Showing results for "san francisco" in Science & Engineering

Early in the morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the San Francisco area was shaken by a massive earthquake. Over the course of the next four days, fires spread through large swaths of the city, started by broken gas lines, fallen electrical wiring, and damaged chimneys. Broken water mains prevented the fire department from effectively battling the blazes. By the time the fires were finally extinguished on the afternoon of Saturday, April 21, nearly 3000 people were dead and 500 city blocks destroyed. Before the year was over, the Edward Hilton Company of San Francisco had collected and ...

For most San Franciscans, April 18, 1906 started at 5:12 a.m. with 65 seconds of violent quaking followed by a relentless, raging fire that left 98% of the structures in the most populated part of the city in ruins. However, while everyone felt the earthquake equally, they did not all suffer to the same degree. In Saving San Francisco, Andrea Rees Davies, a former firefighter, tells a new story of the 1906 catastrophe. Saving San Francisco challenges the long-lived myth that the fire brought out altruism and leveled class distinctions among residents.

Few cities are so dramatically identified with their environment as San Francisco—the landscape of hills, the expansive bay, the engulfing fog, and even the deadly fault line shifting below. Yet most residents think of the city itself as separate from the natural environment on which it depends. In Our Better Nature, Philip J. Dreyfus recounts the history of San Francisco from Indian village to world-class metropolis, focusing on the interactions between the city and the land and on the generations of people who have transformed them both.

Meet the people whose ideas are shaping the future. Presented by Swissnex in San Francisco, nextcasts is a platform to share conversations with researchers, artists, and entrepreneurs shaping our world.

On April 18, 1906, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook the San Francisco region, igniting fires that burned half the city. The disaster in all its elements - earthquake, fires, and recovery - profoundly disrupted the urban order and challenged San Francisco's perceived permanence. The crisis temporarily broke down spatial divisions of class and race and highlighted the contested terrain of urban nature in an era of widespread class conflict, simmering ethnic tensions, and controversial reform efforts.

The first indication of the prolonged terror that followed the 1906 earthquake occurred when a ship steaming off San Francisco's Golden Gate "seemed to jump clear out of the water." This gripping account of the earthquake, the devastating firestorms that followed, and the city's subsequent reconstruction vividly shows how, after the shaking stopped, humans, not the forces of nature, nearly destroyed San Francisco in a remarkable display of simple ineptitude and power politics.

Inside these sections are anecdotes from years of experience behind the wheel as a transit operator - which can lead to stable paychecks without suffering a merger, buyout, and having to start all over again with gaps of income between jobs. Take this precious time of peace and quiet and light traffic to reflect on what works, and why being a driver might be a good fresh start with good benefits and stable hours.

Today's car number is 5481. I get a new car every day, and I can hold up to 50 people at once! I get to take you where you want to go, and I get paid to do it. I don't have to worry about parking, because it is free. I don't have to pay for gas, because this car uses free city hydroelectric power. I have a camera to send a bill to someone blocking my parking space. I am kind of like the ultimate in ride share, without any carbon emission.

There is much to know about being a bus driver. It takes about 35 days to train a new employee. But as Doug points out, some skills come through experience that takes years to develop. This "guidebook" or "rule book" contains material needed to choose your style on how to pay at the fare box and where to stand while waiting for the bus. Plus a philosophy on how to maintain dignity and peace when the going gets tough.