Experimenting on a Small Planet: A Scholarly Entertainment

by William W. Hay

This book is a thorough introduction to climate science and global change. The author is a geologist who has spent much of his life investigating the climate of Earth from a time when it was warm and dinosaurs roamed the land, to today's changing climate. Bill Hay takes you on a journey to understand how the climate system works. He explores how humans are unintentionally conducting a grand uncontrolled experiment which is leading to unanticipated changes. We follow the twisting path of seemingly unrelated discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and even mathematics to learn how they led to our present knowledge of how our planet works. He explains why the weather is becoming increasingly chaotic as our planet warms at a rate far faster than at any time in its geologic past. He speculates on possible future outcomes, and suggests that nature itself may make some unexpected course corrections. Although the book is written for the layman with little knowledge of science or mathematics, it includes information from many diverse fields to provide even those actively working in the field of climatology with a broader view of this developing drama. Experimenting on a Small Planet is a must read for anyone having more than a casual interest in global warming and climate change - one of the most important and challenging issues of our time.

Genres: Science

983 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 2012

Reviews

[Nadvornix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholarly Entertainment (subtitle of the previous edition) is well fitting. Broad introduction to climate and earth science. Opinionated. With history of subject. A lot of typos. With personality. Sometime a bit too slow for me.

[Alastair B.]

A great book! Covers both Geology and Global Warming in a readable fashion.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Hay is a geologist who has had an interesting career. He also must be an excellent lecturer in the classroom. Experimenting on a Small Planet is a mix of intellectual autobiography and an excellent introduction to the topic of climate science. Starting from scratch Hay uses the basic sciences to explore the topic of how scientists study the climate (both past, present, and future). This is a thick book, but it will pay huge dividends with careful reading, and there is not a dull page in the book! I recommend this book for anyone interested in the sciences, especially those young students considering a career in the sciences, and any undergrad or graduate students looking for a good review of the basics.

[John Swindells · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entire year-long college course could be taught from this book. It is so full of facts, history and assessments that a single reading is not enough. I intend to start through it again immediately. Even I consider myself fairly well educated in science, I learned a great deal I did not know before about how we learned what we know. I learned a great deal more about how the climate works and what is happening to it. That anthropogenic inputs are altering the climate in ways unfavorable to humanity is uncontestable. The USA remains the only country not accepting the science and unwilling to do anything about it. The future does not look attractive for humans.

[Mills College Library]

551.6 H4134 2016