18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather

We technically swim in it, extract oxygen from it via our lungs and generally ignore it. 18 Miles is a study of the Earth’s atmosphere and its weather. The author, Christopher Dewdney, knows how to write with a great balance of fact, anecdote, and speculation mixed with a bit of dry (sometimes wry) humor. The history of the atmosphere, from high carbon dioxide to high oxygen, the layers of the atmosphere, the history of cloud classification are all sections building up to our time and weather. So, the explanations of rain, storms, violent storms, and winds we see make sense. The precise/imprecise record of weather forecasting is detailed, although the author seems to think it is precise. He then discusses the seasons, winter and ice ages; past, current and future; and touches lightly on climate change and what may or may not be causing it. Lastly a look at how weather made or changed history and a journey the other way to the earth’s core. This is a very readable book. It moves quickly keeping the reader interested by the science, the misconceptions, and the wonder of the atmosphere. The author states he fell in love with weather when he was quite young. It is easy to read that he has never fallen out of love with it. His joy and delight are evident in his writing, evidences and stories. I recommend this book to curious readers who want to know than simply, “cloudy today with a slight chance of showers”.