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Heaven's Breath: A Natural History of the Wind
Wind is everywhere and nowhere. Wind is the circulatory system of the earth, and its nervous system, too. Energy and information flow through it. It brings warmth and water, enriches and strips away the soil, aerates the globe. Wind shapes the lives of animals, humans among them. Trade follows the path of the wind, as empire also does. Wind made the difference in wars between the Greeks and Persians, the Mongols and the Japanese. Wind helped to destroy the Spanish Armada. And wind is no less determining of our inner lives: the föhn, mistral, sirocco, Santa Ana, and other “ill winds” of the world are correlated with disease, suicide, and even murder.
Heaven’s Breath is an encyclopedic and enchanting book that opens dazzling new perspectives on history, nature, and humanity.
Heaven’s Breath is an encyclopedic and enchanting book that opens dazzling new perspectives on history, nature, and humanity.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
125 people are currently reading
1278 people want to read
About the author
Lyall Watson
88 books101 followersLyall Watson was a South African botanist, zoologist, biologist, anthropologist, ethologist, and author of many new age books, among the most popular of which is the best seller Supernature. Lyall Watson tried to make sense of natural and supernatural phenomena in biological terms. He is credited with the first published use of the term "hundredth monkey" in his 1979 book, Lifetide. It is a hypothesis that aroused both interest and ire in the scientific community and continues to be a topic of discussion over a quarter century later.
He was born in Johannesburg as Malcolm Lyall-Watson. He had an early fascination for nature in the surrounding bush, learning from Zulu and !Kung bushmen. Watson attended boarding school at Rondebosch Boys' High School in Cape Town, completing his studies in 1955. He enrolled at Witwatersrand University in 1956, where he earned degrees in botany and zoology, before securing an apprenticeship in palaentology under Raymond Dart, leading on to anthropological studies in Germany and the Netherlands. Later he earned degrees in geology, chemistry, marine biology, ecology and anthropology. He completed a doctorate of ethology at the University of London, under Desmond Morris. He also worked at the BBC writing and producing nature documentaries.
Around this time he shortened his name to Lyall Watson. He served as director of the Johannesburg Zoo, an expedition leader to various locales, and Seychelles commissioner for the International Whaling Commission.
In the late 1980s he presented Channel 4's coverage of sumo tournaments.
Lyall Watson began writing his first book, Omnivore during the early 1960s while under the supervision of Desmond Morris, and wrote more than 20 others.
He was born in Johannesburg as Malcolm Lyall-Watson. He had an early fascination for nature in the surrounding bush, learning from Zulu and !Kung bushmen. Watson attended boarding school at Rondebosch Boys' High School in Cape Town, completing his studies in 1955. He enrolled at Witwatersrand University in 1956, where he earned degrees in botany and zoology, before securing an apprenticeship in palaentology under Raymond Dart, leading on to anthropological studies in Germany and the Netherlands. Later he earned degrees in geology, chemistry, marine biology, ecology and anthropology. He completed a doctorate of ethology at the University of London, under Desmond Morris. He also worked at the BBC writing and producing nature documentaries.
Around this time he shortened his name to Lyall Watson. He served as director of the Johannesburg Zoo, an expedition leader to various locales, and Seychelles commissioner for the International Whaling Commission.
In the late 1980s he presented Channel 4's coverage of sumo tournaments.
Lyall Watson began writing his first book, Omnivore during the early 1960s while under the supervision of Desmond Morris, and wrote more than 20 others.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
September 25, 2019
Whooooosh.
This was brilliant . . . and exhausting. So much stuff. But in a good way.
I have to say I was forgetting the tutorials on hurricanes, typhoons, and tsunamis almost as soon as I finished reading about them. That's on me. But a lot stuck. I'll pass it along.
-- On a clear sunny day . . . beach sand gets too hot to walk on with bare feet, reaching temperatures as high as 60° Centigrade. The temperature of still air around the shoulders of someone sitting on the sand is much less, perhaps 40° Centigrade. And when such a sunbather stands up, their head moves to a layer that may be just 30° Centigrade. Within the space of less than two metres, from the soles of the feet to the top of the head of a single human being, the temperature can range can be 30° Centigrade.
You either get that or you don't.
It's the anecdotal wind stories I liked the best:
-- On November 24, 1944, one hundred and eleven B-29 bombers were sent from Saipan to hit industrial sites near Tokyo in the first high-altitude bombing mission of the Second World War. As the planes approached Honshu at 10,000 metres and turned into their run from west to east, they were suddenly swept forward by a 250 kilometre per hour gale that carried all but sixteen of their vast load of bombs harmlessly out to the sea.
-- Only six percent of all the rain that falls in Arizona originates in that state.
-- Of the fifty-three historical rulers whose titles include the designation of "the Great," forty nine held power at times when the climate of their countries was passing through a transitional cold phase.
-- There is in warmer climates, less incentive to curl up with a good book. . .
-- On a clear summer's day anywhere in the British countryside, you are likely to find yourself inhaling . . . at least sixty microscopic mushrooms with each mouthful of air. That makes some us healthier and some of us in danger.
-- Botanists working in the woods near Seattle have just discovered that willows and alders warn each other when they are being attacked by leaf-eating insects.
There's talk here, in 1984, about the dangers of climate change, and also about how the Santa Ana winds cause more homicides. You'd be surprised how much the wind plays with spiders. Or how fish (mostly fish) but also mudpuppies, shrimp, crabs, a plummeting clam (in Arizona), and dogs and toads (but mostly fish) fall from the sky.
Here, is a discussion about how the wind affected influenza outbreaks, how wind treats gender differently, and how Meteorology has come a long way since the days when wind speeds were assessed according to their ability to pluck feathers from a live chicken.
I learned too, that:
-- Incest is probably the only naturally dirty word.
-- Without air, there would be no sound.
-- There are no photographs of the wind.
The author covers artists and their treatments of wind. Conrad and Shakespeare get the most props but there is also this: Herman Melville came next and his personal experience at sea shows in equally rich descriptive detail, but it is at times so heavy in allegory that it is difficult to see the wind for the symbols.
Don't read this if spiders make you all heebidy-hobbedy. But maybe you need to know just what you are inhaling every time you open your mouth. That's here.
(In that spooky way that my reading exhibits itself, the author treats separately the wind in Trieste and a lot about the currents in the French Polynesia.)
I spent a long time on this book, and paused mid-stream. But I never didn't enjoy it. It informed and provoked. And the writing was superb.
Consider this. The last chapter, a kind of epilogue, begins this way:
A newborn child, mouth wide, reaches hungrily for air.
And, always.
This was brilliant . . . and exhausting. So much stuff. But in a good way.
I have to say I was forgetting the tutorials on hurricanes, typhoons, and tsunamis almost as soon as I finished reading about them. That's on me. But a lot stuck. I'll pass it along.
-- On a clear sunny day . . . beach sand gets too hot to walk on with bare feet, reaching temperatures as high as 60° Centigrade. The temperature of still air around the shoulders of someone sitting on the sand is much less, perhaps 40° Centigrade. And when such a sunbather stands up, their head moves to a layer that may be just 30° Centigrade. Within the space of less than two metres, from the soles of the feet to the top of the head of a single human being, the temperature can range can be 30° Centigrade.
You either get that or you don't.
It's the anecdotal wind stories I liked the best:
-- On November 24, 1944, one hundred and eleven B-29 bombers were sent from Saipan to hit industrial sites near Tokyo in the first high-altitude bombing mission of the Second World War. As the planes approached Honshu at 10,000 metres and turned into their run from west to east, they were suddenly swept forward by a 250 kilometre per hour gale that carried all but sixteen of their vast load of bombs harmlessly out to the sea.
-- Only six percent of all the rain that falls in Arizona originates in that state.
-- Of the fifty-three historical rulers whose titles include the designation of "the Great," forty nine held power at times when the climate of their countries was passing through a transitional cold phase.
-- There is in warmer climates, less incentive to curl up with a good book. . .
-- On a clear summer's day anywhere in the British countryside, you are likely to find yourself inhaling . . . at least sixty microscopic mushrooms with each mouthful of air. That makes some us healthier and some of us in danger.
-- Botanists working in the woods near Seattle have just discovered that willows and alders warn each other when they are being attacked by leaf-eating insects.
There's talk here, in 1984, about the dangers of climate change, and also about how the Santa Ana winds cause more homicides. You'd be surprised how much the wind plays with spiders. Or how fish (mostly fish) but also mudpuppies, shrimp, crabs, a plummeting clam (in Arizona), and dogs and toads (but mostly fish) fall from the sky.
Here, is a discussion about how the wind affected influenza outbreaks, how wind treats gender differently, and how Meteorology has come a long way since the days when wind speeds were assessed according to their ability to pluck feathers from a live chicken.
I learned too, that:
-- Incest is probably the only naturally dirty word.
-- Without air, there would be no sound.
-- There are no photographs of the wind.
The author covers artists and their treatments of wind. Conrad and Shakespeare get the most props but there is also this: Herman Melville came next and his personal experience at sea shows in equally rich descriptive detail, but it is at times so heavy in allegory that it is difficult to see the wind for the symbols.
Don't read this if spiders make you all heebidy-hobbedy. But maybe you need to know just what you are inhaling every time you open your mouth. That's here.
(In that spooky way that my reading exhibits itself, the author treats separately the wind in Trieste and a lot about the currents in the French Polynesia.)
I spent a long time on this book, and paused mid-stream. But I never didn't enjoy it. It informed and provoked. And the writing was superb.
Consider this. The last chapter, a kind of epilogue, begins this way:
A newborn child, mouth wide, reaches hungrily for air.
And, always.
April 5, 2022
Incredible. I learned so much about wind, and it's written in this fantastic style that's perfectly factual but poetically breathtaking.
June 11, 2015
Superb. Everything and anything anyone wanted to know about the wind.
August 18, 2020
Heaven's Breath is a kind of survey of just about every fact or idea associated with wind, from how man has tamed it for sailing ships or windmills to how birds use wind patterns in migration and plants use it to pollinate. Wind has also helped to determine history and shape human events as well as our physical landscape. Think of the Spanish Armada or how the dustbowl was created on the Great Plains during the 1930s. And wind is reflected in all of man's culture, particularly myth. Watson twice discusses the notion of the planet considered as an organism--called Gaia--maintaining equilibrium through atmospheric movement. The book conceivably covers everything known abut wind. The problem is that it's a cold compilation of facts piled onto other facts for 300+ pages. They often ran together for me. The ambition of including every aspect of wind leaves little room for developing interesting discussions of them. Its encyclopedic compilation of facts concerning wind is impressive but, in the end, leaves it reading like an encyclopedia. It's prose as dead as the doldrums.
October 15, 2019
briefly, everything (almost) you wanted to know about wind. have glossary, Bib, good index, no illustrations hah! what!?
March 20, 2016
I'm in a (minuscule, yes) minority here, but I found this book to be a tough slog.
The idea itself, a history of wind, like any attempt to treat in a historical narrative any number of inanimate objects (oil, salt, dildos), is fodder enough for a good read, but I just couldn't get into this one.
The early chapters which discuss the wind itself, its properties, its physics, its role on Earth, weather, hurricanes, tornadoes--these sections are great because we're given forthright discussion and exposition on what we were promised. It's the rest (and majority) of the book which suffers from what I'll call list-making. That is, Watson introduces a theme and then just lists things throughout history that refer to it, with very little of the earlier, welcome exposition. The work reads as a somewhat truncated narrative, too, for this reason, which is unfortunate since, as the early chapters show, there was great promise to the project.
The idea itself, a history of wind, like any attempt to treat in a historical narrative any number of inanimate objects (oil, salt, dildos), is fodder enough for a good read, but I just couldn't get into this one.
The early chapters which discuss the wind itself, its properties, its physics, its role on Earth, weather, hurricanes, tornadoes--these sections are great because we're given forthright discussion and exposition on what we were promised. It's the rest (and majority) of the book which suffers from what I'll call list-making. That is, Watson introduces a theme and then just lists things throughout history that refer to it, with very little of the earlier, welcome exposition. The work reads as a somewhat truncated narrative, too, for this reason, which is unfortunate since, as the early chapters show, there was great promise to the project.
August 16, 2019
I'm rounding up, in part because half way into this book I really wanted to read another one.
Watson's book is strange. You are either going to love it or hate it. The best way to look at it is as mediations on the wind. It isn't so much a natural history (or any type of history) but a collection of knowledge and musings.
The writing is beautiful.
Watson's book is strange. You are either going to love it or hate it. The best way to look at it is as mediations on the wind. It isn't so much a natural history (or any type of history) but a collection of knowledge and musings.
The writing is beautiful.
April 14, 2023
Well this book has been eyeing me sadly whilst I read all the other more interesting books on my pile!
I admittedly haven't finished it all so my review is based on what I've read so far.
Whilst the information is interesting, the book feels very dated (even though it was only written in the 1980's) in its style and format. There seems to be a fair bit of repetition also.
This is probably a title I'll keep hold of and maybe dip in and out of instead of trying to read cover to cover.
3 star average.
I admittedly haven't finished it all so my review is based on what I've read so far.
Whilst the information is interesting, the book feels very dated (even though it was only written in the 1980's) in its style and format. There seems to be a fair bit of repetition also.
This is probably a title I'll keep hold of and maybe dip in and out of instead of trying to read cover to cover.
3 star average.
March 21, 2021
This book just got better and better over time. And I became more and more comfortable with its style... meandering, humorous, with a bit of intellectual ASMR mind tingle from time to time. The history sections in the beginning were a bit much (dense) for me, but now that I've finished the book, I think I might return more patiently to them. I loved learning about wind myths, and especially wind biology... and how pond creatures can be transported by the wind! Amazing also how the wind accounts for so much plant life across the planet, wind being the most "successful" pollinator in a way. I also have newfound appreciation for the combination of wind and water... the two needing each other. Fish, birds, wind, water ... it's all interwingled. Also excited I finished the book on the spring equinox!
February 22, 2021
é um livro sobre VENTOS
como que este livro,,, sobre ventos,,,, consegue ser TÃO bom? só lendo pra saber
como que este livro,,, sobre ventos,,,, consegue ser TÃO bom? só lendo pra saber
April 14, 2009
Incredibly interesting book about a natural force we take for granted daily. For example: Observation of the behavior of children revealed... that the average number of fights per day doubled when wind speeds crossed the biological threshold above force 6. In one study of general blood vessel disorders, it was found that 50 percent of all myocardial infarctions and strokes occurred when wind was blowing at force 4 or 5 (15-25 miles per hour).
April 9, 2015
Brilliant, Beautiful, captivating, unmissable read but then again, I fell in love with the books of Lyall Watson when I was twelve years' old and stayed in love. I am now fifty-four and occasionally dip into my book bins just to pull out one of his books to fall in love again. What pleasure to read Lyall Watson.
March 19, 2020
This is a fascinating book, which draws on so many different understandings and encounters with wind. It becomes clear that wind is not easily defined or isolated to only the patterns of weather. This book was original published in 1984, so in some ways is offers a less urgent view of global warming. However, if there's a book which can illustrate the interdependence of weather, delicacy of climate, effects of human behavior and impacts thereof this is the book. I will also point out that, probably because of the publication date, there are certain issues related to cultural awareness and political correctness which will ring tone deaf to a 2020 reader. Overall this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.
March 30, 2023
Fun, philosophical look at wind and the weather. I'm guessing the science is significantly dated (climate change only gets a passing mention), but overall an interesting look at how nature affects us all both now and through the ages. A good spring read!
July 30, 2023
Next time you are kite, wave or wing-surfing you feel fully connected with nature after reading this magnificent book about wind. Amazing that this book was written in 1984 and is so actual.
August 25, 2019
August 2019 NYRB Book Club Selection
Another example of why I love being subscribed to this series, as this is not a book I would have ever thought to pick up for myself (for one, I tend to not read nonfiction, although this is beginning to change, and, for another, a book about wind isn't the most appealing sell) but since I paid the entry fee, I might as well get my money out of it. And I'm glad I did because this is a supremely interesting book, less of the natural history it subtitles itself as and more of a menagerie of interesting facts about the wind and all the forms it may take in human and environmental life, whether that be sections about space winds that had me thinking about science fiction possibilities, sections about windborne spiders that are simply fascinating, and a final section on strange windfalls (of fish, frogs, etc.) that may over-reach in its hypothesis but wherein Watson makes a convincing case for, if not divine intervention, a sort of symbiotic natural reaction based upon desire - you really have to read it for the full effect. Not sure if this is one I'll return to in full, but there are certainly sections that I'll read again someday, if only for the wholesale wonder at the natural world which they provoke in me. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
Another example of why I love being subscribed to this series, as this is not a book I would have ever thought to pick up for myself (for one, I tend to not read nonfiction, although this is beginning to change, and, for another, a book about wind isn't the most appealing sell) but since I paid the entry fee, I might as well get my money out of it. And I'm glad I did because this is a supremely interesting book, less of the natural history it subtitles itself as and more of a menagerie of interesting facts about the wind and all the forms it may take in human and environmental life, whether that be sections about space winds that had me thinking about science fiction possibilities, sections about windborne spiders that are simply fascinating, and a final section on strange windfalls (of fish, frogs, etc.) that may over-reach in its hypothesis but wherein Watson makes a convincing case for, if not divine intervention, a sort of symbiotic natural reaction based upon desire - you really have to read it for the full effect. Not sure if this is one I'll return to in full, but there are certainly sections that I'll read again someday, if only for the wholesale wonder at the natural world which they provoke in me. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
October 19, 2008
Every time i picked this book up, the air would stir and the town would become animated with swaying branches and drifting leaves. Elemental physiology and mythological philosophy of the strongest force inside of mercury me...
September 2, 2020
I enjoyed this book. The gamut of knowledge was far-reaching and as the introduction said you could not read this book or learn facts in a hurry. This is a meandering history of wind and it’s effect on people and cultures. I just thought it was well put together and I know there are many things that I learned, many things that were reviewed that I already knew, and things that I had not ever thought about or had ever known. I think this book will go into my library of reference books. Some of my favorite parts were about how we are physically surrounded by air, it’s make up, and especially how myth is affected by wind. I always think the different gods and goddesses who are affected by wind or who are said to control it are very creative. Sometimes I think I could’ve never thought of any specific one. There is one story that he says comes out of the Bible but being thoroughly familiar with the Bible I cannot find what he’s talking about so when something like that happens I’m always challenged to go back to the source and read it for myself. He talks about an east wind in some battle and so I need to go look it up again. This is why I like to keep reference books on hand and this is definitely a good one. I’m wondering if his sources might be non-canonical. We will see. At least it challenges me to go back and re-read those stories again. I like it when a book can challenge me to learn more about what I already know by going back to sources that I have consulted many times before.
Of course since his book was written in 1984 it contains a section on how wind distributes poisonous chemicals which are generated by heavy industry. That part was vastly familiar to me. Then there is the standard knowledge about weather and the make up of wind. I thought it was really interesting that he discussed the shapes of thunderstorms. Since I am blind I have never seen one with my eyes nor have I had any kind of a tactile drawing showing me what it looks like so that was interesting news to me. And living in Texas now I am very familiar with the events in a thunderstorm so I thought that I could relate to that information. When I lived in California we had thunderstorms but not as many as we have here. So, if I had read this book when I was in California I would have understood less about the make up of storms than I do now. Of course the meteorologist here go out of their way to show pictures and explain things and well they should since some of those things are very damaging. Overall this was a very enjoyable read. It’s hard reading in some places and easy Reading in others. He does include a glossary of the names of wind in each part of the world and an extensive bibliography. So even though this book currently is 37 years old just about it is still a very enlightening read.
Of course since his book was written in 1984 it contains a section on how wind distributes poisonous chemicals which are generated by heavy industry. That part was vastly familiar to me. Then there is the standard knowledge about weather and the make up of wind. I thought it was really interesting that he discussed the shapes of thunderstorms. Since I am blind I have never seen one with my eyes nor have I had any kind of a tactile drawing showing me what it looks like so that was interesting news to me. And living in Texas now I am very familiar with the events in a thunderstorm so I thought that I could relate to that information. When I lived in California we had thunderstorms but not as many as we have here. So, if I had read this book when I was in California I would have understood less about the make up of storms than I do now. Of course the meteorologist here go out of their way to show pictures and explain things and well they should since some of those things are very damaging. Overall this was a very enjoyable read. It’s hard reading in some places and easy Reading in others. He does include a glossary of the names of wind in each part of the world and an extensive bibliography. So even though this book currently is 37 years old just about it is still a very enlightening read.
December 27, 2020
Wonderbar!
Writing and thinking so well displayed>
Take something like air in motion and fit in with it philosophy, religion (sic), physics, history, science
as well as entertainment, then you have a book such as this.
From hurricane or tornado damage to powering a dynamo, or ship, or mill, or kite, wind is a lovely thing to have around.
Names! Naming the winds is a cottage industry from continent to small spaces. Descriptive to melodious to mellifluous, bad tempered ones to life sustaining the winds are merely a necessity.
And then there are clouds to turn the wind from a presence to a subject.
Francis Beaufort Royal Navy Rear Admiral in 1805 formulated the Force scale for ships at sea with, at one end, zero for calm and 1 to ten air at 1, next breeze and finally gale force winds. All with the sails of a british (3 masted man o war) frigate in mind and how each increase in force of the wind was dealt with with sails last 4, 7 to 10, requiring reefing sails to be partly to fully furled. p. 216
Shakespeare gets several mentions form King Lear and Titania -- we have laughed to see the sails conceive, and grow big-bellied with the wanton wind. This, as an example of how humans perceive the wind which is, as Watson notes, invisible. p. 245
Another perception is poetic from Christian Rosetti answering the question who has seen the wind
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by. p. 247
Sanskrit uses va for wind and nirva is to stop blowing and nirvana means to be extinguished altogether. p. 253
A chapter on hearing the wind is included claiming some can identify the sound made by the wind through the leaves of trees with the birch differing form the pine or oak.
One wind is named in the Berber language as the one that plucks the fowls. p. 309
You are touched by something invisible, something that bends trees and makes strange sounds. * * *
And implicit in this [knowledge] is the assumption, born of experience with the wind, the we have the freedom and the right to choose our own direction. p. 318 1!!! philosophy!!!!
Then Charles Fort catalogs 27 years worth of English and US papers reporting on incidents where a
show brings oodles of fishes dumped away from water. Watson relates this to use in religion of fish
as emblem for the divine. p. 322 et seq.
Remarkable book and establishes a standard of excellence to be used as others write on a single subject, e. g. books on coal, salt, cod, etc.
The broad knowledge shown, the writing, the wit, are commendable. I am starting to rethink
adding the final star or more to the rating.
Writing and thinking so well displayed>
Take something like air in motion and fit in with it philosophy, religion (sic), physics, history, science
as well as entertainment, then you have a book such as this.
From hurricane or tornado damage to powering a dynamo, or ship, or mill, or kite, wind is a lovely thing to have around.
Names! Naming the winds is a cottage industry from continent to small spaces. Descriptive to melodious to mellifluous, bad tempered ones to life sustaining the winds are merely a necessity.
And then there are clouds to turn the wind from a presence to a subject.
Francis Beaufort Royal Navy Rear Admiral in 1805 formulated the Force scale for ships at sea with, at one end, zero for calm and 1 to ten air at 1, next breeze and finally gale force winds. All with the sails of a british (3 masted man o war) frigate in mind and how each increase in force of the wind was dealt with with sails last 4, 7 to 10, requiring reefing sails to be partly to fully furled. p. 216
Shakespeare gets several mentions form King Lear and Titania -- we have laughed to see the sails conceive, and grow big-bellied with the wanton wind. This, as an example of how humans perceive the wind which is, as Watson notes, invisible. p. 245
Another perception is poetic from Christian Rosetti answering the question who has seen the wind
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by. p. 247
Sanskrit uses va for wind and nirva is to stop blowing and nirvana means to be extinguished altogether. p. 253
A chapter on hearing the wind is included claiming some can identify the sound made by the wind through the leaves of trees with the birch differing form the pine or oak.
One wind is named in the Berber language as the one that plucks the fowls. p. 309
You are touched by something invisible, something that bends trees and makes strange sounds. * * *
And implicit in this [knowledge] is the assumption, born of experience with the wind, the we have the freedom and the right to choose our own direction. p. 318 1!!! philosophy!!!!
Then Charles Fort catalogs 27 years worth of English and US papers reporting on incidents where a
show brings oodles of fishes dumped away from water. Watson relates this to use in religion of fish
as emblem for the divine. p. 322 et seq.
Remarkable book and establishes a standard of excellence to be used as others write on a single subject, e. g. books on coal, salt, cod, etc.
The broad knowledge shown, the writing, the wit, are commendable. I am starting to rethink
adding the final star or more to the rating.
May 2, 2024
Dated. Watson collected a lot of facts and a lot of words from many languages, but to what purpose I am not sure: in his foreword he states that the book began as an essay on experience of the ineffable; "winds provide the circulatory and nervous systems of the planet". Well, circulatory yes, but a nervous system?? The author seemed to believe the now discredited Gaia theory that the earth is an organism, and to attempt to persuade the reader of this.
There are many examples of the author stating an interesting fact, but then speculating that the only possible explanation is one which we now know to be wrong or not the whole story. Why did NYRB think this a classic?
Errata:
p.11 re the big bang "As though the cosmos in the throes of a great idea, had taken a deep breath some twenty thousand million years ago...when the current exhalation ends..." The big bang was around 13.7billion years ago, and the expansion of the universe was discovered in the 1990s to be accelerating, so the "current exhalation" is not expected to end.
"The concept of an organic universe, of a cosmos that lives and breathes, is an important one." No -it is a concept with no basis.
p.16 'We know little about the remaining planets. Uranus...' no longer true, even for dwarf planet Pluto
p.17 'An atmosphere is the most vital prerequisite for life and mind...With it, everything becomes possible.' There is still no universally accepted theory for the origin of life on earth, let alone multicellular life or mind, so how can we rank the prerequisites for life, let alone mind? The most convincing theory (see The Vital Question, Nick Lane, 2015) suggests that life began in a cool alkaline seep on the ocean floor (not dependent on an atmosphere), when the earth was around 20% of its current age; multicellular life began after eukaryotes emerged when the earth was around 60% of its current age; mind began much more recently, perhaps when octopi evolved?
p.18 'Nothing is more suspicious, more improbable, than life itself' It is hard to be sure since we have only one example, but life began here very soon after Earth cooled enough to form an ocean in which life could begin, so bacterial life doesn't look improbable, at least given earth-like conditions. Eukaryotes, multicellularity and intelligence seem much less probable, given the time and coincidences it took for them to evolve (endosymbiosis of a bacterium in an archeon started eukaryotes about 2 billion years ago; multicellularity by 600 million years ago, but perhaps very soon after eukaryotes - it is hard to distinguish multicellular fossils from those of colonial organisms)
p.27 - 'Earth... is always the main source of heat.' Globally, the sun is. Locally, the wind, our metabolism, and the earth (especially in volcanic zones) might be more important sources.
p.39 - 'When conditions last... over 30 days, it is seen to be something more than just weather...It gets to be called a climate.' Climate is actually the probability distribution of weather conditions (temperature, wind, precipitation, cloud cover) expected at a given location/region at any given time of day/year, based on past patterns & trends
p.64 - '[Sand's] gradual increase over cultivated areas is inevitable' If there is enough water to enable the growth of vegetation such as marram grass that specializes in growing on dunes, they can be stabilized, as they have been in many places at many times.
p.66 'The harmattan or northwest trade that blows across the Sahara' Northeast not northwest
p.84 'glacial times...resulted initially in higher winds...heavier rainfall, but as glaciation progressed...the air became less humid...' But higher average wind speed would have continued as a result of higher temperature gradient between the poles and the tropics, and cooler temperatures result in less evaporation, and therefore Less rainfall, not more.
p.95 In an otherwise wonderful discussion of how Polynesians navigated across the Pacific, a descent into misogyny: 'plumbing the swell, feeling its effect in subtle shifts from the vertical, detected largely by the pendulum swing of their own testicles'! I don't believe testicles would be necessary or useful here.
p.98 'nomads...swept down through the Carpathians and Caucasus into Europe and the Balkans' Down through the Carpathians is from one part of Europe to another (the Balkans), but down through the Caucasus is from Europe to Asia.
p.115 'loss of [tropical] forest results in reduced absorption of solar energy followed by reduced evaporation in a tropical zone which has become cooler' Loss of forest actually reduces humidity & cloud resulting in hotter conditions, not cooler.
p.127 'nobody has yet produced a cheap and effective way of storing excess energy which accumulates when winds do blow' Even when the book was written in the early 1980s, pumped storage had been in use for decades (pumping water to a higher elevation to use excess electricity eg at night; or pumping air into a cavern). More commonly, gas-fired turbines are simply throttled back when electricity from wind increases, and vice-versa.
p.173 'there is a small arctic daisy Ambrosia trifida...' Ambrosia trifida is giant ragweed, which is neither small, nor arctic, nor a daisy
p.219 'our bodies produce heat...to maintain a constant temperature, we must lose some of it'. Actually we must lose it (all) as fast as we produce it, or our temperature will rise.
p.220-1 'beyond the biological wind threshold at [Beaufort] force 7, exposed flesh begins to freeze...At 0 degrees Centigrade it need only be force 5' Actually flesh won't freeze until temperature drops below 0
p.235 'Measurements [of carbon dioxide in the air] made there [on a mountain in Hawaii]...show an annual rhythm, with peaks in the summer months produced by the active breathing of the northern forests' Actually the annual peak is in May before the plant life of the northern hemisphere reduces it through photosynthesis over the northern summer.
p.236 'By the middle of the 21st century, we may...be living on an Earth warmer than it has been in the past 125000 years. This is bound to affect economic and political stability and to change our coastlines and our lives, but it could also be the making of a new world - one worth getting excited about...' It will be hotter than that, but did he think it could be a good thing???
There are many examples of the author stating an interesting fact, but then speculating that the only possible explanation is one which we now know to be wrong or not the whole story. Why did NYRB think this a classic?
Errata:
p.11 re the big bang "As though the cosmos in the throes of a great idea, had taken a deep breath some twenty thousand million years ago...when the current exhalation ends..." The big bang was around 13.7billion years ago, and the expansion of the universe was discovered in the 1990s to be accelerating, so the "current exhalation" is not expected to end.
"The concept of an organic universe, of a cosmos that lives and breathes, is an important one." No -it is a concept with no basis.
p.16 'We know little about the remaining planets. Uranus...' no longer true, even for dwarf planet Pluto
p.17 'An atmosphere is the most vital prerequisite for life and mind...With it, everything becomes possible.' There is still no universally accepted theory for the origin of life on earth, let alone multicellular life or mind, so how can we rank the prerequisites for life, let alone mind? The most convincing theory (see The Vital Question, Nick Lane, 2015) suggests that life began in a cool alkaline seep on the ocean floor (not dependent on an atmosphere), when the earth was around 20% of its current age; multicellular life began after eukaryotes emerged when the earth was around 60% of its current age; mind began much more recently, perhaps when octopi evolved?
p.18 'Nothing is more suspicious, more improbable, than life itself' It is hard to be sure since we have only one example, but life began here very soon after Earth cooled enough to form an ocean in which life could begin, so bacterial life doesn't look improbable, at least given earth-like conditions. Eukaryotes, multicellularity and intelligence seem much less probable, given the time and coincidences it took for them to evolve (endosymbiosis of a bacterium in an archeon started eukaryotes about 2 billion years ago; multicellularity by 600 million years ago, but perhaps very soon after eukaryotes - it is hard to distinguish multicellular fossils from those of colonial organisms)
p.27 - 'Earth... is always the main source of heat.' Globally, the sun is. Locally, the wind, our metabolism, and the earth (especially in volcanic zones) might be more important sources.
p.39 - 'When conditions last... over 30 days, it is seen to be something more than just weather...It gets to be called a climate.' Climate is actually the probability distribution of weather conditions (temperature, wind, precipitation, cloud cover) expected at a given location/region at any given time of day/year, based on past patterns & trends
p.64 - '[Sand's] gradual increase over cultivated areas is inevitable' If there is enough water to enable the growth of vegetation such as marram grass that specializes in growing on dunes, they can be stabilized, as they have been in many places at many times.
p.66 'The harmattan or northwest trade that blows across the Sahara' Northeast not northwest
p.84 'glacial times...resulted initially in higher winds...heavier rainfall, but as glaciation progressed...the air became less humid...' But higher average wind speed would have continued as a result of higher temperature gradient between the poles and the tropics, and cooler temperatures result in less evaporation, and therefore Less rainfall, not more.
p.95 In an otherwise wonderful discussion of how Polynesians navigated across the Pacific, a descent into misogyny: 'plumbing the swell, feeling its effect in subtle shifts from the vertical, detected largely by the pendulum swing of their own testicles'! I don't believe testicles would be necessary or useful here.
p.98 'nomads...swept down through the Carpathians and Caucasus into Europe and the Balkans' Down through the Carpathians is from one part of Europe to another (the Balkans), but down through the Caucasus is from Europe to Asia.
p.115 'loss of [tropical] forest results in reduced absorption of solar energy followed by reduced evaporation in a tropical zone which has become cooler' Loss of forest actually reduces humidity & cloud resulting in hotter conditions, not cooler.
p.127 'nobody has yet produced a cheap and effective way of storing excess energy which accumulates when winds do blow' Even when the book was written in the early 1980s, pumped storage had been in use for decades (pumping water to a higher elevation to use excess electricity eg at night; or pumping air into a cavern). More commonly, gas-fired turbines are simply throttled back when electricity from wind increases, and vice-versa.
p.173 'there is a small arctic daisy Ambrosia trifida...' Ambrosia trifida is giant ragweed, which is neither small, nor arctic, nor a daisy
p.219 'our bodies produce heat...to maintain a constant temperature, we must lose some of it'. Actually we must lose it (all) as fast as we produce it, or our temperature will rise.
p.220-1 'beyond the biological wind threshold at [Beaufort] force 7, exposed flesh begins to freeze...At 0 degrees Centigrade it need only be force 5' Actually flesh won't freeze until temperature drops below 0
p.235 'Measurements [of carbon dioxide in the air] made there [on a mountain in Hawaii]...show an annual rhythm, with peaks in the summer months produced by the active breathing of the northern forests' Actually the annual peak is in May before the plant life of the northern hemisphere reduces it through photosynthesis over the northern summer.
p.236 'By the middle of the 21st century, we may...be living on an Earth warmer than it has been in the past 125000 years. This is bound to affect economic and political stability and to change our coastlines and our lives, but it could also be the making of a new world - one worth getting excited about...' It will be hotter than that, but did he think it could be a good thing???
November 9, 2019
The wind, as moving air, touches us directly, sometimes brutally. But there is another more subtle and pervading influence which moves us. Out relationship to it is like that of a pawn on a chessboard facing a bishop confined to the black squares. On the dark diagonals we are directly vulnerable, but even on the white squares the force has influence through the mediation of other pieces. We are never free from its pressure, which controls our mental weath and has shaped much of our minds and lives. (273)
We don't read Watson for the facts (which are, at best, a little out of date) but for the style and limberness of thought, the word-hoard and personal collection of weird happenings. At the same time, he's an adroit interpreter of processes, bringing out the dynamics of global air circulation, atmospheric layers, storm formation, wind physiology, etc. with an artfulness alien to most popular science writing. Watson was a sort of Pliny the Elder for the late 20th century and his return to visibility is timely, not just because of increased interest in climatic phenomena and Lovelock/Margulis "Gaia" thinking, but due to the urgency of thinking the vast, more-than-human unknown at the edge of all our management and desolation. Spare a thought for the aeroplankton, the rains of fish, the arachnid aeronauts.
June 16, 2020
As I write this, the onshore west to northwest winds are blowing the trees and clouds outside at 26 miles per hour. I can both see and hear what is invisible. On the Beaufort scale, this is a Strong Breeze and if I had a Man-o-War these winds would be powerful enough to allow me to sail at full speed to chase and sink a pirate ship. Later this afternoon these winds will nudge stratus clouds through the Golden Gate, dimming and diffusing the sun, illuminating by example why San Francisco is referred to as the cool, gray city of love. Or if I lived in the Sahara, this book would teach me where the Trade Winds deposit the desert soil. And if in space, I would have learned the nature of the wind that buffets my spacecraft at insane speeds.
So, this book is bursting with interesting facts, history, and musings on all aspects of wind. Unfortunately, there have been no revisions since its original 1983 publication and my cursory Wikipedia searches show that some of the author’s accepted science has moved on. Since I’m not a scientist I don’t know what is right and what is wrong, which limits the usefulness of the book. But if this was updated I’d up my rating.
TL;DR Wind doesn’t come from caves or Fūjin (probably).
So, this book is bursting with interesting facts, history, and musings on all aspects of wind. Unfortunately, there have been no revisions since its original 1983 publication and my cursory Wikipedia searches show that some of the author’s accepted science has moved on. Since I’m not a scientist I don’t know what is right and what is wrong, which limits the usefulness of the book. But if this was updated I’d up my rating.
TL;DR Wind doesn’t come from caves or Fūjin (probably).
November 25, 2019
Odd and tantalizing, this book draws the reader in in an unexpected way. I first opened this book on a whim, curious what could possibly be interesting about the natural history of the wind. To my surprise, there's apparently quite a bit to talk about when it comes to the wind, and nearly all of it is fascinating.
While some of the science in this book is a bit out of date, and I'd argue that it delves into speculation a little more than a scientific book ought to, this is still a worthy read. It's poetic and beautiful, somehow managing to maintain the reader's interest in a topic that is at high risk of becoming too boring to bare.
Watson did a fantastic job making the Earth we call home come to life and eliciting a feeling of oneness between all that lives on this planet, and the winds that wrap around it. This sense of oneness is one that I think ought to be better cultivated in people, particularly in this day and age.
This book was lovely to read, and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone with a sense of curiosity about the planet.
While some of the science in this book is a bit out of date, and I'd argue that it delves into speculation a little more than a scientific book ought to, this is still a worthy read. It's poetic and beautiful, somehow managing to maintain the reader's interest in a topic that is at high risk of becoming too boring to bare.
Watson did a fantastic job making the Earth we call home come to life and eliciting a feeling of oneness between all that lives on this planet, and the winds that wrap around it. This sense of oneness is one that I think ought to be better cultivated in people, particularly in this day and age.
This book was lovely to read, and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone with a sense of curiosity about the planet.
November 25, 2019
Odd and tantalizing, this book draws the reader in in an unexpected way. I first opened this book on a whim, curious what could possibly be interesting about the natural history of the wind. To my surprise, there's apparently quite a bit to talk about when it comes to the wind, and nearly all of it is fascinating.
While some of the science in this book is a bit out of date, and I'd argue that it delves into speculation a little more than a scientific book ought to, this is still a worthy read. It's poetic and beautiful, somehow managing to maintain the reader's interest in a topic that is at high risk of becoming too boring to bare.
Watson did a fantastic job making the Earth we call home come to life and eliciting a feeling of oneness between all that lives on this planet, and the winds that wrap around it. This sense of oneness is one that I think ought to be better cultivated in people, particularly in this day and age.
This book was lovely to read, and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone with a sense of curiosity about the planet.
While some of the science in this book is a bit out of date, and I'd argue that it delves into speculation a little more than a scientific book ought to, this is still a worthy read. It's poetic and beautiful, somehow managing to maintain the reader's interest in a topic that is at high risk of becoming too boring to bare.
Watson did a fantastic job making the Earth we call home come to life and eliciting a feeling of oneness between all that lives on this planet, and the winds that wrap around it. This sense of oneness is one that I think ought to be better cultivated in people, particularly in this day and age.
This book was lovely to read, and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone with a sense of curiosity about the planet.
August 17, 2018
I just re read this wonderful book to refamiliarize myself with what Lyle had to say about climate change . This book change the way I saw myself in relation to the planet and the relationship of the elements , Earth wind fire water , forever . In some ways while Watson was far ahead of his time in writing this book and how are climate is so completely interdependent on every single system working flawlessly together . I recommend everybody read this book and while you're reading it keep in mind that he wrote this in 1984 long before " climate change " became part of a global conversation .
September 21, 2019
Some parts (discussions of how winds work, how cultures around the world view and use wind) are very interesting. Some parts (maybe frog rains are Gaia redistributing the planet’s resources) are nuts. Some (mid-1980s speculation that maybe if climate change happens, it will be bad, or maybe it will remake our world into something better!) are an odd artifact of bygone days. Can be a slog, but worth a read if you are looking for something different. Bonus points for the 14-page glossary of different types of winds at the end.
December 6, 2019
This book is definitely more niche appeal than mass appeal, but if you're part of that niche, it's damn near perfect. My only complaint is that it felt a bit dry at times, but such is the nature of wind. Overall, it was fascinating to immerse myself in such a deep dive about wind, examined from all angles by someone who has clearly spent a great deal of time pondering and researching the subject. Full of insights, factoids, and meditative ruminations you won't find anywhere else, Heaven's Breath will forever stand in a class of its own.
Read
October 7, 2022This is a comprehensive study of wind from many facets. There are chapters titled the History of Wind, The Geography of Wind, The Psychology of Wind,The Philosophy of Wind, and many others. I felt at times like a total geek reading such detail about every breeze thats ever blown,but it was so informative, and so enlightening. Oh, and it’s well written. I loved reading this book.
tasted
October 23, 2022When it came out in 1985, I would have eaten this book up but, by the time I got around to it, I was (am) no longer capable of taking in so many facts presented at such a galloping pace. I found the book fascinating but overwhelming, and I finally decided that the strain was definitely more than the gain.
November 22, 2022
Brilliant book on wind. It will historically take you through the life of wind, of earth winds & space winds, in a page-turning informative and poetic way. A must-read nonfiction for those interested in the physics, movements, and life of weather & wind. 5/5 stars and even more stars if I could.
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