Of droughts and dust bowls

Gilbert W. Gillespie Jr. (gwg2@cornell.edu)
Fri, 24 May 1996 17:09:08 -0400 (EDT)

I thank Willie Lockeretz for his remarks and add a couple of references for
those who are interested. I especially recommend Chapter 12-14 & the
epilogue of Worster's wonderful book in which he writes about the hubris of
technological fixes to the problem of wind erosion and people's short
memories. I will be teaching an environmental sociology course in the
Cornell summer session again this year and had debated choosing a different
book for my section on agriculture and the environment. I decided to keep
it and it may prove to be especially relevant this year. The Parfit article
has some great photographs by Dorthea Lang and other Farm Security Agency
photographers.

Worster, Donald. 1979. The Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s.
New York: Oxford University Press.

Parfit, Michael. 1989. "The Dust Bowl." Smithsonian 20(3)(June 1989):44-56.
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Gil Gillespie voice: 607-255-1675
Department of Rural Sociology (& fax: 607-254-2896
Division of Nutritional Sciences ) e-mail: gwg2@cornell.edu
439 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-7801
USA

The transition to sustainability is like a bend in the road. It will be
the end of the road only if we fail to negotiate the turn.
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