Inhoudsopgave:
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The science and history of what lies between us and space: âI never knew air could be so interesting.â âBill Bryson, New York Times bestselling author of The Body: A Guide for Occupants 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 (he also came up with the idea of putting lead in gasoline). A reclusive mathematical genius predicts, thirty years before heâs proven right, that the sky contains a layer of floating metal fed by the glowing tails of shooting stars. We donât just live in the air; we live because of it. Itâs the most miraculous substance on earth, responsible for our food, our weather, our water, and our ability to hear. In this exuberant book, science writer Gabrielle Walker peels back the layers of our atmosphere with the stories of the people who have uncovered its secrets. âA sense of wonder . . . animates Ms. Walkerâs high-spirited narrative and speeds it along like a fresh-blowing westerly.â âThe New York Times âA fabulous introduction to the world above our heads.â âDaily Mail on Sunday âA lively history of scientistsâ and adventurersâ exploration of this important and complex contributor to life on Earth . . . readers will find this informative book to be a breath of fresh air.â âPublishers Weekly |
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