Introduction to Megaengineering: The Concept and a Research Frontier

Abstract

We trace the concept of “Engineering Earth” to two major interdisciplinary volumes published in the last half century: Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth (1956) edited by W. L. Thomas, Jr. and The Earth Transformed (1990) edited by Billie Lee Turner et al. Both volumes included timely and frequently cited chapters about human/nature and nature/society relations. We expand the foci of these books to include the contributions of social, environmental, and engineering scientists who study megaengineering projects and their impacts on cultures, economies, and regions. We introduce a conceptual framework for studying these projects at all scales (local to global) and suggest, with the contributions in this volume, the emergence of research frontiers in the engineering, environmental, social and policy sciences.