"It has become common in scientific as well as popular literature to consider floods as great natural adversaries which man seeks persistently to overpower. . . . This simple and prevailing view neglects in large measure the possible feasibility of other forms of adjustment."

"Floods are 'acts of God,' but flood losses are largely acts of man."

"Dealing with floods in all their capricious and violent aspects is a problem in part of adjusting human occupance to the floodplain environment so as to utilize most effectively the natural resources of the plain, and, at the same time, of applying feasible and practicable measures for minimizing the detrimental impacts of floods."

1945. Human Adjustment to Floods. University of Chicago Department of Geography Research Paper No. 29. Chicago: University of Chicago Department of Geography.

Gilbert White