Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather [Paperback]

Marq de Villiers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2007

Windswept is the story of humankind's long struggle to understand wind and weather--from the wind gods of ancient times to early discoveries of the dynamics of air movement to high-tech schemes to control hurricanes. Marq de Villiers is equally adept at explaining the science of wind as he is at presenting dramatic personal stories of encounters with gales and storms. We have made great strides in understanding how wind affects weather, but much is left to learn about how global warming and pollution may impact the winds themselves. The stakes are high because, as Hurricane Katrina so vividly reminded us, anything that affects the winds eventually affects human life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wind is personal for de Villiers, winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. A gust from a ferocious gale in South Africa came close to blowing him over a cliff when he was a child, a fearful experience that invests this articulate study of the history and nature of moving air with notable immediacy. Winds figure in the creation myths of almost all cultures, he notes. But it wasn't until the mid-18th century that scientists began to develop a cogent theory about wind and its relation to weather. Two centuries later, during WWII, high-altitude flyers discovered the jet stream and "a real understanding of winds was, finally, in place." De Villiers has marshaled an absorbing if daunting array of historical, cultural, environmental and scientific facts to detail that wind, despite its destructive power, makes life on Earth possible. But the book's grace notes lie in entertaining did-you-know nuggets. Among them: a great storm that lashed London in 1703 caused windmill blades to rotate so fast that friction set them on fire; Cuban meteorologists, more advanced at the turn of the last century than Americans, warned fruitlessly about the path of the hurricane that devastated Galveston. B&w illus. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–A readable, cogent introduction to wind. Woven throughout the text is the story of Hurricane Ivan, which started as a storm in Africa and gained power as it headed west toward the Americas. Chapter by chapter, the author examines the place of wind in mythology, ancient scientific beliefs about air and wind, composition of the atmosphere, wind scales and patterns, historical and modern weather forecasting, the mechanics of hurricanes, how wind moves pollution around the globe, and technology utilizing wind power. The book includes 12 appendixes, each providing statistics about storms or lists of such events as the Beaufort wind, Saffir-Simpson hurricane, or the Fujita tornado scales. The illustrations, reproductions, and graphs are clear and easy to read. This book could lead students to further research, but it is also entertaining on its own.–Susan Salpini, formerly at TASIS–The American School in England
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802715192
• ISBN-13: 978-0802715197
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,115,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Padded, August 28, 2007

By 

A. Grimstad (Hollis, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather (Paperback)

As another reviewer wrote, I too would suggest you look elsewhere for an introduction to weather, probably by a meterologist. Villiers isn't really that strong on science and a few howlers have crept into the book that rather show it (p. 44 mentions -1000 degrees C!). Otherwise, it's a bit of a tedious fact dump rather than a synthesis of a wide acquaintanceship with the subject matter. I gave up after a hundred pages.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not just hot air, September 16, 2007

By 

Steve G (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book very much. This topic was new to me and I found the book quite easy to understand. De Villiers also told the story of wind well, the sequence of information was very good and promoted understanding. Some issues can be contentious, such as global warming and alternate energy supplies. I found de Villiers to be brutally honest, giving the pros and cons of each side. There were certain weaknesses in the book however, that interfered with my enjoyment. A discussion of the various winds and their locations was complex and the one map in the book was inadequate in helping me understand. Additionally, the author recounted some personal anecdotes which added to neither the understanding nor the warmth of the book. And finally, the editing was very weak: there were many run-on sentences which hampered readability. At many places in the book, the English was just of inadequate quality, e.g., use of the word "astonishments" as a noun. This distracted from the reading experience as I had to decipher the writing before I could decipher the science. Overall, this book was a good addition to my library of science non-fiction and was worthwhile reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blends people's encounters and experiences with wind and storms with scientific fact to make for a lively read, July 25, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather (Hardcover)

WINDSWEPT: THE STORY OF WIND AND WEATHER joins others on the topic of weather but here provides an award-winning nature writer's survey of how weather has been perceived and described through the ages: wind, in particular. From wind's ability to influence world patterns and paths to how wind influences health and crime in human affairs, WINDSWEPT is much more than the usual meteorological analysis: it blends people's encounters and experiences with wind and storms with scientific fact to make for a lively read.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch