Explores the strange effect our current sense of impending doom has on our relation to time, and asks what resistance to the tenor of these out-of-joint times might look like.

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. 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 aviators. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

On the occasion of its 75th anniversary, the American Meteorological Society engaged a number of eminent pioneers and leading practitioners to write about the fields they helped develop. They were joined by several professional historians of science and technology. The resulting essays constitute a substantial sampling of what has been learned since 1919 in the atmospheric sciences and services—in research, in education, and in the private sector. This volume will be of interest to weather professionals and enthusiasts, historians of science, and to students of science and history. It will help us calibrate where we are, where we have been, and where we might be going as a discipline. Hopefully it will inspire others to value the past and to dig into it more deeply. Such attention to history is a necessary step in the maturation of a scientific discipline.

Precipitation plays a significant role in the climate system, and this book is the first to provide a comprehensive examination of the processes involved in the generation of clouds, rain, snow and hail; how precipitation is measured; how its distribution has changed over time; and how we still need to make improvements to the way precipitation is measured. It traces our attempts to understand what clouds are, from ancient Greeks to the present day. It also discusses developments in the measurement of precipitation, from rain gauges to satellite techniques, and how these measurements have enabled researchers to estimate global trends, totals, variability and extremes of precipitation. This will be a valuable and fascinating reference for academic researchers in the fields of environmental science and climatology. It will also be of great interest to professionals in water resource and flood management.

The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.

Climate change is a major challenge facing modern society. The chemistry of air and its influence on the climate system forms the main focus of this book. Vol. 2 of Chemistry of the Climate System takes a problem-based approach to presenting global atmospheric processes, evaluating the effects of changing air compositions as well as possibilities for interference with these processes through the use of chemistry.