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Plainpicture/Topi Ylä-Mononen

By Jeremy Webb

FIRE is bad, right? In the modern world, flames are closely controlled even on those odd ritual occasions when we are allowed to strike a light. Under no circumstances must fire be allowed to escape.

That attitude is widely held, says Andrew C. Scott in Burning Planet. He blames it on the “pyric transition”, one that took place as ever more people moved from rural areas, where fire was an important tool, into urban centres. Here it was needed for energy, heating and transport, but only in contained settings, out of …

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