Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #845754 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-19
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .88" h x 5.92" w x 8.38" l, .89 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Amazon.com
Jan DeBlieu lives on North Carolina's Outer Banks, where "wind is culture and heritage... Wind toughens us, moves mountains of sand as we watch, makes it difficult to sleepwalk through life." She always knows how fast the wind is blowing, and from what direction. She knows which winds are good for fishermen, and which are good for surfers. In Wind, DeBlieu teaches what she knows, and more. Watching the wind ruffle the water, turn tree branches into whips, or capsize a sailboat, she uses her powers of observation and lyrical writing to beautifully communicate what she sees. From the windy myths, religions, and creation stories of cultures worldwide, to the hardcore science of air movements and meteorology, to the stories of people whose lives are forever changed by hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes, Wind covers vast territory.

"I'd rather look at Grandma's drawers than see a backing wind," say folks on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Someone who is following an unlikely dream is said to be "chasing the wind." And if we suspect a big change is coming, we say, "something is in the wind." We name the winds: sirocco, Santa Ana, williwaw, chinook, monsoon. DeBlieu traces the ways wind shapes our reality, the earth's land and water, plants and animals, exploring everything in dramatic, immediate, and lucid prose.

"It begins with a subtle stirring caused by sunlight falling on the vapors that swaddle the earth. It is fueled by extremes--the stifling warmth of the tropics, the bitter chill of the poles. Temperature changes set the system in motion: hot air drifts upward and, as it cools, slowly descends.... Gradually the vapors begin to swirl as if trapped in a simmering cauldron. Air molecules are caught by suction and sent flying.... As the world spins, it brushes them to one side but does not slow them. Tumbling together, the particles of air become a huge, unstoppable current."

And so the winds are born. Read Wind and you'll never again take an exhilarating kite-flying day for granted. --Therese Littleton

From AudioFile
The reader's melodic voice seems to smile while describing the influences of wind on life forms, geography, and our planet's environment. The narrator's cheerfully pedantic delivery suits a book in which science is mixed with the author's own life experiences. Despite a few factual lapses, the book won the John Burroughs Medal for distinguished natural history writing. The relaxed treatment of bird migrations, plant pollen, tree growth, sand dunes, ocean waves, marine currents, tornadoes, and hurricanes will best suit a young adult audience ready to move on from Harry Potter. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Wind has a hand in every aspect of life on Earth, from weather to ocean waves, evolution, and our very own moods. DeBlieu, an accomplished nature writer, makes visible this invisible force in her ambitious synthesis of mythology, science, and observation. She presents ancient myths that attest to the enormous influence wind has had on our cosmologies, and lucidly explains the physics of wind. One facet of this wide-ranging discussion involves how wind determines the distribution of moisture on the planet, thus playing an integral role in the rise and fall of civilizations, a theme DeBlieu links to a consideration of wind-borne pollution and the effects the leveling of rain forests has on wind and meteorological patterns. Wind carries life, from seeds to insects and birds, and has enabled people to sail the seas and to fly, but wind is a destroyer, too, and DeBlieu chronicles some infamous storms. This is nature writing at its most expansive and rewarding. Donna Seaman