefore there became a dire need for dams. Native Americans were the ones to first create canal systems in the North American Continent, according to the National Park Service. As the generations passed, the Native American Indians began to develop their canal system into dikes, which can be a wall or ditch to stop water. The reason that the Indians started these systems was in order to cultivate and water their fields. In the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the Spanish came to the New World and worked with the Indians to help improve their water systems. This resulted in the building of dams made of rock and earthen reservoirs. As an added benefit, dams help to keep water at safe levels for both wildlife and humans.

This picture shows a canal created by the Hohokam Indians, who used the canal systems. The Hohokam Indians were some of the first to engineer a way for water to be diverted to their crops and villages. Hohokam water systems were made up of a series of canals, all ranging in size. It would start off with the largest canal branching off from the river, in order to divert a large amount of water. From that, smaller canals would branch off to disperse the water needed. Eventually when the water arrived at the crops, the canals were at their smallest. To control how much water was allowed to go into each field or crop, the Hohokams used diversion gates. It was necessary to be able to regulate the water level in order to ensure that their fields could survive.

Jerry B. Howard, “Archaeologist Emil Haury standing in an excavated Hohokam canal,”WaterHistory.org, accessed May 5, 2016, http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/.

Another way engineering the management of water is beneficial is that it helps provide water in times of drought. A dam is able to contain water from the snow runoff in the mountains. This is an excellent way to store water for times when water is scarcer. The Hoover Dam is a great example of a dam that can store vast amounts of water. California has been having a drought since 2011, according to Todd Frankel who wrote an article for The Guardian. The Hoover Dam has helped with some of the relief from the Californian drought, and is considered an “engineering marvel”.

Todd C. Frankel, “Drought-related reductions in water levels have led engineers to install more efficient turbines at the Hoover Dam,”The Guardian, 2015, accessed May 5, 2016

The Colorado River provides a way for energy to be created, but this is only possible with engineering of water. Without brilliant engineers to construct the plans for turbines and generators in order to direct and control the water, families would have less power and no reserves in case of droughts. 3. Naomi Bilia, “Colorado River,” Feelgrafix, 2015, accessed May 5, 2016, http://feelgrafix.com/929327-colorado-river.html.

Lastly, engineering of water is helpful in contributing to the power supply. Water is an excellent source of power, and the Hoover Dam is another viable example for this. Engineers of this dam designed it with the intent to not only maintain adequate water levels, but also generate energy for others to use. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Hoover Dam has seventeen main turbines. In order for the water to reach the turbines and produce power, it passes through the wicket gates. 4. Cobolhacker/Wikimedia Commons, “Generators at Hoover Dam,” Union of Concerned Scientists, accessed May 5, 2016, http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-hydroelectric-energy.html#.Vyv4m_krK00.

The movement of the water through the turbines, turns the wheel of the turbines which have magnetics rubbing against copper coils. A generator is also connected to the turbine, and energy is created and stored. This process takes place and creates about four billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. This energy can be used to light offices, buildings, and homes for many Americans. 5. Lower Colorado Regional Photo Lab, “View of generators on Arizona side of power plant,” Bureau of Reclamation, 2015.

In conclusion, engineering is essential in the management of water because it makes sure the rivers stay at an adequate, safe level; it provides reserves in case of droughts; and it is a source of energy for public use. While some think dams and reservoirs are harmful to the environment and wildlife, in all reality they are very beneficial to society. By keeping waters at safe levels, flooding is prevented. Stored water provides wildlife with hydration in times of drought. And lastly, water converted to energy is helpful in creating clean energy for American families to use. The engineering of water management has a unique history through the past and will continue to shape our future.

Bibliography

Bilia, Naomi. “Colorado River.” Feelgrafix. 2015. Travel. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://feelgrafix.com/929327-colorado-river.html.
Cobolhacker/Wikimedia Commons. “Generators at Hoover Dam.” Union of Concerned Scientists. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-hydroelectric-energy.html#.Vyv4m_krK00.

Frankel, Todd C. “US Drought Takes Its Toll on Clean Energy Production.” The Guardian. Last modified April 28, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/28/us-drought-california-hydropwer-hoover-dam.
Frankel, Todd C. “Drought-related reductions in water levels have led engineers to install more efficient turbines at the Hoover Dam.” The Guardian. 2015. Accessed May 5, 2016.
Gleick, Peter H. “The Past and Future of California’s Water.” Scientific American. Last modified July 14, 2014. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-past-and-future-of-california-s-water/?shunter=1461161356303.

“Hoover Dam.” Bureau of Reclamation. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/faqs/powerfaq.html.
Howard, Jerry B. “Hohokam Legacy: Desert Canals.” WaterHistory.org. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/.
Howard, Jerry B. “Archaeologist Emil Haury standing in an excavated Hohokam canal.”WaterHistory.org. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/.
Lower Colorado Regional Photo Lab. “View of generators on Arizona side of power plant.”Bureau of Reclamation. 2015. Power Plant. http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/gallery/pwrplant.html.
“Role of Dams: Why do we need dams?” International Commission on Large Dams. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://www.icold-cigb.org/GB/Dams/role_of_dams.asp.
U.S. National Park Service. “Water in the West.” U.S. National Park Service: U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed May 5, 2016. https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ReclamationDamsIrrigationProjectsAndPowerplants/water_in_the_west.html.
“Water in the U.S. American West: 150 Years of Adaptive Strategies.” Building Strong Collaborative Relationships: IWR and USACE. Last modified March 2012. http://www.building-collaboration-for-water.org/documents/wwfh20amwest%20full2.28lr.pdf.

12.2 Beliefs and Values of the Planners (and Holmes)

May 6, 2016 by petewcook Leave a Comment

Daniel Burnham, one of the drafters of the Columbian Exposition, had the belief that even though he did not have a very successful, or pleasing, academic and work background he would one day be successful at something if he could just set his mind to it and enjoy whatever it was. “He sought work in a field where he might be successful and took a job as a draftsman with the architectural firm of Loring & Jenney, (pg. 19 Larson).” Another example of Burnham wanting to continue becoming more successful was when he was building the mansion for John B. Sherman and was talking to Louis Sullivan. “He told Sullivan, in confidence, that he did not expect to remain satisfied doing just houses. “My idea,” he said , “is to work up a big business, handle big things, deal with big businessmen, and to build up a big organization, for you can’t handle big things unless you have an organization, (pg. 21 Larson)'”. Burnham did just that too as he and Root were the main drafters of the fair’s architectural features and he worked with big businessmen. He himself was the business genius of the company.

John Root, another drafter of the Columbian Exposition, had the value of aesthetics/beauty of design. He was born with this gift and Burnham always admired and pointed out that Root was the artistic genius of the firm and that he didn’t have any intentions of knowing or pursuing anything on the business side. “Burnham understood that Root was the firm’s artistic engine. He believed Root possessed a genius for envisioning a structure quickly, in it’s entirety… At the same time he knew Root had little interest in the business side of architecture and in sowing the relationships at the Chicago Club and Union League that eventually led to commissions… Root played the organ every Sunday morning at the First Presbyterian Church. He wrote Opera critiques for the Chicago Tribune. He read broadly in philosophy, science, art, and religion and was known throughout Chicago’s upper echelon for his ability to converse on almost any subject and to do so with great wit (pgs. 26-27 Larson)”. Root loved music, played music, he could see the buildings that he wanted to create in his head, he was very well self-educated in almost every subject, and had many artistic traits.

Dr. H.H. Holmes, the story’s antagonist, had fear and terror as a young boy when some of the older boys drug him into a doctor’s room with a skeleton in it, because they knew he was afraid of it. The boys thought that he would be extremely frightened, but in fact the opposite happened, he was thoroughly enthused and attracted to the skeleton and became very curious about it. “‘It was a wicked and dangerous thing to do to a child of tender years and health,’ he wrote, ‘but it proved an heroic method of treatment, destined ultimately to cure me of my fears, and to inculcate in me, first, a strong feeling of curiosity, and, later, a desire to learn, which resulted years afterwards in my adopting medicine as a profession’ (pg 39 Larson)”. This memory of how fear of skeletons turned into curiosity of the skeleton and human body, which later became his unhealthy obsession of dealing with bodies of people that he had murdered.

11.2 First Reflection of the Fair

May 4, 2016 by petewcook Leave a Comment

Based on what I’ve read so far, to page 127, I think the most significant issue or tension in the United States in the 1880s and 1890s was the gap between the moral and the wicked in big cities, such as Chicago. Some of the other issues and tensions that were going on during that time were global economic depression, labor unions on the rise and union strikes, big business was on the rise, political corruption, and floods of new immigrants from over in Europe. I want to focus on the issue of declining morals in the big cities though. On page 12 in The Devil in the White City, Erick Larson says, “Everywhere one looked the boundary between the moral and the wicked seemed to be degrading. Elizabeth Cady Stanton argued in favor of divorce. Clarence Darrow advocated free love. A young woman named Borden killed her parents.” These are some examples of the changing times and how morals were declining and changing. There was also nightclubs, prostitution, bars, etc. which highlighted the changing times because before the 1880s and 1890s it was not very easy to find these kinds of services as they were fewer in number and weren’t really promoted. That period of time was filled with “turmoil and grief” as Larson said.

I think Larson has chosen to intertwine the story of the fair with that of Holmes because he wants to show the good and evil that occurred during the time when they were constructing the fair. Burnham represented the prosperity and good times of the fair, although he did overcome some tough obstacles. Dr. H.H. Holmes represented the evil during this time as you can see in this section from the novel, “It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history.” This can be found on page 12 as well.

So we can see that there were many problems during this time such as promoting divorce, advocating free love, people murdering other people at a very high rate, prostitution, bars, nightclubs, and unsuspecting serial killers on the loose, which went unnoticed. As well it was fairly simple to find out why Larson intertwined two different characters/plots in order to achieve the distinction between the good and evil of the times.