Martin V Melosi

Biographic Data

ID1090152
NAMEMartin V Melosi
GIVEN NAMESMartin V
FAMILY NAMEMelosi
SIGNATUREMELOSI M V
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Houston
ORCID0000-0001-7726-8062
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS60
TOTAL CITATIONS75
AUTHOR COUNT59
EDITOR COUNT1
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1973
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX4

  • The Many Faces of Water

    Open AccessMartin V MelosiARTICLEModern American History2026

    It may be time to “de-territorialize historical narratives of the United States.” 1 As the premise of this special issue demonstrates, American history has long been told through a land-centered lens—one that treats water as a backdrop or boundary. Yet when we shift perspective to view the U.S. past through water or the shifting interface between land and water, familiar narratives transform. In some instances, literature and film have offered wa…

  • Water in North American Environmental History

    Martin V MelosiBOOKWater in North American…2022

    Water in North American Environmental History offers 25 cases studies that explore the range of uses and perceptions of water throughout Canadian, Mexican, and United States history. Water has served a myriad of purposes historically as human sustenance, agricultural irrigation, sanitation, fire protection, military defense, power generation, transportation, and much more. Water and its uses provide an excellent entrée into the study of humans an…

  • Simon Pirani. Burning Up

    Open AccessMartin V MelosiARTICLEThe American Historical Review2022

    Burning Up, by Simon Pirani, is foremost a good synthesis of the global history of fossil fuel consumption in a concise package. The construction of the book is quite straightforward, providing a general context for fossil fuels before the 1950s—plus a fairly elaborate statistical summary—in part 1; chronologies about production and use of fossil fuels in part 2; and reflections and speculations in part 3. Appendices offer some information on mea…

  • New World Cities

    John Tutino, Martin V MelosiBOOKNew World Cities2019

  • Fresh Kills

    Martin V MelosiBOOKFresh Kills2019

    Fresh Kills—a monumental 2,200-acre site on Staten Island—was once the world’s largest landfill. From 1948 to 2001, it was the main receptacle for New York City’s refuse. After the 9/11 attacks, it reopened briefly to receive human remains and rubble from the destroyed Twin Towers, turning a notorious disposal site into a cemetery. Today, a mammoth reclamation project is transforming the landfill site, constructing an expansive park three times t…

  • Discovering New Fields

    Martin V MelosiARTICLEDiplomatic History2017

    I have very fond memories of Diplomatic History. Paul Holbo, editor at the time, added my article concerning Pearl Harbor and the election of 1944 to the first issue in winter 1977. This was an exciting experience for me. I was a young untenured assistant professor at Texas A&M University, and the article was taken from my first book, The Shadow of Pearl Harbor: Political Controversy over the Surprise Attack, 1941–1946 (College Station, TX, 1977)…

  • Designing Gotham

    Martin V MelosiARTICLEThe Journal of Interdisciplinary…2017References: 1

    In Designing Gotham, Logel provides a service by reminding us that New York City did not build itself. Histories of the city are inclined to focus on the political and economic forces instrumental in the growth and development of the nation’s leading metropolis. One obvious exception is David McCullough’s The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge (New York,1972), a work celebrating heroic engineering on a massive sca…

  • The Fabric of Space

    Open AccessMartin V MelosiARTICLEJournal of Historical Geography2016

  • Taming Manhattan

    Open AccessMartin V MelosiARTICLEJournal of Historical Geography2015Cited by: 1References: 1

  • Reflections on the American environment

    Open AccessGraeme Wynn, C E Colten et al.ARTICLEJournal of Historical Geography2013Cited by: 2

  • Humans, Cities, and Nature

    Open AccessMartin V MelosiARTICLEJournal of Urban History2010Cited by: 7References: 22

    This paper explores how historians—and others—continue to create a barrier between the natural world and the city, and why the so-called declensionist narrative—humans as agents of harmful physical change—still dominates our understanding of the urban environment. It suggests several ways to reconsider the declensionist narrative; to evaluate the connection between “first nature” and “second nature;” to better understand the relationship between …

  • Where has the water come from

    Open AccessJohann Tempelhoff, Heather J Hoag et al.ARTICLEWater History2009Cited by: 4References: 9

    past water management and social relations to water use have become increasingly relevant to our understanding of future scenarios of water use. Second, recently many research findings demonstrating high-quality scholarship on water history have been published in diverse journals. While the recent publication of some of these articles focused on water history suggests that the field is expanding in both size and scope, it also shows that the fiel…

  • The Sanitary City

    Martin V MelosiBOOKSanitary City2008

  • Designing America's Waste Landscapes (review)

    Martin V MelosiARTICLETechnology and Culture2006

    Reviewed by: Designing America’s Waste Landscapes Martin V. Melosi (bio) Designing America’s Waste Landscapes. By Mira Engler. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Pp. xxi+281. $45. Mira Engler teaches landscape architecture at Iowa State University. But Designing America's Waste Landscapes will appeal to an audience beyond her own discipline. She effectively demonstrates "that rejected landscapes can tell us as much as cherished land…

  • Three Mile Island

    Martin V MelosiARTICLEThe Public Historian2006Cited by: 1

    Book Review| January 01 2006 Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective by J. SAMUEL WALKER. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004; vi + 303 pp., notes, sources, index; paperbound, $40.00. MARTIN V. MELOSI MARTIN V. MELOSI University of Houston Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The Public Historian (2006) 28 (4): 91–93…

  • What Books Should be More Widely Read in Environmental History

    Adam Rome, Karl Appuhn et al.ARTICLEEnvironmental History2005References: 9

  • Public History and the Environment

    James B Mcswain, Martin V Melosi et al.ARTICLEThe Journal of Southern History2005

  • The Fresno Sanitary Landfill in an American Cultural Context

    Martin V MelosiARTICLEThe Public Historian2002Cited by: 3References: 3

    On August 27, 2001, Department of Interior designated the Fresno Sanitary Landfill as a National Historic Landmark. The next day, Secretary Gail Norton "temporarily" rescinded the designation, claiming that the department was not aware of the landfill's Superfund status. For many people, the naming of a landfill as an historic landmark seemed ludicrous. For others, the designation offered an opportunity to pillory the Bush administration for its …

  • Petrolia

    Martin V Melosi, Brian BlackARTICLEJournal of American History2002Cited by: 2

    Journal Article Petrolia: The Landscape of America's First Oil Boom Get access Black BrianPetrolia: The Landscape of America's First Oil Boom 2000Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Pressxiv235$42.50, ISBN 0-8018-6317-1 Martin V. Melosi Martin V. Melosi University of HoustonHouston, Texas Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 88, Issue 4, March 2002, Page 1550, https://doi.org/…

  • Effluent America

    Martin V MelosiBOOKEffluent America2001

  • Smoke Wars

    Martin V MelosiARTICLEThe Public Historian2001

  • The Sanitary City

    Greg Hise, Martin V MelosiARTICLEJournal of American History2001

    Journal Article The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. By Martin V. Melosi. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. xiv, 578 pp. $59.95, ISBN 0-8018-6152-7.) Get access Greg Hise Greg Hise University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 87, Issue 4, March 2001, Page 1538,…

  • Smokestacks and Progressives

    Martin V Melosi, David StradlingARTICLEJournal of American History2001Cited by: 4

  • The sanitary city

    Martin V MelosiBOOKThe sanitary city2000Cited by: 33

    "Martin V. Melosi studies water supply, wastewater, and solid-waste-disposal systems in U.S. cities from the colonial era to the present day. Along the way, Melosi discusses not only changing technologies and the expanding population but also growing public health awareness and ecological theories. He shows how the social beliefs and scientific understandings that emerged over time influenced how Americans have viewed waste and sanitation in urba…

  • Environmental Justice, Political Agenda Setting, and the Myths of History

    Open AccessMartin V MelosiARTICLEJournal of Policy History2000Cited by: 4References: 9

    The emergence of the environmental justice movement in the 1980s has stimulated much debate on the extent to which race and class have been or should become central concerns of modern environmentalism. Leaders in the environmental justice movement have charged that mainstream environmental organizations and, in turn, environmental policy have demonstrated a greater concern for preserving wilderness and animal habitats than addressing health hazar…