© Columbia University Press
Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control
Paper, 344 pages, 43 illus.
ISBN: 978-0-231-14413-1
$19.95
/ £14.00
August, 2010
Cloth, 344 pages, 43 illus.
ISBN: 978-0-231-14412-4
$27.95
/ £19.95
"Current hopes for a technological answer to global warming are not an altogether new quest; they echo a rich history of attempts to work upon the weather. James Rodger Fleming explores this history thoroughly, parading a colorful variety of scientists, visionaries, and charlatans who reveal important lessons about our past-and possible future." — Spencer Weart, author of The Discovery of Global Warming
"With humanity's planetary impact reaching a Richter scale equivalent, what seem to be quick fixes become exceedingly tempting. Fixing the Sky's historical insights are a revelation—an anchor and essential base from which to consider addressing the greatest challenge in the history of our species." — Thomas E. Lovejoy, George Mason University and The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment
"James Rodger Fleming's book is a kind of tour de folie, an authoritative recounting over two centuries of weather changers and climate controllers, rainmakers and rain fakers, and cloud seeders and fog dissolvers. All in all, an engrossing work about vain hopes and technological hubris—as well as a cautionary tale to anyone concerned with attempts to engineer the planet." — Dan Kevles, Yale University
"Provides an essential foundation for understanding the long and dubious scientific tradition from which plans for climate control hail." — W. Patrick McCray, Science
"Fixing the Sky is a very readable, in-depth popular account of the history of weather modification, ranging from myth and movies to experiments, commercial ventures, and proposals for the future control of weather and climate . . . . Recommended." — Choice
"Provides a detailed account of weather modification. . . . The topic is an important one, and the book is relevant for scientists, stakeholders, policy makers, and concerned citizens alike." — Rasmus E. Benestad, American Scientist
"The topic is an important one, the book is relevant for scientists, stake-holders, policy makers, and concerned citizens alike." — Sigma Xi (Reprint of American Scientist Review)
"I recommend this book to those interested in weather and climate modification and the history of applied meteorology." — The Weather Doctor Blog
"Fleming has provided another valuable contribution to the still tiny but emerging historiography of global warming." — Sam White, Monthly Review
"An entertaining book about a serious issue." — Gail Cooper, Technology and Culture
"Fleming is a masterful writer, at the top of his game, and his skill and good humor make this book a blast to read." — Paul Edwards, H-Environment Roundtable Reviews
"This interesting and original work, building off of Fleming's previous studies of meteorology and climate science history, provides valuable perspective on what may soon become serious policy debates over how to respond to global warming." — H-Environment
"a very useful and entertaining book." — David Philip Miller, Metascience
"Fixing the Sky will appeal to a broad audience and is a significant contribution to both the ongoing policy debate over geoengineering and the history of meteorology and climatology, on which James Rodger Fleming is a recognized authority." — Mott Greene, University of Puget Sound