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An Ocean of Air
Why the Wind Blows and Other Mysteries of the Atmosphere
Gabrielle Walker
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Synopsis |
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We spend our lives surrounded by air, hardly even noticing it. Its the most miraculous substance on earth, yet responsible for our food, our weather, our water, and our ability to hear. In fact, we live at the bottom of an ocean of air. In this exuberant book, gifted science writer Gabrielle Walker peels back the layers of our atmosphere with the stories of the people who uncovered its secrets:
A flamboyant Renaissance Italian discovers how heavy our air really is: The air filling Carnegie Hall, for example, weighs seventy thousand pounds.
A one-eyed barnstorming pilot finds a set of winds that constantly blow five miles above our heads.
An impoverished American farmer figures out why hurricanes move in a circle by carving equations with his pitchfork on a barn door.
A well-meaning inventor nearly destroys the ozone layer.
A reclusive mathematical genius predicts, thirty years before hes proved right, that the sky contains a layer of floating metal fed by the glowing tails of shooting stars.
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Praise |
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"I never knew air could be so interesting."
Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything,
"An Ocean of Air is a fascinating book. The subject is hot, the science is cool, and Gabrielle Walker's style is lighter than air. Warmly recommended."
Jonathan Weiner, author of The Beak of the Finch,
"Who knew air could be so interesting? Like the scientific mavericks she profiles, Gabrielle Walker had the freshness of vision to realize that within its presumed-nothingness lay the most fascinating, profound revelations about life on earth. This is science writing at its best: clear, witty, relevant, unbelievably interesting, and just plain great."
Mary Roach, author of Stiff,
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Biography |
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GABRIELLE WALKER earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cambridge. She is a contributing editor at New Scientist magazine and has taught in the science-writing program at Princeton. She lives in London.
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General Subjects |
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Science- History
Science- Earth Sciences/General
Nature- Reference
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Academic Disciplines & Course Studies |
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Natural & Physical Sciences- General
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Rights Details |
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| Rights Holders: |
Serial/Audio/Performance/Translation: Inkwell Management
UK: Bloomsbury Publishing
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Rights Information |
Harcourt Books
An imprint ofHarcourt Trade Publishers
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Harcourt Education Company
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