Synopses & Reviews
Outside of yoga class, we donand#8217;t pay too much attention to the air we take in every day. Long one of the essential elements to life on earthand#151;from the atmospheric composition that gave life to the coal-forming forests some three hundred million years ago to the air that fuels our most important technologies todayand#151;we think little of its incredible properties. In this innovative cultural and scientific history, Peter Adey takes stock of the great ocean of air that surrounds us, exploring our attempts to understand, engineer, make sense of, and find meaning in it.
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Adey examines how humans have managed and manipulated air as a natural resource and, in doing so, have been taken to the limits of survival, brought to high-altitude mountain peaks, subterranean worlds, and the troughs of new moral depths. Going beyond how vital air has been to our philosophical, scientific, and technological pursuits, he also reveals the way that the artistic and literary imagination has been lifted through air and how, in air, cultures have learned to express and inspire each other. Combining established figures such as Joseph Priestley, John Scott Haldane, and Marie Curie with unlikely individuals from painting, literature, and poetry, this richly illustrated book unlocks new perspectives into the science and culture of this pervasive but unnoticed substance.
Review
andldquo;Air drifts delightfully over a wide range of subjects, never dwelling on any for too long but reveling in the connections and cultural context of our relationship with air. It is also a physically beautiful volume, full of oil paintings and architectural diagrams, wind tunnels and prehistoric dragonflies. Adeyandrsquo;s writing style is elegantandmdash;he addresses complex issues without slipping into jargon and is able to inject excitement into the subject without the text becoming stylized or distracting. . . . It is [his] ability to show us different perspectives and build new connections between ideas that enables Adey to turn ever-present, everyday air into something strange and magical.andrdquo;and#160;
Synopsis
Air has always been essential to life: from the atmospheric composition that gave life to the forests and gigantic insects of the Carboniferous age some 300 million years ago to the air that fuels the most important technologies today. We are immersed in a great ocean of air: from internal combustion and jet engines, to modern cities with artificial climates, air is remarkable because it is so widespread and at the same time so intimate. But by managing and manipulating air as a natural resource, humans have been taken to the limits of their survival, brought to the extreme situations of high altitude mountain peaks, and taken to the lows of subterranean worlds and the troughs of new moral depths. Yet rarely are we aware of air and its incredible properties.
Air is an innovative cultural and scientific history that focuses on our attempts to understand air, to engineer and grapple with it, to make sense of it and find meaning in it. For as essential air has been to our philosophical, scientific and technological pursuits, Adey shows that it is through air that the artistic and literary imagination has been lifted. It is also in air that cultures have learnt to express and inspire each other.
Combining established figures such as Joseph Priestley, John Scott Haldane, and Marie Curie with previously unseen heroes and perspectives from painting, literature, and poetry, this richly illustrated book will appeal to anyone interested in the science as well as the culture of this pervasive, often unregarded, yet vital substance.
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About the Author
Peter Adey is professor of human geography in the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway University of London.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Airborne
An Excess of Air
Restoration
Insulation
Mirage
Dust to Dust
Air Timeline
References
Select Bibliography
Associations and Websites
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index