Abstract
Historians tend to lack an integral view of the major factors of the physical world. The separation of phenomena according to disciplinary traditions is a general custom. Usually, historians pay attention to the interplay between technology and the physical environment only when something extraordinary takes place or when things do not work in an expected way. This article examines the significance of water in human history and past interactions between technology and water issues. Humanity has used technology to govern, control, and subdue water. Nevertheless, water and the environment in general have not yielded entirely to human domination. It is claimed that the maltreatment of the natural world contains a risk of environmental backlash. Some droughts, floods, salinization, and waterborne diseases are examples of human-induced environmental problems. Water-related environmental issues illustrate the close connection between environmental history and the history of technology, which are as interconnected as the two sides of a coin.
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