Earthquakes, famines, tidal waves. In the 18th century, these were known as "dreadful visitations," and people's responses to them were remarkably similar to today, according to a new book edited by a UC Davis English professor. "People generally think of disasters as freak events not likely to affect them. They're optimistic about their chances of getting by, or missing the big one," says Alessa Johns, who edited "Dreadful Visitations: Confronting Natural Catastrophe in the Age of Enlightenment," published this fall by Routledge. Hard to tell which era Johns is speaking of? Consider this passage from her book: "The people of Noto, Italy, eventually returned to erecting unsafe structures despite their experience of repeated earthquakes and a knowledge of architectural theories explaining safer building methods... They at first built squat structures following the earthquake of 1693, only to succumb over the years to constructing edifices higher and closer together... erecting domes and towers." A sharp contrast to today, however, is the role religion played in people's interpretations of natural disasters, Johns says. "In the 18th century, people repeatedly heard sermons about the messages of these disasters, and how their behavior needed amending. Today, I think, the messages people read are not religious. Far fewer people interpret them that way." The book includes essays from two other UC Davis scholars: Charles Walker, a history professor, who discusses earthquakes in South America, and Alan Taylor, also a history professor, who writes about famine on the American frontier in 1789.