Taking measures across the American landscape

• Main Authors: Corner, James M. 1961- (Author), MacLean, Alex S (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New Haven Yale University Press 1996
• Subjects: Landscape photography > United States; United States > Aerial photographs
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 The book traces the influence on the American landscape of the Anasazi and the Hopi in the southwest, the French along the Mississippi, the British in the east, the pioneer Americans across the plains, and the technological society across much of modern-day America. It investigates the ways in which landscape representation-particularly aerial vision-not only reflects a given reality but also constitutes a way of seeing and acting in the world. It discusses the many meanings of measure-from practical (such as solar furnaces in California) to poetic (such as raised tablets in Illinois that once formed the structure of an ancient city). And it suggests alternative possibilities for planning and taking future measures in our environment, building upon examples that range from the rectilinear survey landscape to the great transportation networks and such technological innovations as windmill fields, pivot-irrigation systems, and radio-telescope installations.