And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind: A Natural History of Moving Air

by Bill Streever

A thrilling exploration of the science and history of wind from the bestselling author of Cold.

Scientist and bestselling nature writer Bill Streever goes to any extreme to explore wind--the winds that built empires, the storms that wreck them--by traveling right through it. Narrating from a fifty-year-old sailboat, Streever leads readers through the world's first forecasts, Chaos Theory, and a future affected by climate change. Along the way, he shares stories of wind-riding spiders, wind-sculpted landscapes, wind-generated power, wind-tossed airplanes, and the uncomfortable interactions between wind and wars, drawing from natural science, history, business, travel, as well as from his own travels.

AND SOON I HEARD A ROARING WIND is an effortless personal narrative featuring the keen observations, scientific rigor, and whimsy that readers love. You'll never see a breeze in the same light again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Nature, Travel, Natural History, Science Nature

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 26, 2016

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging and short enough. Not too much history or personality of the key figures... but not quite enough science either. I guess there's only so much one can say about the history of weather forecasting. The interposed chapters about his trip with his wife on a sailboat were, again, engaging.

But if I hadn't marked a bunch of passages with my bookdarts, I'd probably say the book is forgettable and therefore skippable. Still, there are some interesting bits:

"The cold front will induce rain out of the warm front, but it does not bring the rain with it."
...This is incredibly helpful, imo. Because whenever I hear the forecaster say 'bring' I interpret that the front's previous location also had the rain, which is not necessarily true!"

" dust pneumonia" from the Dust Bowl... not sure if I ever understood that particular consequence....

"Some ventifacts take on the appearance of a stone mushroom. Wind-lifted sand and gravel smash into the lower part of the mushroom, but the upper parts, above the fray, too high for the heaviest sand and gravel, remain relatively unmolested. The stem of the mushroom grows skinnier with every storm." I grew up in Wisconsin, where glaciers and running water formed most eroded landscape features. ... I lived a long time in the Great Basin desert, and now Streever has taught me something new about that geology.

"... The first animals to crawl out of the water did so to feed on detritus dropped by the wind." Lawrence W. Swan refuted the assumption that plants colonized land first.

re' chaos: "Small changes in initial conditions lead to large changes in the future, but not random changes. Not wild changes.... There was a pattern to the possible solutions, just as there are patterns to weather."

Though I am not necessarily recommending this, nor do I feel inclined to read more by the author, I do want to tell him thanks for the great title.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this as much as I hoped I would. I thought the title was a little misleading ... a more accurate subtitle would've been "A Natural History of Meteorology", or "A Natural History of Weather Forecasting". Or, even MORE accurate, "A Natural History of Weather Forecasting, But Actually 50% of This Book is the Author's Memoir-ish Retelling of Him and his Wife Sailing From Texas to Guatemala." The informative microhistory sections were interesting, but every time I'd start to get invested, there would be another detour into the author's sailing experience again. This is a book where less personal memoir stuff would've been an advantage.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

When I request an ARC of a book, I generally request books that I expect to like - typically in a genre that I am fond of, or an author that I enjoy reading. Occasionally, I go outside my typical reading box and request books that I know nothing about but for one reason or another appeal to me at the moment. Usually I don't have a clue as to what to expect from such books which is actually rather exciting. And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind was such a case.

Author Bill Streever has done more than write a fascinating history on wind and man's attempts to understand it, record it, and predict it. Streever has also written a memoir.

Streever writes about a sailing voyage he and his wife take, leaving Texas and heading to a port in Guatemala, sailing, then, through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Naturally, as a sailor - and one perhaps not as accomplished as you might hope for such a voyage - he expresses concerns about the weather he might face and the uncertainty of what lies ahead. This leads, quite smoothly, into his research on wind and wind-and-weather study and prediction.

Streever navigates his story and research as well as his sailboat on the sea, guiding us from one biographical anecdote to a story from history and back with ease.

I quite enjoyed this format, though there were times when I was learning things about the history of wind and weather prediction and didn't necessarily want to go back to hear more about his sea voyage. And vice versa. Either one could have made an interesting book in itself, though again, I rather enjoyed this concept.

However, I will remind the reader of this review that I had no expectations of the book going in. I didn't know if I was going to be reading a history of wind (prediction) or a memoir or even if it might be a book of fiction. You aren't disappointed if you have no expectations. However, I've looked at some of the reviews of others as I prepared to schedule this review and I see that some are disappointed, expecting a stronger focus on one subject. If I were doing research on "a natural history of moving air" then I might be disappointed, but as someone who simply likes to learn new things, and likes to be entertained by the written word, this was really a tremendously enjoyable book.

Any weekend sail-boater or anyone with an interest in nature/our natural world, should enjoy this book.

Looking for a good book? And Soon I Heard A Roaring Wind: A Natural History of Moving Air by Bill Streever is a clever combination of a sailing memoir used to prompt the history of wind and weather prediction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

When my seventh grader started studying aviation, weather, clouds, and astronomy, a history of moving air written during a sailing trip seemed like a fun family read aloud and homeschool science supplement. And it was fun! Streever, a clever biologist, armchair historian, and amateur sailor kept us entertained as well as informed through an adventure from Texas to Guatemala. Reminiscent of Tim Severin adventures, this is a great middle school bonus book, although at times unnecessarily wordy. We have included Streever's other books on our homeschool wishlist and future plans.

[Stephanie Salyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! My kids are learning about weather in science and this was funny and academic - perfect balance for my own science learning and reading. Some of it gets technical but he does and amazing job of explaining it.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would. It is probably mistitled as it is basically a history of meteorology with small vignettes about the author and his wife's first long sailing voyage from Texas to Guatemala. Even if you wouldn't think the history of wind and thus weather forecasting was interesting this book might surprise you. For such a small book it packaged a lot of information in just enough detail to get you to understand the topic without going to far into the weeds.

[Red Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even if you never thought that you would read a whole book about wind, give it a shot. Turns out the topic is pretty interesting and the story here, about a couple on their first sailing trip, well told.

[K De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Streever's "And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind" book about wind is a informative view of how humanity has come to a understanding of just what "wind" is. He explores the relationship of the physical understanding of wind though out history and the rise of weather forecasting. He alternates between his own personal experiences with helming a sail boat on the Caribbean and how wind has affected technology of navigating on sea, land and air. It is interesting that there is a "rivalry" between weather forecasting and climate change for money. The book is well worth reading to gain a introduction into the physics, economics, and history of the thing we call "wind".

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally enjoyed this book and its accounts of the evolution of meteorology as a science. The fits and starts in the field's history were sometimes quite fascinating, particularly the theorists who were ahead of their time and outside the standard scientific disciplines. I also appreciated some of Streever's interludes about sailing, but at times they seemed to distract from the flow of the book; it was hard to tell whether he was writing more about his own sailing adventures or about an overall grasp of the behavior of wind that anyone could understand.

[Cheryl Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about the history of meteorology, and I also enjoyed learning about sailing. The book wasn't as engaging as I'd hoped, however. While the framing story of the author's journey from Galveston to Guatemala as a novice sailor had some exciting moments, there wasn't a lot of personality in it. Not that it was devoid of personality; there just wasn't enough human interest for me, perhaps. The history sections also played down the human interest, which left them less engaging for me. Still, a very accessible book about a subject that has great interest for me.

[James Easterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd been more patient with the early part of this book but toward the latter part in became more interested when he discussed the later history and issues involved in forecasting, specifically the chaos theory and determinist chaos which is an interest of mine and also the reason those forecasts are so often off. (Not the meteorologist's fault.) And of course I always love to read about sailing.

[Brian Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent description of the history of weather forecasting and the scientists who advanced it. The theories about how to forecast and the background, methods and results of forecasters were described very well. The period covered is approx. 1830 - 2014. The author's sailing from Texas to Central America is interspersed with the history. The addition of the author's experience with wind power to the history is a little uneven in how well it helps understand weather forecasting.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

a review of the history of meteorology, interspersed with a travelogue by an amateur sailor/professor.I don't have enough of a background to have appreciated more of the science ( and math) but would have liked to hear more about the lives of the different meteorology figures presented.

[Ravi Mikkelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting weaving of autobiographical tale of the author sailing from Texas to the Yucatan peninsula and beyond and a history of weather forecasting and the harnessing of the wind for locomotion and energy generation.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An historical account of how our understanding of wheather and climate have developed over time mixed with a personal account of sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. I gained a greater understanding of how valuable understanding wheather and the climate is.

[Luci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting weather forecasting history here but large sections were dry as dust.
The author keeps hopping back to his sailboat trip, trying to inject some interesting human
interest, but it didn't work. Somewhat informative book but not very entertaining.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthwhile book, mostly a history of weather forecasting, with lengthy interludes about his sailing voyage from Texas to Central America, working the wind angle in. I skipped over parts but overall, I learned a little history. So it was worthwhile.

[James M · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed the last part of the book more than the first part, especially the chapter on chaos. The author goes back and forth often between his adventure and history of weather predicting but it works. I am glad I read it but it was not an easy read. The cover was beautiful.

[Cheryl Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to understand why weather forecasting is so hard. A bit of history, a bit of science and a bit of current reality of sailing made for a good read.

[Jim Corson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read on the history of moving area and the efforts of people to understand and to predict it.
A good read

[Nancy Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating overview of the science behind one aspect of understanding weather systems

[Mirjam Bos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very okay ;). I like how the writer changes from explaining weather forecasting in the past to experiences on his sailboat. However, the second part took me ages to finish and was quite boring...

[Andrew Rangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great adventure that provides insight into meteorology, but lacks a decisive conclusion or theory

[Cait]

I wanted to like this so much, but I was so resentful of the author talking about his life on a sail boat in the Caribbean I had to stop reading.

[James Aura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much science as I expected but overall enjoyable.
The shipboard adventures got a bit tedious after awhile.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over my head with the science, but I still found the history intriguing and kept with it all the way through.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read Streever's Cold or Heat. I'm thinking maybe I should. I liked this one well enough.

Streever uses a sailing trip that he and his wife make across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean from Texas to Guatemala to talk about wind. It's a really handy device. He considers wind mostly in relation to weather prediction and forecasting and how that science developed over time. It's quite good without being too technical, and moves from the early days of using telegraphy to compile weather data to the latest development in chaos theory and how computers use it to try and predict what the winds will do.

People who know about sailing will especially like this, I think.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world's very first weather forecaster was Captain Robert Fitzroy, best remembered today as the captain of the Beagle during its two-year voyage in the early 1830's with Charles Darwin as the ship's naturalist. Two decades later, Fitzroy was put in charge of Britain's first-ever weather service in the wake of a great naval disaster during the Crimean war in the 1854. The disaster was caused by a sudden storm in the Black Sea which sank several of the greatest ships of the British, French and Turkish navies, part of the force that was besieging the Russians in Crimea. The British decided that they had had quite enough of that sort of calamity, and were determined to figure out how to predict such storms before they occurred.

It then took several years of collecting and publishing weather data -- backwards looking, not forward -- before Fitzroy and his team ventured to publish the world's first-ever formal weather forecast in the London Times in 1861. It's not clear how accurate it was, but in general the quality of the forecasts was not great. The resulting wave of public criticism eventually drove Fitzroy to such despair that he cut his own throat. And so died the world's first weatherman.

Fast forward 150 years or so, and the profession of meteorology has advanced enormously, to the point that weather forecasts out to 10 days or so are now pretty accurate, and weathermen no longer feel compelled to commit suicide. It's the story of the advances in the state of the art of forecasting that is the central theme of this book. Very cleverly, however, author Bill Streever weaves this scientific story into an account of a nearly two-month sailing trip that he and his fellow biologist wife undertook from Galveston, Texas to Florida and then across the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of the Yucatan and eventually south to Guatemala. They were both novice sailors, sailing a 40-year-old ketch called the Rocinante. The trip was no mean feat for two people new to the game, sailing across seas that are known for hurricanes, and with long stretches far out of sight of land. Although they didn't run into hurricanes, they did have to deal with a couple of nasty storms. Streever and his wife are obviously not faint-hearted folks.

Telling the story of wind and weather using these twin strands of scientific history and of sailing adventure makes for a very compelling read. What better way to stay interested in understanding weather than seeing how that understanding plays out in surviving a real ocean voyage? It's very well done, and if you're at all interested in weather and sailing, you'll probably love this book.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved Bill Streever's previous books, "Cold" and "Heat." I loved this one, too, but was also seriously disappointed by either the author's laziness or the publisher's cheapness (I suspect the latter.). This subject demands maps, charts and illustrations to truly illuminate the reader about, say, the Coriolis effect, the butterfly patters of chaotic sequences in weather simulations, etc. Most seriously, so much of the book was about the voyage of the author and his co-captain (spouse) from Texas to Guatemala in a small sailboat, and yet lacks even a map of the voyage, annotated to illustrate the (teaching) moments emphasized in the text. The illustrations that were in the text were mostly dull, and were taken from Wikipedia(!), for God's sake. If I had paid for this book, rather than checking it out of the library, I would have been seriously pissed at the rip-off. Nevertheless, there is a lot to learn from this book, and wonderful prose to enjoy, but check it out of the library.

[Alaska · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read Heat and Cold and now the book on the wind and weather forecasting. Since I live nearby to the Gulf of Alaska, wind and weather is a part of our lives. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned more about the science of weather forecasting. I wasn't exactly crazy about sail boats but I can see the connections between wind, sails and weather.