Window Seat: Reading the Landscape from the Air

by Gregory Dicum

Talk about a fresh perspective! Perched 35,000 feet in the air, Window Seat decodes the sights to be seen on any flight across North America. Broken down by region, this unusual guide features 70 aerial photographs; a fold-out map of North America showing major flight paths; profiles of each region covering its landforms, waterways, and cities; tips on spotting major sights, such as the Northern Lights, the Grand Canyon, and Disney World; tips on spotting not-so-major sights such as prisons, mines, and Interstates; and straightforward, friendly text on cloud shapes, weather patterns, the continent's history, and more. A terrific book for kids, frequent flyers, and armchair travelers alike, Window Seat is packed with curious facts and colorful illustration, proving that flying doesn't have to be a snooze. When it's possible to "read" the landscape from above, a whole world unfolds at your feet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Reference, Aviation, Geography

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Gregory Dicum is the co-founder and president of MondoWindow. He is the author of Window Seat and The Pisco Book and has written for the New York Times, The Economist, Harper’s, Salon, Travel + Leisure, New York, and Mother Jones. He lives in San Francisco.

Reviews

[Donna Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I didn't read all the narration - but the book answered my questions about the "alien" landscape that I saw from the airplane window. Seriously, the odd round and square interlocking shapes I saw as we flew over the southwest had me flummoxed - the ground looked like an unearthly puzzle. Turns out this was hundreds of miles of irrigated desert land. The round areas were watered by huge rotating sprayers, and the square areas by horizontal means. This created different shades of green, yellow and orange fields. Amazing!

The book showed fascinating views of the Mississippi with odd winding sand bars, snowy arctic landscape transversed by darkened swirls, and the crisscross highways and lights of New York City. Maybe I'll never see all these cool vistas from the air (or maybe I will), but it's interesting to know how amazing our earth looks from miles above.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the book's premise - giving commercial airline passengers the opportunity to learn what it is exactly they are seeing on the landscape below when they occupy the window seat. And the book did do that to a degree; the book divided North America mainly into different subdivisions of Canada and the USA so each section could be read individually. This was a book that did not necessarily need to be read in chronologic order but rather spread out based on what flights a reader may be taking. However, overall it was rather dry and academic so it was challenging for me to read, hence why it took me nearly a year to get through what was actually rather sparse reading given all the illustrations and photos.

While I think I was educated by the book, it ultimately did not captivate me as much as I was hoping and while I did take it with me on several flights, I never had the desire to read it concurrently while gazing out the window. The concept itself is unique and I did learn a few facts but overall fell flat with this reader.

[Brandon Minster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how it was divided by region with internal references to where to find more-detailed information about recurring features. So instead of always explaining glaciation, there was just a call-out of where the elements of glaciation were explained more extensively.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some cool features, but overall, it was just 'ok'. It doesn't deserve 3 stars, but 2 stars is a bit harsh. I'd rather give it 2.5, but oh well, guess it's going to be 3 (when is Goodreads going to start allowing half stars??).

One of the biggest things I was attracted to in this book was the promise of maps. I love maps, especially when they are somehow associated with travel, or air travel. That sounded exactly like what this book was supposed to be about. After all, the subtitle is "Reading the Landscape from the Air". Well, unfortunately, the maps aren't exactly showing you what you would see from the air. At least, not from an airplane. The maps are satellite images, so they are taken from quite a bit higher in the air than a regular airplane. This may not sound like such a big deal, but it actually is. The images you see in the maps are quite different than what you would see from an airplane, and I found that pretty annoying. Granted, some things -- things on a large scale -- would be better viewed from higher up, to get a better overall picture. But in this instance, I think it actually would've been better to see the landscapes from a bit closer vantage point (um, like an airplane) so you could truly understand how to read the landscape from your window seat. Call me crazy, but that's what this book was supposed to be about. Some of the places in the images shown were so small, they were almost unrecognizeable (like Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon) -- when in actuality, on a real plane ride, those things would've looked very different, and they would've certainly been recognizeable.

One other small annoyance was the little legend at the start of each sub-section, which highlighted the differed 'features' of that geographic area to "watch for". These little symbols never show up anywhere, on anything. I studied each legend quite closely, thinking I was going to be looking out for those things on an upcoming map -- only to learn that they were nowhere. So why even bother? Weird.

There were some interesting tidbits about the geology of the different parts of the country, the different economic purposes across the country because of the land and its resources in the different regions, as well as the different patterns for the ways the cities were originally laid out and/or how they grew, often based on the culture which settled the city. So, the book wasn't a total loss -- it just wasn't that great.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great idea for a book, but... it should have covered so much more. And a book with this title? No, it would be more accurately something like "Satellite images from only USA and Canada with explanations and hints of history and geography that will help you decipher what you see from the window when you are on an airplane flying in US and/or Canada".

Satellite images work much better for the purpose of the book, otherwise we'd see lots of clouds, and have all the pictures in different angles, and with things being far they would all be blued out. So perhaps the choice of satellite images wasn't a bad one. And perhaps the author limited the covered areas to just USA and Canada, because it would have been just so much work to get all the geographical and historical details right for any other part of the world. But hey, maybe someone should do the other continents with similar insight? I'd love to decipher what I could see when I fly in Europe, or in Asia, or anywhere else too.

The book is divided by region, and for each region there's shown what you can see with some icons. That are then not on the map, so it's not that helpful to know you could see "marshland, rapids, tidal flats, oil rigs, meanders" etc if the area covered where the features might be is something as wide as the flyover states Midwest. But there were other bits like explanations for geographical features, and small things for anything between the plate tectonics to the typical cloud formations present. What was missing: anything seen at night (when you can see a lot too from the lights), anything covered in snow in winter time (other than tundra - cities and places in winter time look interesting too. And cities at night in winter from a plane look extra interesting). Also some weather as it looks from the plane: thunder storms looks very impressive when you're trapped in a metal tube 10 km up in the air. So would look e.g tornadoes, torrential rain, and other unusual weather.

The only pictures that are actually taken from or in an airplane are the cover picture and the picture of the author.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love to look out the window when I fly. I love to follow the roads, railroads, rivers, etc. It gives me an appreciation of the land and people. I am a map librarian and know a lot about geography and aerial photography. I was very excited to get this book as a gift. It is bad. Really basic stuff. WORST of all, the photos in this book are satellite images, NOT pictures taken from planes. There is a huge difference. The images are in false color and rarely have clouds. When you fly, there are clouds. You cannot see a large area. Everything is a bluegray color. This book would have been useful if it had shots out a window and if it explained what things were. Do not buy this book. You are better off with any number of apps for you phone or the inflight maps on your video screen.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine looking down at the earth’s surface from a private airplane. Observing land forms and structures with a broad view to see not just individual structures, but also how the landscape comes together as a whole. While on this flight you also have your personal guide to explain what each landscape is, how it was made and how humans have influenced it. Gregory Dicum does just this in his book “Window Seat, Reading the Landscape from the Air.” Although “Window Seat” may not be your typical read and have very little depth into detail it is a very interesting concept and worth checking out nonetheless.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

as amazed when I saw the topic of this book in store, as I always felt like only one in planes who's interested in the different landscapes below the plane. Liked that this book pointed out lots of different types of features I wouldn't have noticed before, and like that the author seemed to know a great deal of geology behind the content he was presenting. Could have done without the "checklist" formatting, as it's hard to think of actually using the book this way on flights.

[kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

go on plane trips often? or even at all? you should get this then, and make sure you get a window seat.

[Dori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully designed.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun little book about what you can learn about land and water when you look out the window of an airplane. Nice photos and simple maps and diagrams.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone who enjoys looking out an airplane window.

[Tom Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully awesome book about reading the ground from the air over America. Everyone who gets to sit by the window in a plane should take this book with them to learn about the earth beneath them.

[Kathy]

Very interesting take on geology and weather as seen from the air.