Katastrophen

Whether an incident is termed a catastrophe or not depends on whether it has an impact on human life. But even this insight does not reveal a great deal. The annual Nile floods in ancient Egypt were essential for the people there at that time because the tide brought fertile mud and made good harvests possible. This means that it was actually the absence of a flood that was the real catastrophe, which could even have political consequences. Even today, catastrophes have many different dimensions. Catastrophes influence politics, encourage technological and economic innovations and make us change our view of life. This book endeavours to address the complexity of this subject.

With contributions by
Katrin Fischer, Christine Koegler, Jutta Profanter, Stefan Geissler, Hanno Kempken.