... [a] vivid account ... Mr. Blum runs through the early history of weather prediction before embarking on a grand tour of forecasting institutions across Europe and America. He is a sharp analyst and engaging guide, adept at translating difficult concepts in meteorology and computer science for the uninitiated. He compellingly emphasizes the forecast’s diplomatic foundations.
The future is often portrayed, in books and in articles, as being overrun by the sinister consequences of robotics and artificial intelligence. In The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast, Andrew Blum offers a reassuring counterpoint to such technodystopias ... one of the most suggestive conclusions of this book is that weather forecasting is shaped by society’s larger agendas ... In his overview of 19th-century weather scientists, Mr. Blum surprisingly omits the distinguished British meteorologist James Glaisher, who risked his life to obtain data by soaring aloft in a balloon. Mr. Blum also mistakenly states that Nazi Germany’s attempt to install 'a clandestine intercontinental automatic weather station' in Canada was 'the only known Nazi incursion on North American soil.' In truth, Nazi saboteurs also landed in New York and Florida. Finally, the book gives a rather perfunctory account of climate change—which is startling, since climate change could, conceivably, profoundly alter our culture, our lives, our planet’s very geography.
Journalist Blum...breaks down the near-unimaginable complexity of the weather forecasting system into its component parts ... Though readers may occasionally get lost in a sea of acronyms, Blum most often manages to draw clear lines between theory and practice. This is a lucid and approachable guide to the satellites, scientists, and supercomputers that make up the forecasting system we so often take for granted.
Andrew Blum is an American geek with a gift for explaining complicated things in simple sentences ... he reveals the flaw in the worldwide system that delivers our weather forecasts, but he does so in such a low-key way that you can easily miss it. It’s as if, having interviewed dozens of meteorological movers and shakers, he is reluctant to point the finger at anyone who is making weather forecasting worse rather than better. Yet his impeccably researched book discloses precisely where the problem lies ... but I am perturbed by his lack of indignation because by making hyperbolic claims about being able to predict the weather in any location at any hour these apps are bringing the whole weather-forecasting business into disrepute. And that is merely one aspect of another much bigger issue, which Blum again identifies without condemning outright.
In a clear and entertaining manner, Blum...explains the development and current status of weather prediction systems ... A highly readable and accessible entry into the world of meteorology; of interest to everyone who is affected by weather.
... compelling ... Blum is engagingly in awe of complicated machinery ... Blum’s success in translating the history of weather data into a satisfying narrative is due largely to his unerring eye for detail.
Based on many interviews, this revealing, nicely crafted book guides us gently into a daunting subject through stories of unexpected people and events ... A solid popular account with plenty of quirky detail about this 'new way of seeing into the future.'
Excursions to forecasting labs and weather stations around the world, along with interviews with behind-the-scenes scientists, fill in the blanks, while asides on the political ramifications of weather satellites and global forecasting and on Thomas Jefferson’s early forays into forecasting add depth and intrigue. Thanks to Blum’s immersive research, readers will come away with a greater appreciation for the hard work that goes into something often taken for granted.
