The Desert Experience in Israel

Book excerpt: The Desert Experience in Israel shares the responses of settlers, artists, poets, scientists, and educators who lived near the Blaustein Institute in the Negev Desert of Israel as they answer the question, 'What difference has living in the desert year round made in your work?' The book begins with a reprint of David Ben-Gurion's call for settlement and science in the desert. This is followed by an account of life in early kibbutzim, a discussion of the meaning of the term 'desert,' accounts of religion in the desert, and the relationship of the desert experience to art, theatre, literature, poetry, sculpture, and the use of color categories by the Bedouin. Accounts of research on solar energy, fossil fuel, water, microalgae, runoff agriculture, fish, and architecture are followed by desert-related activities in the high school, field school, and research institute.