Book
Rain : a natural and cultural history / Cynthia Barnett.
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 rain dances to the 2,203 miles of levees that attempt to straitjacket the Mississippi River. As climate change upends rainfall patterns and unleashes increasingly severe storms and drought, Barnett shows rain to be a unifying force in a fractured world.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780804137096
- ISBN: 0804137099
- Physical Description: 355 pages ; 24 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Crown Publishers, [2015]
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-334) and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | Origins -- Elemental rain. Cloudy with a chance of civilization ; Drought, deluge, and devilry ; Praying for rain -- Chance of rain. The weather watchers ; The articles of rain -- American rain. Founding forecaster ; Rain follows the plow ; The rainmakers -- Capturing the rain. Writers on the storm ; The scent of rain ; City rains -- Mercurial rain. Strange rain ; And the forecast calls for change -- Waiting for rain. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Rain and rainfall. Weather. Rainfall anomalies. Droughts. Physical geography. Climatic changes Earth sciences. |
Available copies
- 9 of 9 copies available at Evergreen Indiana.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 9 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria-Monroe PL - Alexandria | 551.577 BAR (Text) | 37521530645060 | AMPL Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Danville-Center Twp PL - Danville | 551.57 Bar (Text) | 32604000203942 | AD Non-Fiction | Available | - |
| Greensburg-Decatur Co PL - Greensburg | 551.57 BARNETT (Text) | 32826012102687 | Adult Non-Fiction | Available | - |
| Jefferson Co PL - Madison Main Branch | 551.577 BAR (Text) | 39391006657496 | Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Lowell PL - Lowell | 551.577 BARN (Text) | 33113032679021 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Morgan Co PL - Martinsville Main Library | 551.577 BAR (Text) | 78551000520640 | Non-Fiction | Available | - |
| New Castle-Henry County PL - New Castle | 551.577 BARN (Text) | 39231033084548 | Adult Non-fiction Collection | Available | - |
| Otterbein PL - Otterbein | 551.577 BAR (Text) | 3404600475892 | Non-Fiction | Available | - |
| Starke Co PL - Schricker Main Library (Knox) | 551.577 BAR (Text) | 30032010660972 | ADULT NON-FICTION | Available | - |
Loading Recommendations...
- Baker & Taylor
A natural history of rain traces the ocean-filling torrents from four billion years ago through the storms of the present world's climate change, while sharing stories about humanity's efforts to control rain through science and magic. - Baker & Taylor
A natural history of rain draws on myriad disciplines to trace the ocean-filling torrents from 4 billion years ago through the storms of the present world's climate change while sharing stories about humanity's efforts to control rain through science and magic. - Random House, Inc.
Rain is elemental, mysterious, precious, destructive.
It is the subject of countless poems and paintings; the top of the weather report; the source of the world's water. Yet this is the first book to tell the story of rain.
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 scienceâthe true shape of a raindrop, the mysteries of frog and fish rainsâwith the human story of our ambition to control rain, from ancient rain dances to the 2,203 miles of levees that attempt to straitjacket the Mississippi River.It offers a glimpse of our "founding forecaster," Thomas Jefferson, who measured every drizzle long before modern meteorology. Two centuries later, rainy skies would help inspire Morrisseyâs mopes and Kurt Cobainâs grunge.Rain is also a travelogue, taking readers to Scotland to tell the surprising story of the mackintosh raincoat, and to India, where villagers extract the scent of rain from the monsoon-drenched earth and turn it into perfume.
Now, after thousands of years spent praying for rain or worshiping it; burning witches at the stake to stop rain or sacrificing small children to bring it; mocking rain with irrigated agriculture and cities built in floodplains; even trying to blast rain out of the sky with mortars meant for war, humanity has finally managed to change the rain. Only not in ways we intended. As climate change upends rainfall patterns and unleashes increasingly severe storms and drought, Barnett shows rain to be a unifying force in a fractured world. Too much and not nearly enough, rain is a conversation we share, and this is a book for everyone who has ever experienced it.
