Macfarlane, Daniel (Author)
Since the late nineteenth century, Niagara Falls has been heavily engineered to generate energy behind a flowing facade designed to appeal to tourists. Essentially, this natural wonder is now a tap: huge tunnels channel the waters of the Niagara River around the Falls, which ebb and flow according to the tourism calendar.Fixing Niagara Falls reveals the technological feats and cross-border politics that facilitated the transformation of one of the most important natural sites in North America. Daniel Macfarlane details how engineers, bureaucrats, and politicians conspired to manipulate the world’s most famous waterfall. During the first half of the twentieth century, the United States and Canada explored various ways to maximize hydropower from the Niagara River while “preserving” the falls. Decades of environmental diplomacy and transborder studies led to a 1950 treaty that allowed new hydro-electric stations to funnel most of the river’s water to generate power. To facilitate these diversions and lessen the visual impact of redirecting so much water, the two nations cooperated to install a range of control works while reshaping and shrinking the Horseshoe Falls. This book offers a unique perspective on how the Niagara landscape embodies both the power of technology and the power of nature.
...MoreReview Petra Dolata (2022) Review of "Fixing Niagara Falls: Environment, Energy, and Engineers at the World’s Most Famous Waterfall". Scientia Canadensis: Journal of the History of Canadian Science, Technology, and Medicine (pp. 143-144).
Review Donald C. Jackson (2023) Review of "Fixing Niagara Falls: Environment, Energy, and Engineers at the World’s Most Famous Waterfall". Technology and Culture (pp. 288-290).
Article
Macfarlane, Daniel;
(2013)
“A Completely Man-Made and Artificial Cataract”: The Transnational Manipulation of Niagara Falls
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Article
Daniel Macfarlane;
(2019)
As nearly as may be: estimating ice and water on the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers
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Article
Macfarlane, Daniel;
(2013)
“A Completely Man-Made and Artificial Cataract”: The Transnational Manipulation of Niagara Falls
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Power on the Hudson: Storm King Mountain and the Emergence of Modern American Environmentalism
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Negotiating a River: Canada, the US, and the Creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway
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Frank Schipper;
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East, West, Home's Best: The Material Links of Cold War Yugoslavia, 1948-1980
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Nature Empowered: Hydraulic Models and the Engineering of Niagara Falls
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The Turnkey Factory: Technology Transfer from America to Spain in the Portland Cement Industry
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The Maintenance of New Hampshire's First Polyphase Hydroelectric Station (Photo Essay)
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Uncivil Engineers: The Struggle for Control of Seattle's Early Water and Electric Utilities, 1890-1910
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Miracle near 34th street: Wartime Penicillin Research at St John’s University, NY
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Forgotten Railroads through Westchester County
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