Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDRain is elemental, mysterious, precious, destructive. It is the subject of countless poems and paintings; the top of the weather report; the source ofthe world's water. Yet this is the first book to tell the story of rain. Cynthia Barnett'sRainbegins four...
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LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDRain is elemental, mysterious, precious, destructive. It is the subject of countless poems and paintings; the top of the weather report; the source ofthe world's water. Yet this is the first book to tell the story of rain. Cynthia Barnett'sRainbegins four billion years ago with the torrents that filled the oceans, and builds to the st
show less
Format: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B00N6PET5S
Publisher: Crown
Pages no: 368
Edition language: English
Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. This is a history, not a science, text. But as a history of rain, it's 100% more interesting than a book on rain would generally sound. Filled with anecdotes that bring the history to life, and raise it a notch above a dry (ha!) academic narrative, onc...
Cynthia Barnett's Rain begins four billion years ago with the torrents that filled the oceans, and builds to the storms of climate change. It weaves together science—the true shape of a raindrop, the mysteries of frog and fish rains—with the human story of our ambition to control rain, from ancient ...
Why ever did I decide to read a book about rain? It's not as if there isn't enough rain already where I live (although there's said to be extreme drought in my region compared to other years, I've seemed to have failed to notice this change). However, it turned out to be a very good decision since i...
Some interesting bits and pieces, but generally too wishy-washy and USA-centric. Not enough science, too much story telling.
Rain: A Natural History weaves together planetary science, geology, early earth history, meteorology, human history, cultural studies, travel stories, and even poetry into an entertaining and fascinating account of rain and our relationship to it. The book is beautifully written--vivid, sometimes hu...
8 years ago
10 years ago
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