Heavy Smoke Like Water: A Story of Environmental Deception and the Struggle for Environmental Protection

Author: (USA) Davis, D. (Author), Wu Xiaodong, Weng Duan (Translators)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The author of Smog and Miracles, Devra Davis, is an old friend of mine who has visited China many times. She was born in the small town of Donora, severely polluted by industry. She grew from a scientist treating breast cancer and chronic diseases into a globally renowned public health expert and environmental warrior, holding key positions in the U.S. federal government for multiple terms. Her legendary upbringing and broad knowledge background enable her to compile such an outstanding work, winning the 2003 U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction. This book aims to explain the impact of modern industrial air pollution on environmental and public health, featuring numerous research cases and statistical data. Upon opening it, I couldn’t put it down—this is because the author skillfully presents these dry scientific data with elegant prose, telling us a series of stories about environmental deception and environmental struggles: including the 1948 Donora smog event that caused lifelong suffering to her family, the 1952 London fog disaster, and the behind-the-scenes tricks oil and car companies used to maintain the market for leaded gasoline. If Rachel Carson, in Silent Spring in 1982, as an ocean biologist, cried out in the wilderness, warning people who glorified the successes of pesticide-driven green revolutions in agriculture, then 40 years later, Devra Davis, in Smog and Miracles, reminds those intoxicated by modern material wealth and environmental movement achievements: exposure to toxic chemicals remains the culprit affecting the environment and human health, and there are still so many people who profit from environmental pollution resisting and countering pollution prevention efforts, while persisting in this struggle requires extraordinary personal courage. No wonder many critics call this book the "best environmental work since Silent Spring."