Waters of the world : the story of the scientists who unraveled the mysteries of our oceans, atmosphere, and ice sheets and made the planet whole /

In this work, science historian Dry describes key early discoveries in the hydrological cycle and in climate science through the lens of the scientists responsible for those advances. The narrative is focused on the individuals who evolved scientific understanding, covering their personal journeys, scientific disputes, and scholarly contributions. Designed to be readily consumed by non-specialists, the book is accessibly written and liberally peppered with humorous anecdotes. Notably, Dry repurposes the well-known Bretherton diagram, a 1980s NASA attempt to depict linkages between Earth system components via fluxes of mass and energy, to illustrate that while scientists typically operate within an isolated domain, many of the scholars chronicled in this text made key advances toward actually demonstrating the interconnectedness of the Earth system components. This work contributes to articulation of the history and philosophy of science, and thus belongs to the genre that also includes works such as McGrew, Alspector-Kelly and Allhoff's historical anthology Philosophy of Science (2009), which has a much broader remit, and Brugge's Particles in the Air (CH, Apr'19, 56-3199), which, like the current volume, has a narrower focus. The text includes occasional images, an extensive bibliographic essay, and a detailed and accurate index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates. General readers. --Sara C. Pryor, Cornell University

Science historian Dry takes readers on a journey through the history of climate science in this smart, compelling, and timely title. By focusing on specific scientists, Dry gifts readers with entertaining portraits of some thoroughly interesting if largely unknown individuals. From John Tyndale and his mid-nineteenth-century glacial investigations to Joanne Gerould and her flights into hurricanes a century later, Dry picks and chooses scientists who steadfastly studied the climate via epic research into the power of water in all of its forms. Driven by determined curiosity, Dry discovers the conventional and the controversial, the dedicated and the somewhat outrageous on her archival hunts. Along the way, she dips into the social and economic consequences of ignoring climate science while also delighting readers with insights into her subjects gained from their diaries, letters, and other sources. Make no mistake, in the midst of discussing Gerould's navigation of love and science and Charles Piazzi Smyth's almost lunatic attempt to record the face of the skies alone, Dry shows how an artful blending of the personal and professional can result in unusually affecting scientific profiles. A true success on every literary level.--Colleen Mondor Copyright 2019 Booklist