ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the subject of large-scale disasters is broadly introduced.Boththeartandscienceofpredicting,preventing, andmitigatingnaturalandhuman-causeddisastersarediscussed.Auniversal,quantitativemetricthatputsallnaturaland human-causeddisastersonacommonscaleisproposed.Issues ofprediction,control,andmitigationofcatastrophesarepresented.›eexpansivepresentationofthemanyfacetsofdisaster researchprecludesadetailedcoverageofanyoneofthemany topicscovered.Wemerelyscratchthesurfaceofabroadsubject thatmaybeofinteresttoallthosewhoviewtheworldmechanistically.›ehopeisthatfewreadersofthisbookwhoarenot alreadyinvolvedindisasterresearchwouldwanttobeengaged inthisexcitingendeavorwhosepracticalimportancecannotbe overstated.›echapterisexcerptedfromChapter2ofthebook edited by Gad-el-Hak [1].
