The Weather Machine

How We See Into the Future

Andrew Blum

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Paperback

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English

Bodley Head
02 July 2019

Social forecasting, future studies; Mathematics & Sciences; Impact of science & technology on society; Popular science; Weather

Shall we take an umbrella... or evacuate the city? The Weather Machine is about a miraculous-but-overlooked invention that helps us through our daily lives - and sometimes saves them - by allowing us to see into the future.

When Superstorm Sandy hit North America, weather scientists had predicted its arrival a full eight days beforehand, saving countless lives and astonishing us with their capability. Their skill is unprecedented in human history and draws on nearly every major invention of the last two centuries- Newtonian physics, telecommunications, spaceflight and super-computing.

In this gripping investigation, Andrew Blum takes us on a global journey to explain this awe-inspiring feat - from satellites circling the Earth, to weather stations far out in the ocean, through some of the most ingenious minds and advanced algorithms at work today. Our destination- the simulated models they have constructed of our planet, which spin faster than time, turning chaos into prediction, offering glimpses of our future with eery precision.

This collaborative invention spans the Earth and relies on continuous co-operation between all nations - a triumph of human ingenuity and diplomacy we too often shrug off as a tool for choosing the right footwear each morning. But in this new era of extreme weather, we may come to rely on its maintenance and survival for our own.

By: Andrew Blum
Imprint: Bodley Head
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 153mm
Weight: 278g
ISBN: 9781847923417
ISBN 10: 1847923410
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 02 July 2019
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Andrew Blum is the author of Tubes- Behind the Scenes at the Internet, described as 'utterly engrossing ... the year's most stimulating and original travel book' (Independent) and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He writes about infrastructure, architecture, design, technology, urbanism, art, and travel. Since 1999, his articles and essays have appeared in Wired, Popular Science, Metropolis, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, New Yorker and many more publications. He has degrees in literature from Amherst College and in human geography from the University of Toronto, and lives in his native New York City.

Reviews for The Weather Machine: How We See Into the Future

This fascinating book reveals the existence and origins of surely one of our species' greatest creations, and Andrew Blum is the perfect writer to share both the remarkable human stories and the astonishing technical wizardry behind it all -- MARK VANHOENACKER, author of Skyfaring Sharp, stylish and often surprising. In this absorbing book Andrew Blum tracks the development, from wild dream to astonishing reality, of the quietly revolutionary technology that shapes our everyday lives -- PETER MOORE, author of The Weather Experiment Andrew Blum is a master of revealing the hidden systems behind technologies we take for granted. In the The Weather Machine he takes on the daily forecast, and the result is deeply researched, tightly written, compulsively readable and totally fascinating -- SETH FLETCHER, author of Einstein's Shadow Utterly engrossing. The year's most original and stimulating 'travel' book * Independent on Tubes * Entertaining and illuminating. Excels at rooting the Internet in real-world locations. Full of memorable images that make its complex architecture easier to comprehend * Observer on Tubes *