What are the themes of The Control of Nature?

The themes of The Control of Nature by John McPhee include hubris, the efforts of man to control nature, and the overwhelming power of nature.

Each of the three situations McPhee explores represents the extreme power of nature. He explores the rerouting of the Mississippi River, mudslides on the San Gabriel Mountains, and volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Each natural incident shows the ability of nature to affect humans without human consent; each incident requires extreme...

The themes of The Control of Nature by John McPhee include hubris, the efforts of man to control nature, and the overwhelming power of nature.

Each of the three situations McPhee explores represents the extreme power of nature. He explores the rerouting of the Mississippi River, mudslides on the San Gabriel Mountains, and volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Each natural incident shows the ability of nature to affect humans without human consent; each incident requires extreme measures to deal with. 

McPhee digs into the ways that people try to control awesome natural forces. People want to be able to use all land available to them. They do not want to be limited to just the places that are not threatened by things like rivers, mudslides, and volcanos. If those threats can be mitigated, then people have more freedom to live where they want. 

The entire book is a study in the hubris of mankind when faced with environmental challenges. Humans believe that they can shape the world to their standards, but our efforts are often undone by the sheer power of nature. Nonetheless, we pit ourselves against things as destructive as lava flows because we believe we can find a way to do better. McPhee shows that this often has not been proven true. 

Attempts to reroute the Mississippi has led to the destabilization of entire parts of the drainage system. Trying to stem the flow of magma in Iceland results in massive uses of equipment and personnel over many years and no one is sure whether it is their efforts that have led to success. Battling mudslides in the San Gabriel Mountains leads to a cycle where what comes from the mountains and settles in basins is dug out and brought back into the mountains. 

McPhee's study of how humans attempt to mitigate natural forces exposes both the power of nature and the lengths to which people will go to control it. Human efforts to control the natural world show an overwhelming sense of hubris on the part of humankind.