In this book, Robert Marc Friedman analyzes the revolution in the theory and practice of meteorology during the first quarter of the twentieth century, initiated by Vilhelm Bjerknes (1862–1951) and his collaborators. In contrast to the approach that had dominated meteorology since the late nineteenth century, their weather models and forecasting techniques marked a decisive turn to a dynamical–physical understanding of the atmosphere. Using a wide range of sources, both published and unpublished, Friedman traces the emergence of the new, so-called Bergen methodology and the process by which it transformed first Norwegian and then worldwide weather forecasting. The establishment of the new meteorology, he argues, was the result of a complaex interaction of scientific, social, and technological factors, and he gives special emphasis to the way in which Bjerknes adapted his mechanical physics of the atmosphere to benefit commercial purposes. By providing more reliable forecasts for farmers, fishermen, and especially for aviators, Bjerknes was able to nurture a school of disciples that could evert a profound influence on the international meteorological community, thereby increasing his own authority and that of the discipline he sought to shape. Friedman does an unusually subtle job of integrating the often opposing methods of the history and the sociology of science. He explains in detail how Bjerknes, a theoretical physicist, and his collaborators developed a new model of cyclone evolution and the first clear physical explanation of how weather happens. At the same time, Friedman demonstrates how conceptual change was interconnected with the Bergen school's striving to obtain political support at home and to dominate professional meteorology abroad. Appropriating the Weather is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the processes in which scientific, institutional, and social factors interact to form scientific disciplines. It deserves wide readership among historians and sociologists of science and science policy makers, as well as meteorologists and other geophysical scientists. Winner of the Louis J. Battan Author's Award (American Meteorological Society) Winner of the Jehuda Neumann Memorial Prize for History (Royal Meteorological Society) One of eight classics of 20th-century continental European history of science (Isis, History of Science Society)

"This big picture history of atmospheric research examines the first six decades of the twentieth century, from the dawn of applied fluid dynamics to the emergence, by 1960, of the interdisciplinary atmospheric sciences. Using newly available archival sources, it documents the work of three interconnected generations of scientists: Vilhelm Bjerknes, Carl-Gustaf Rossby, and Harry Wexler, whose aspirations were fueled by new theoretical insights, pressing societal needs, and expanded technological capabilities. Radio, radar, aviation, nuclear tracers, digital computing, sounding rockets, and satellites provided new ways to measure and study the global atmosphere -- a huge and dauntingly complex system. Bjerknes brought us a fundamental circulation theorem and founded the Bergen school of weather forecasting; Rossby established the graduate schools of meteorology at M.I.T., Chicago, and Stockholm, which focused on upper-air dynamics and, after 1947, on atmospheric environmental issues; and Wexler brought all the new technologies into the U.S. Weather Bureau and, with his colleague Jule Charney, prepared the foundations for the emergence of the interdisciplinary atmospheric sciences. This history weaves together cold war studies, military history, the rise of government research and development, and aviation and aeronautics with a nascent global awareness. It is a fascinating history of something we all experience--the weather --told through compelling historical characters"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-232) and index.

In a time of climate crisis, a growing number of artists use weather or atmosphere as an artistic medium, collaborating with scientists, local communities, and climate activists. Their work mediates scientific modes of knowing and experiential knowledge of weather, probing collective anxieties and raising urgent ecological questions, oscillating between the "big picture systems view" and a ground-based perspective. In this book, Janine Randerson explores a series of meteorological art projects from the 1960s to the present that draw on sources ranging from dynamic, technological, and physical systems to indigenous cosmology.

This text offers new ways of understanding dance on the popular screen in new scholarly arguments drawn from dance studies, performance studies, and film and media studies. Through these arguments, it demonstrates how this dance in popular film, television, and online videos can be read and considered through the different bodies and choreographies being shown.

This text looks at Scandinavian artist Olafur Eliasson's approach to the cavernous space of the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. His work explores human perception of the world and the boundaries between nature, art and technology, and often combines elemental materials with modern technology.

"También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams. Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy--two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia--trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. A page-turner filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page, it is a literary achievement."--