I was reading this book when Storm Melissa hit Jamaica and that was a timely reminder of the destructive power of winds. In this book I learned that some parts of the world may be losing their winds and there is also concern about Global Stilling.
There was lots to interest me in these pages from the wind-shaped sand dunes of deserts to the Beaufort Scale and from the windless atmosphere of the Moon to the Coriolis effect on Earth. I was told of the windiest place on our planet (not where I would have guessed), the Great Red Spot of Venus, Dust Bowls and much else besides. There isn’t a great deal about wildlife here and perhaps the author missed a trick there, but there is so much to say about winds, their causes, impacts, places in history and literature, that he must have been spoiled for choice.
A very pleasant read.
The cover? It is quite difficult to show the movement of a clear fluid so this works quite well. I’d give it 7/10.
The Breath of the Gods: the history and future of the wind by Simon Winchester is published by William Collins.
Buy this book direct from Blackwell’s – a proper bookshop (and I’ll get a little bit of money from them).
