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Firmament

The Hidden Science of Weather, Climate Change and the Air That Surrounds Us

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Firmament

By: Simon Clark
Narrated by: Simon Clark
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About this listen

A thin, invisible layer of air surrounds the Earth, sustaining all known life on the planet and creating the unique climates and weather patterns that make each part of the world different.

In Firmament, atmospheric scientist and science communicator Simon Clark offers a rare and accessible tour of the ins and outs of the atmosphere and how we know what we know about it. From the workings of its different layers to why carbon dioxide is special, from pioneers like Pascal to the unsung heroes working in the field to help us understand climate change, Firmament introduces us to an oft-overlooked area of science and not only lays the ground work for us to better understand the debates surrounding the climate today, but also provides a glimpse of the future that is possible with this knowledge in hand.

©2022 Simon Clark (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Atmospheric Science Earth Sciences Environment Science Climate Science

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All stars
Most relevant
As a person who watched Simon Clark’s YouTube videos and listens to the Wikicast, I have been looking forwards to this book for a long time. I was scared that it would be too technical to me, as physics is one of my weakest academic areas and I’ve always struggled with the meteorology parts of my courses on climate at uni the most, but it was good. It mixed formal and informal narration making it easy and fun to follow. I guess it helps that I’m used to listening to Simon talk a lot in podcast or video form haha.

There were a couple aspects regarding ethics and the colonial history of science that I wish Simon would have expanded on, but in the end it is a natural science book more than a social one (even if I believe that they intersect more than they are presented as doing).

Anyway! I would definitely recommend giving this a read if you are interested in learning about atmospheric science or some climate change basics.

A good listen!

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I did my bachelors in chemistry. it was really interesting to hear about the different backgrounds and history of how some of the fundamental elements of science came to be.

fascinating storys about the origins of atmospheric science

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I absolutely devoured this book. Both the narrative and the performance were excellent. Clark takes you on a journey through the atmosphere but diverges off to so many interesting lines of thought, which only enhances this book. The first half of the book is generally for setting up the fundamental knowledge about the atmosphere, which is clearly explained. The author achieves this by telling the amazing stories of the early natural philosophers and victorian aeronauts who first theorised about the atmosphere.

During the second half of the book, Clark highlights the enormous complexity of the atmospheric system by delving into complex and lesser known topics which depend upon understanding atmospheric science. I enjoyed hearing about my own research field of outdoor sound propagation receive some attention, as it too depends on understanding the atmospheric giant. Clark still manages to explain each complexity in clear and understandable ways by using thought experiments.

I guess my only critique is that it was too short. Best book I've read this year.

Best popular science book on atmospheric science.

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Such a good combination of easy to understand science and fascinating history. the narration is clear and easy to follow, and the book is neither too short or too long. highly recommend!

Brilliant

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If you are already familiar with Simon Clark from YouTube you will find his narration and story telling very familiar and accessible.

This is a very broad area of science, to which he brings his characteristic style to and takes the listener along for an enlightening story.

A compelling journey through the history of climate science

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