The Panama Canal: The Story of how a jungle was conquered and the world made smaller (Wonders of the World Book)
Elizabeth Mann
Language: English
Pages: 48
ISBN: 1931414149
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Panama was less than 50 miles wide, yet difficult to bridge by canal -- its swamps were disease-ridden, its mountainous rain forest challenged the most brilliant engineers, and its oppressive heat exhausted the hardiest workers. Engineers found ways to cut through the forest, medical visionaries conquered the diseases, and workers endured the jungle. Yet there were also broken treaties, political tyranny, and the tragedy of thousands of West Indian workers forced to live in awful, segregated conditions.
Wonders of the World series
The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.
"One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers."
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against the disease-bearing insects. Yellow fever is spread by a single type of mosquito, Stegomyia fasciata. The mosquitoes spread the yellow fever virus by biting a sick person and then biting and infecting healthy people. Stegomyia is the only kind of mosquito that can transmit the yellow fever virus, and there is no other way for the disease to spread. When the mosquito is eliminated, the disease disappears. Fortunately for Dr. Gorgas, Stegomyia mosquitoes are very fussy about certain things.
Chagres slowly filled in the valleys and lowlands, creating Gatun Lake. the original French canal, and a big section of the Panama Railroad. Thousands of Panamanians were forced to move from their homes. At the end of 4 years, only the tops of the highest hills could still be seen. They had become islands in the world’s largest artificial lake. 52 million gallons of water are used in the locks every time a ship passes through the canal. Billions and billions of gallons are needed every year.
Many had lost their life savings. For the families of the thousands of French and Caribbean workers who lay buried in the jungles of Panama, it was a sad tragedy. To de Lesseps, the failure must have seemed unbelievable. After a lifetime of victories in the face of overwhelming difficulties, surely this had not happened to him. Hadn’t he built the Suez Canal through the burning Egyptian desert when all the world had said “impossible”? Once he had been hailed as a hero and a genius. Now he was in
of the Library of Congress: p. 43 (middle right) Courtesy of the National Archives: p. 45 (top right) Fernando Rangel: pp: 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, 22-25, 27, 29, 30-31, 32, 35, 41, 44-45 46
called it the Camino Real (Royal Road), but it was really a muddy mule trail. They used it to transport gold that they had stolen from the Inca people of Peru. The gold was carried by ship from Peru to the Pacific end of the Camino Real. There it was loaded onto mules for the trip through the jungle to the Atlantic end of the trail, where other ships waited to carry it back to Spain. Traveling across the Isthmus would not only be shorter, it would be safer than sailing through the notoriously