Rain: A Natural and Cultural History

by Cynthia Barnett

Weaving together science with the human human story of our ambition to control rain, Barnett tells the story of rain -- elemental, mysterious, precious, and destructive.

• ISBN10: 9862354755
• ISBN13: 9789862354759
• Publish Date: 5 November 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Lian Pu Wen Hua/Tsai Fong Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: Chinese

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.  This is a history, not a science, text.  But as a history of rain, it's 100% more interesting than a book on rain would generally sound.  Filled with anecdotes that bring the history to life, and raise it a notch above a dry (ha!) academic narrative, once I got past the parts of history I always find slow (ie, any part we have to speculate about) I found it hard to put the book down.   The author tries tackle the subject globally, but generally, it's US-centric (which, if I remember right, she disclaims at the start).  There's a certain amount of doom and gloom when she gets to present day human vs. rain (spoiler: rain always wins), but I was incredibly please and very inspired by the stories she told about how certain cities are learning from their mistakes.  In a global culture that is so, I'm sorry, collectively stupid about climate change, it often feels like we're being beat about the head with it; we haven't yet figured out that, just as this tactic doesn't work on children, it doesn't work on humanity in general.  But a story about people learning from the past and taking steps to remediate the problems - that's what, in my opinion - is going to inspire the long-term change we so desperately need.   She ends the book with the most telling irony - her trip the the rainiest place on the planet, Mawsynram, where she experiences 5 cloud free, sunny days, while back home in Florida her family lives through the rainiest weather in the state's recorded history.   A pleasant, informative and well-written read.