Americans call Niagara Falls a natural wonder, but the Falls aren't very natural anymore. Water diverted, riverbed reshaped, landscape redesigned, stabilized and flanked with cheap thrills, the Falls are more a monument to man's meddling than to nature's strength. Seamlessly weaving together science, history, aesthetics, and personal narrative, Inventing Niagara traces the path of America's best-loved natural wonder from sublime icon to engineering marvel to camp spectacle. This illustrated lecture is based upon the new book, Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies (Knopf, 2008) which is a history of more than just the Falls, as it traces the course of natural wonder in America, illuminating what the Falls have to tell us about our history, our environment, and ourselves.