Johan Goudsblom was one of the first NIAS fellows in 1971/72 and he returned to NIAS in 1983/84 where he worked on his book, Fire and Civilization.
Johan wanted to write ‘a cool book about fire’, and this book explores the dual functionality of fire; as a civilizing element- from cooking, heating, lighting and setting off the Industrial Revolution, and fire as a source of fear, of punishment, destruction, arson, war and death,
He concludes the book with a psychological analysis of arsonists and the symbolic use of fire in public demonstrations and riots, thus weaving a rich tapestry of the meaning and use of fire as more than a civilizing process.