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Summary
Summary
From the acclaimed author of Tubes, a lively and surprising tour of the infrastructure behind the weather forecast, the people who built it, and what it reveals about our climate and our planet
The weather is the foundation of our daily lives. It's a staple of small talk, the app on our smartphones, and often the first thing we check each morning. Yet behind these quotidian interactions is one of the most expansive machines human beings have ever constructed--a triumph of science, technology and global cooperation. But what is this 'weather machine' and who created it?
In The Weather Machine, Andrew Blum takes readers on a fascinating journey through an everyday miracle. In a quest to understand how the forecast works, he visits old weather stations and watches new satellites blast off. He follows the dogged efforts of scientists to create a supercomputer model of the atmosphere and traces the surprising history of the algorithms that power their work. He discovers that we have quietly entered a golden age of meteorology--our tools allow us to predict weather more accurately than ever, and yet we haven't learned to trust them, nor can we guarantee the fragile international alliances that allow our modern weather machine to exist.
Written with the sharp wit and infectious curiosity Andrew Blum is known for, The Weather Machine pulls back the curtain on a universal part of our everyday lives, illuminating our relationships with technology, the planet, and the global community.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Meteorology is "a wonder we treat as a banality," argues journalist Blum (Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet) in his deep dive into the field's evolution. While humanity had long struggled to predict weather with some degree of accuracy, it wasn't possible until the telegraph's mid-19th-century arrival. The ability to recognize and share timely information led to a better understanding of weather patterns, first on a continent-wide and eventually on a global scale. This, along with a few happy accidents and some really tough math, led to the development and refinement of the systems which people know and complain about today. Excursions to forecasting labs and weather stations around the world, along with interviews with behind-the-scenes scientists, fill in the blanks, while asides on the political ramifications of weather satellites and global forecasting and on Thomas Jefferson's early forays into forecasting add depth and intrigue. Thanks to Blum's immersive research, readers will come away with a greater appreciation for the hard work that goes into something often taken for granted. (June)
Kirkus Review
Journalist Blum (Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, 2012) takes a bright look at weather forecasting.The world's "weather machine" comprises a "global infrastructure of observation and prediction" peopled by hidden atmospheric scientists, data theorists, and others. Thanks to computer models, today's "weather men" deliver a six-day forecast that is "as good as a two-day forecast in the 1970s." Based on many interviews, this revealing, nicely crafted book guides us gently into a daunting subject through stories of unexpected people and events. The telegraph, introduced by Samuel Morse in 1844, first allowed us to know the weather in many places at one time. Ten years later, the Smithsonian began posting weather observations on a giant U.S. map in the lobby of its new Washington, D.C., headquarters. Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes (1862-1951) used math and physics to analyze the atmospheric variables (density, humidity, temperature, etc.) of a single moment and extrapolate a weather forecast. Many more observations were needed for the method to work with accuracy, and much of Blum's book recounts how laboratories, lighthouses, farmers, and others, including today's weather satellites, formed a worldwide system of collecting data that is now fed into weather models to become sophisticated forecasts. Today, thousands of weather stations are networked through the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization. Blum's travels offer glimpses of the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Mesa Lab in Colorado and the "Euro" forecast factory in Reading, England; meteorology conventions where small instrument makers exhibit next to Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and other manufacturers of drones and satellites; the ongoing $11 billion makeover of the U.S. satellite program; and the Weather Company, which provides forecasts for TV and websites worldwide. A "last bastion of international cooperation," the current system of data exchange may one day be supplanted by global corporations, writes the author.A solid popular account with plenty of quirky detail about this "new way of seeing into the future." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Many of us check the weather forecast on a daily basis, but the human effort and ingenuity that goes into each forecast often remains a mystery. Journalist Blum (Tubes, 2012) breaks down the near-unimaginable complexity of the weather forecasting system into its component parts. Beginning with the advent of the telegraph, which made it possible to communicate local weather conditions to distant points on the globe, weather forecasting has been a locus of innovation and international cooperation. Blum reveals the inner workings of the many cogs in the forecasting machine, from a NASA satellite intended to measure soil moisture from space, to a Norwegian observation station that has operated continuously since the 1860s, to a congress of the UN's World Meteorological Organization. Though readers may occasionally get lost in a sea of acronyms, Blum most often manages to draw clear lines between theory and practice. This is a lucid and approachable guide to the satellites, scientists, and supercomputers that make up the forecasting system we so often take for granted.--Jenny Hamilton Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In a clear and entertaining manner, Blum (Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet) explains the development and current status of weather prediction systems. Meteorologists use models to build their forecasts and judge their success by how closely the forecast adheres to the weather we actually experience. But who built the models? The author starts from the invention of the telegraph, which allowed for collection of weather data from observers and construction of weather maps based on that data. However, weather prediction was dependent on the work of mathematicians who first described the movement of the atmosphere with mathematical equations. The forecasts we rely on today could not exist without satellites, which provide massive quantities of worldwide weather data, and computers to crunch those numbers. Weather knows no geographical boundaries, but global forecasts are dependent on the goodwill of the handful of countries that operate the models and launch the satellites. VERDICT A highly readable and accessible entry into the world of meteorology; of interest to everyone who is affected by weather. [See Prepub Alert, 12/17/18.]--Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL
