18 miles : the epic drama of our atmosphere and its weather
by Dewdney, Christopher, 1951- (Author)
Summary
From the bestselling author of Acquainted with the Night comes a brilliant and witty look at our favourite topic - weather. We live at the bottom of an ocean of air - 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth's atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly th... Full description
Summary: |
From the bestselling author of Acquainted with the Night comes a brilliant and witty look at our favourite topic - weather. We live at the bottom of an ocean of air - 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth's atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer - 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm - at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Chris Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate. Dewdney details the history of weather forecasting and introduces us to the eccentric and determined pioneers of science and observation whose efforts gave us the understanding of weather we have today. 18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey that uncovers our obsession with the atmosphere and weather - as both evocative metaphor and physical reality. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, Dewdney entertains as he gives readers a long overdue look at the very air we breathe. |
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Physical Description: |
263 pages : illustration ; 22 cm |
Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-248) and index. |
ISBN: |
9781770413467 1770413464 |
Author Notes: |
Dewdney currently teaches creative writing at Calumet College at York University and serves as an Academic Advisor. He has won first prize in the CBC Literary Competition for poetry and is currently a contributing media panelist on TVOntario's Studio 2. (Bowker Author Biography) |