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2 - Destruction from the Sky

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2022

Andy Bruno
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University
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Summary

This chapter describes the experience of the Tunguska event and considers the question of how it should be understood as a disaster. It begins by surveying events around the world from the perspective of a space object hurtling toward the Earth in the early twentieth century. This background sets the stage for the blast of 1908 and introduces some of the characters who will later feature prominently in the book. Telling the story of a group of Indigenous Evenki witnesses close to the epicenter, the chapter considers the experience of the explosion, the initial interpretations of it, and the influence of Soviet ethnography on what can be known. Analyzing observer testimony, it discusses Tunguska as a social and ecological disaster and shows how the concept of vulnerability can be extended to cosmic catastrophes.

Type
Chapter
Information
Tunguska
A Siberian Mystery and Its Environmental Legacy
, pp. 13 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Destruction from the Sky
  • Andy Bruno, Northern Illinois University
  • Book: Tunguska
  • Online publication: 09 June 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108887847.002
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  • Destruction from the Sky
  • Andy Bruno, Northern Illinois University
  • Book: Tunguska
  • Online publication: 09 June 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108887847.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Destruction from the Sky
  • Andy Bruno, Northern Illinois University
  • Book: Tunguska
  • Online publication: 09 June 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108887847.002
Available formats
×