Review:
Current hopes for a technological answer to global warming are not an altogether new quest; they echo a rich history of attempts to work upon the weather. James Rodger Fleming explores this history thoroughly, parading a colorful variety of scientists, visionaries, and charlatans who reveal important lessons about our past-and possible future.--Spencer Weart, author of The Discovery of Global Warming
With humanity's planetary impact reaching a Richter scale equivalent, what seem to be quick fixes become exceedingly tempting. Fixing the Sky's historical insights are a revelation--an anchor and essential base from which to consider addressing the greatest challenge in the history of our species.--Thomas E. Lovejoy, George Mason University and The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment
James Rodger Fleming's book is a kind of tour de folie, an authoritative recounting over two centuries of weather changers and climate controllers, rainmakers and rain fakers, and cloud seeders and fog dissolvers. All in all, an engrossing work about vain hopes and technological hubris--as well as a cautionary tale to anyone concerned with attempts to engineer the planet.--Dan Kevles, Yale University
Provides an essential foundation for understanding the long and dubious scientific tradition from which plans for climate control hail.--W. Patrick McCray "Science "
Provides a detailed account of weather modification.... The topic is an important one, and the book is relevant for scientists, stakeholders, policy makers, and concerned citizens alike.--Rasmus E. Benestad "American Scientist "
Fleming has provided another valuable contribution to the still tiny but emerging historiography of global warming.--Sam White "Monthly Review "
An entertaining book about a serious issue.--Gail Cooper "Technology and Culture "
Fleming is a masterful writer, at the top of his game, and his skill and good humor make this book a blast to read.--Paul Edwards "H-Environment Roundtable Reviews "
a very useful and entertaining book.--David Philip Miller "Metascience "
This is a marvellous text for classroom adoption, and will engage undergraduates with its resolute, fairminded and comprehensive approach to a difficult and utterly fascinating subject.--Mott Greene "Ambix "
About the Author:
James Rodger Fleming is a historian of science and technology and professor of science, technology, and society at Colby College. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), elected "for pioneering studies on the history of meteorology and climate change and for the advancement of historical work within meteorological societies," and a fellow at the American Meteorological Society. He recently held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution and the AAAS Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship while a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He enjoys fishing, good jazz, good barbecue, seeing students flourish, building a community of historians of the geosciences, and connecting the history of science and technology with public policy.
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