ABSTRACT
The economic historian Harold Underwood Faulkner noted that civilization could be defined as "the process of configuring nature." He added that nature reacted as much on man as man on nature. One exaggerated example of this interaction is the Super Dome and the spectacle it made possible in midwinter--the Super Bowl. In that huge-climate controlled concrete tabernacle, thousands shared their experience with millions across continents via satellite-beamed pictures and sound. Although the Super Bowl may not be the epitomy of our tribal village's cultural values, the efficient comfort conditioning of the Super Dome is a fitting metaphor for the modern control of nature by engineers.
