18 Miles by Christopher Dewdney
Winner of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada General Audience award We live at the bottom of an ocean of air – 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth’s atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer. Shrink the earth to the size of a basketball and our atmosphere would be as thick as a layer of food wrap – 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm – at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. 18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey through our atmosphere and weather. Author Christopher Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works, and the rollercoaster of our climate. He details the history of weather forecasting, looking at weather events from ancient history to the present day, and introduces us to the eccentric and determined pioneers of science and observation whose efforts gave us the understanding of weather we have today. Throughout history, humanity has been obsessed with the weather and the atmosphere. We have been determined to find reliable ways to predict our seemingly unpredictable weather, and in the 21st century, faced with the challenges of climate change, it is more important than ever that scientists are able to study our atmosphere and work out how and why humanity has affected it. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, 18 Miles provides an entertaining and in-depth look at the very air we breathe.
Christopher Dewdney is the author of five books of non-fiction and eleven books of poetry. A four-time nominee for the Governor General's Award, he won first prize in the CBC Literary Competition for poetry and was awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize, given in recognition of his contribution to Canadian Literature. His non-fiction book, Acquainted With The Night: Excursions into the World After Dark, was nominated for both a Governor General’s Literary Award and the Charles Taylor Prize for non-fiction, and was published in six countries. Fascinated by weather phenomena from a young age, Dewdney lives in Toronto, where he teaches writing at York University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781472969897 |
| ISBN 10 | 1472969898 |
| Title | 18 Miles |
| Author | Christopher Dewdney |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2019-07-11 |
| Number of pages | 272 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |