Summary

In "Down the River," Chapter 1, Kolbert discusses the metaphoric significance of rivers. Rivers often "stand for time, for change, and for life itself" (3). At times, such metaphors can be dangerous.

Kolbert describes her ride down the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on "a pleasure craft named City Living" (4, Kolbert's italics). The canal is filled with trash. Because of the recent heavy rains, the canal has experienced a sewer overflow. The canal "opened at the start of the twentieth" century and "compelled the Chicago [River] to change its direction" so the city's sewage “would flow away from it" (5). Changing the river's direction was an attempt to control nature. This project ultimately disrupted the flow of water throughout the United States. The water in the canal is now toxic and electrified.

Kolbert discusses humans' negative impact on nature. Resulting extinctions have inspired "a new...