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Weather: An Illustrated History: From Cloud Atlases to Climate Change
From an award–winning journalist, a “beautifully illustrated” book describing “the most pivotal moments . . . in the climate’s rich . . . 4.5 billion-year history.” (The Washington Post)Colorful and captivating, An Illustrated History hopscotches through 100 meteorological milestones and insights, from prehistory to today’s headlines and tomorrow’s forecasts. Bite-sized narratives, accompanied by exciting illustrations, touch on such varied topics as Earth’s first atmosphere, the physics of rainbows, the deadliest hailstorm, Groundhog Day, the invention of air conditioning, London’s Great Smog, the Year Without Summer, our increasingly strong hurricanes, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. A groundbreaking work by prominent environmental journalist and author Andrew Revkin, An Illustrated History presents an intriguing history of humanity’s evolving relationship with Earth’s dynamic climate system and the wondrous weather it generates. “FINALLY, someone has done something about the weather. Andrew Revkin and Lisa Mechaley have given us a startlingly fascinating book about how weather got the way it is, and how we’ve reacted to it, used it, and even helped shape it. There are a hundred captivating stories in this book that are as enlightening as they are fun. Reading them is like seeing the clouds part and the sun come out.” —Alan Alda, longtime host of Scientific American Frontiers and a founder of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University ”Informative, addictively readable . . . Highly recommended.” —Nathaniel Philbrick, National Book Award winner for In the Heart of the The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex ”A gift of a book—at once fascinating, informative, and surprising.” —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 20, 2018
23 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 20, 2021
I saw the author give a book talk on 6-20-18, bought a copy, and got him to sign it. We were early, expecting bad traffic and a bigger crowd. Finding neither, I had a nice chat with Revkin. He's a little grayer than his old NY Times photo. A pleasant guy, knowledgeable, a little nerdy, fair-minded. In front of his (smallish) Bay area audience, he adjusted to comments and became a bit harder-edged, but avoiding doctrinaire silliness. Such as, it's impossible to run our technical civilization on windmills and roof-top solar, as the radical Greens might prefer. Especially in California!
His book starts out at the dawn of Earth history, maybe 4.3 billion years ago, the first time geologists think the planet had liquid water, an atmosphere, and weather. There are rocks with fossil imprints of raindrops in 2.7 billion-year-old rocks in South Africa, and he has the photo to prove it, with a meercat posed among the ancient raindrops! Revkin wisely turned over the early geologic history pages to geologist-colleague Howard Lee, http://ylape.com/
Anyway, it's a nice book, and I'm pleased with my purchase, even if much of it is old-hat to me. Beautifully-illustrated, well designed, solid binding: a book the author & publisher can be proud of. The format is a page of text on a weather topic, 100 in all, opposite a full page color photo. I doubt I'd have bought it except that I was at his book-signing, but WTH. Update 9/20/21: not sure I kept it.
Some stuff: the Great Flood of 1862 in California! After two decades of drought (sound familiar?), the winter of 1861-62 was a humdinger. Five FEET of rain fell in LA, and so much rain and snow in the Sierra that Lake San Joaquim filled the Central Valley for 300 miles, wall to wall, and up to 30 feet deep. Steamboats sailed on it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_F... Note that no human-caused Global Warming was needed.
These floods have happened in the past, and will happen again in the future, And they're not really predictable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARkStorm The USGS estimates up to $725 billion in losses (2000 dollars) in the next, in California alone. Which seems a low guess to me, here in 2021.
Well, I finally finished it! One hazard of owning a book: it gets pushed behind urgent reads of new library books, that I know won't renew. But this was a pleasant book to read a page or three at odd moments. One more page I'll pass along: Lightning! Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the Earth's most active thunderstorm spot, with around 300 storms a year, and up to 30 lightning flashes per minute! There's even a lightning-tourism business. And the longest measured lightning bolt (so far): almost 200 miles long (320 km), above Oklahoma, in 2007.
And the last page, "An end to the Ice Ages?", asks if human-caused warming might end the glaciers returning for the next 100,000 years -- and presents this as a negative! Now, in general the book was non-didactic on climate change, but think about this for a moment. 10,000 years ago, at the height of the last Ice Age, there was an ice sheet around 2 miles (3 km) thick over most of the northern hemisphere, including all of northern Europe, almost all of Canada, and well into the northern US. If human-caused warming keeps this from happening again, which is a respectable scientific theory, that sounds like something to encourage. Even if we have to build some sea-walls, or even abandon some low-lying settled areas....
His book starts out at the dawn of Earth history, maybe 4.3 billion years ago, the first time geologists think the planet had liquid water, an atmosphere, and weather. There are rocks with fossil imprints of raindrops in 2.7 billion-year-old rocks in South Africa, and he has the photo to prove it, with a meercat posed among the ancient raindrops! Revkin wisely turned over the early geologic history pages to geologist-colleague Howard Lee, http://ylape.com/
Anyway, it's a nice book, and I'm pleased with my purchase, even if much of it is old-hat to me. Beautifully-illustrated, well designed, solid binding: a book the author & publisher can be proud of. The format is a page of text on a weather topic, 100 in all, opposite a full page color photo. I doubt I'd have bought it except that I was at his book-signing, but WTH. Update 9/20/21: not sure I kept it.
Some stuff: the Great Flood of 1862 in California! After two decades of drought (sound familiar?), the winter of 1861-62 was a humdinger. Five FEET of rain fell in LA, and so much rain and snow in the Sierra that Lake San Joaquim filled the Central Valley for 300 miles, wall to wall, and up to 30 feet deep. Steamboats sailed on it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_F... Note that no human-caused Global Warming was needed.
These floods have happened in the past, and will happen again in the future, And they're not really predictable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARkStorm The USGS estimates up to $725 billion in losses (2000 dollars) in the next, in California alone. Which seems a low guess to me, here in 2021.
Well, I finally finished it! One hazard of owning a book: it gets pushed behind urgent reads of new library books, that I know won't renew. But this was a pleasant book to read a page or three at odd moments. One more page I'll pass along: Lightning! Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the Earth's most active thunderstorm spot, with around 300 storms a year, and up to 30 lightning flashes per minute! There's even a lightning-tourism business. And the longest measured lightning bolt (so far): almost 200 miles long (320 km), above Oklahoma, in 2007.
And the last page, "An end to the Ice Ages?", asks if human-caused warming might end the glaciers returning for the next 100,000 years -- and presents this as a negative! Now, in general the book was non-didactic on climate change, but think about this for a moment. 10,000 years ago, at the height of the last Ice Age, there was an ice sheet around 2 miles (3 km) thick over most of the northern hemisphere, including all of northern Europe, almost all of Canada, and well into the northern US. If human-caused warming keeps this from happening again, which is a respectable scientific theory, that sounds like something to encourage. Even if we have to build some sea-walls, or even abandon some low-lying settled areas....
May 28, 2018
I had my library get this book for me because I heard an interview with the author on PBS. For the snippets I heard of the interview, I thought this would be an interesting book. It is!
The book covers the earth's climate over its 4.6 billion year history. It gets through the first big chunk, (4.6 billion years to that degree of accuracy) in the first 23 pages. Mr. Revkin begins discussing the more or less human written history at 9,700 BCE. It is at this time that mankind begins making a mark on the earth.
It took me a lot longer to read the book Weather: An Illustrated History:... than I thought it would, as it is only about 30,000 words long. However, it is enormously interesting that I found myself going to my smart companion (smartphone) to further research some of the points in the book.
I was dismayed that climate science was slowed, to some extent, by the prejudice against women. In 1856 a presentation of research done by Eunice Foote had to be offered to a conference by a surrogate, a man. I'm sure there are other examples in and out of this book. How about a simple invention? The windshield wiper, invented by Mary Anderson in 1903. Trolley cars suffered from dirty windshields since the mid-1850s, yet is too a casual female rider one ride to figure out a solution.
Much of the book speaks to the impact of CO2 on climate. While it does not preach the "if not now, when sermon" the idea is definitely there, but how could it not be?
I think this is an excellent easy reading book about our climate. It is an important subject as the climate, like many other things, control our lives for good or evil.
The book covers the earth's climate over its 4.6 billion year history. It gets through the first big chunk, (4.6 billion years to that degree of accuracy) in the first 23 pages. Mr. Revkin begins discussing the more or less human written history at 9,700 BCE. It is at this time that mankind begins making a mark on the earth.
It took me a lot longer to read the book Weather: An Illustrated History:... than I thought it would, as it is only about 30,000 words long. However, it is enormously interesting that I found myself going to my smart companion (smartphone) to further research some of the points in the book.
I was dismayed that climate science was slowed, to some extent, by the prejudice against women. In 1856 a presentation of research done by Eunice Foote had to be offered to a conference by a surrogate, a man. I'm sure there are other examples in and out of this book. How about a simple invention? The windshield wiper, invented by Mary Anderson in 1903. Trolley cars suffered from dirty windshields since the mid-1850s, yet is too a casual female rider one ride to figure out a solution.
Much of the book speaks to the impact of CO2 on climate. While it does not preach the "if not now, when sermon" the idea is definitely there, but how could it not be?
I think this is an excellent easy reading book about our climate. It is an important subject as the climate, like many other things, control our lives for good or evil.
June 15, 2020
A great synopsis of various weather events from the start right up to 2017 and a projection for a million years in the future.
Key ideas and terminology are covered and a guide to further readings on the subject.
Great read
Key ideas and terminology are covered and a guide to further readings on the subject.
Great read
June 7, 2022
3 1/2 stars
A kind of low quality effort book on a fascinating topic
For a book that has "illustrated" in the name, I was expecting pictures, of course, but they were quite low resolution for the print copy I bought. The articles were also very brief (like a couple of paragraphs) on topics that I think should have been expanded upon in much greater detail for a book. If this was a magazine, then those short articles maybe would have been fine, but this is a book. Or perhaps, it is supposed to be more like a coffee table book? If that's the case, then it's fine, but the detail and effort seemed a bit paltry, nonetheless. (That being said, I might check out some of the guest authors' books.)
A kind of low quality effort book on a fascinating topic
For a book that has "illustrated" in the name, I was expecting pictures, of course, but they were quite low resolution for the print copy I bought. The articles were also very brief (like a couple of paragraphs) on topics that I think should have been expanded upon in much greater detail for a book. If this was a magazine, then those short articles maybe would have been fine, but this is a book. Or perhaps, it is supposed to be more like a coffee table book? If that's the case, then it's fine, but the detail and effort seemed a bit paltry, nonetheless. (That being said, I might check out some of the guest authors' books.)
December 13, 2019
This was a nice summary history for the layman weather-geek. Revkin chose 100 events to portray the effects of weather and our growing understanding of it, beginning with Earth Gets an Atmosphere (4.567 billion years ago) and ending with An End to Ice Ages (102,018 CE). Each event is covered with a one page description and is accompanied by a illustration or image. It is an easy read, but still contains a good deal of detail, science and history. I would recommend it more for the science-oriented teenager, but it is also worthwhile for interested adults.
June 4, 2018
Fascinating shit. Some things I wish went into a bit more detail like the use of weather warfare during the Vietnam War but I still learned some things. New mission in life is to see watermelon snow.
April 10, 2021
Besides mentioning scientific milestones in weather history, it also touches some social events like Vivaldi composting Four Seasons, something you wouldn't consider related to meteorology. The illustrations are not necessarily explanatory, rather artistic, in a good way. It is a pleasant read.
August 25, 2023
What a perfectly scientific coffee table book. It’s a good little read with historical events ranging from the BC E to now, to even a hypothetical future. The book is filled with facts, historical events, and index, sources for its material, and even references.
Goes on to talk about humans place in the world and how they are altering it, with acid being found in the atmosphere to cloud coverage from nukes. It talks about how climate change has been documented since the 80s and has become a political stance against people with “different viewpoints”. That really only begins to take shape at the end with evidence surmounting about storms getting heavier and data with detailed accounts accumulating. The book does defend both sides by saying they do have evidence to the contrary but mostly uses the shrinking of the ice to the greenhouse gases caused by humans.
I never understood the debate that global warming doesn’t exist. Is the debate that humans don’t cause it? Is the debate to keep humans going forward with pollution? Do you just want coal factories to continue what they’re doing? Fracking to cause earthquakes and poison underground water? This book doesn’t take sides and it certainly isn’t as depressing to read like certain books about plastic in the ocean or animals going extinct due to humans encroaching on their territory. It’s not a book telling you all the bad things humans have done, its a book about history with a mild warning.
The beginning is mostly interspaced with interesting tidbits that everyone should be aware of, like the dust bowl or how the Sahara desert impacts the Amazon rainforest. It also has a few neat photographs and stories, like when the first tornado was photographed and when umbrellas came into fashion.
I think there is a consensus that it could’ve been more detailed but for what you get it’s pretty informative. It’s a shame this book is already out of date the moment it’s printed given California’s new Hurricane (every 100 years or so), Japan’s record flooding, Global temperature breaking its own record, global wind shifts, etc.
I learned about watermelon snow, which is caused by algae releasing a red pigment, and I learned about lightning in the sky that shoots upward aka sprites.
A good book for a classroom or just in general if you wanna brush up on some history.
Goes on to talk about humans place in the world and how they are altering it, with acid being found in the atmosphere to cloud coverage from nukes. It talks about how climate change has been documented since the 80s and has become a political stance against people with “different viewpoints”. That really only begins to take shape at the end with evidence surmounting about storms getting heavier and data with detailed accounts accumulating. The book does defend both sides by saying they do have evidence to the contrary but mostly uses the shrinking of the ice to the greenhouse gases caused by humans.
I never understood the debate that global warming doesn’t exist. Is the debate that humans don’t cause it? Is the debate to keep humans going forward with pollution? Do you just want coal factories to continue what they’re doing? Fracking to cause earthquakes and poison underground water? This book doesn’t take sides and it certainly isn’t as depressing to read like certain books about plastic in the ocean or animals going extinct due to humans encroaching on their territory. It’s not a book telling you all the bad things humans have done, its a book about history with a mild warning.
The beginning is mostly interspaced with interesting tidbits that everyone should be aware of, like the dust bowl or how the Sahara desert impacts the Amazon rainforest. It also has a few neat photographs and stories, like when the first tornado was photographed and when umbrellas came into fashion.
I think there is a consensus that it could’ve been more detailed but for what you get it’s pretty informative. It’s a shame this book is already out of date the moment it’s printed given California’s new Hurricane (every 100 years or so), Japan’s record flooding, Global temperature breaking its own record, global wind shifts, etc.
I learned about watermelon snow, which is caused by algae releasing a red pigment, and I learned about lightning in the sky that shoots upward aka sprites.
A good book for a classroom or just in general if you wanna brush up on some history.
December 17, 2024
Who would have thought a book about weather could be so entertaining? Husband and wife authors Revkin and Mechaley serve up bite-sized articles about weather science, weather events, and weather news from 4.567 Billion BCE into the distant future. Without dipping in a pandering style that feels dumbed-down, the information is delivered in a way that even a complete weather novice like me can (mostly) understand. One way I can tell a book truly interests me is that it makes me want to take a deeper dive into the subject, and that is the case here.
January 26, 2019
Another one from the New Releases shelf at my local library. I thoroughly enjoyed this history book. All 4.567 Billion BCE: Earth Gets an Atmosphere through 102,018 CE: An End to Ice Ages? of it. Including the pictures! An engaging format, that's far too interesting to categorize as a textbook -even if I DID learn a lot. #following the author, Andrew Revkin, and will likely read at least one of his other works, "The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World."
July 3, 2018
I recommend it for the few amazing and unknown to me details hidden between the covers. You'll have to read it to know what I mean ;) otherwise the format does not allow for enough in-depth explanation of weather and climate phenomena.
November 17, 2019
A weather book that takes you through the history of weather forecasts. This vibrant pictures could contribute an interesting aspect to my climate change picture book but does not provide the volume of factual information that I need to create a picture book. Overall, however, an interesting read
May 4, 2021
A very informative timeline on the history of meteorology starting with Ancient Greece up to the present day. Maybe not detailed and covering a lot of science in depth yet perfect to grab if need a quick guide on what you could then further study in more detail. Nicely illustrated.
November 15, 2018
3.5 stars
Interesting, yet I couldn't help but skip past some of the 'oh wow look at this cool storm/disaster' milestones. Get back to the science.
Interesting, yet I couldn't help but skip past some of the 'oh wow look at this cool storm/disaster' milestones. Get back to the science.
November 17, 2021
Great illustrations, articles organized and insightful.
December 4, 2022
Variable
July 2, 2023
Marvelous work !!
June 8, 2024
A fun read - tracing our knowledge of weather and the environment
October 31, 2025
A fun book, esp for weather enthusiasts, but examples are a bit more concentrated within US.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews