The Imperative of Responsibility: Hans Jonas and pellucid water

In The Imperative of Responsibility, Hans Jonas opens in a movement from the Antigone chorus (natality, the absence of Antigone), to man and nature to the island city.

The great island city that is Manhattan is a phenomenon behind which lies one of the wonders of the modern world, the awaited new aquaduct (Tunnel No. 3.)  It brings to mind the great Greek tunneling venture - tunnelling from two directions.

The keystone plays an important role in the Roman achievements that remain as functioning aquaducts.

What is missing from view is often the watershed.  High above the cities of North and West Vancouver lie their watersheds upon which thou shalt not trespass. For New York City, the Catskills are one such watershed (American usage - British "catchment".)

A typical drainage basin reveals a fractal pattern.  Local topography determines whether forests ensure the quality of that water and dampen the rate of drainage by forming an immense sponge.

In the city of Los Angeles, many tourists miss the Los Angeles River, a great concrete trough intended to prevent dangerous flash floods.

One surveys and sees techique: another sees decisions and fore-sight. Some of the "tunnels" are better understood as covered trenches (keystone?) and others as immese culverts.

After rainfall, area and slope appear as the determining factors.  And with area, slope and flow we return to the heirs of Galileo.

Bolzano made first steps to characterizing the organization of the 19th Century European state - how to best characterize the state employment of science and engineering may prove far more challenging and those habitual characterizations much more in need of critique.

In the area of transparency, great technical undertakings may now be more examples than embarrassments.  That transparency may have been lacking in the proposals for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico - and threatens to tar more than wildlife and beaches.