Snow: A History of the World's Most Fascinating Flake

by Anthony R. Wood

Overview

The complete story of snow, this is the first book to fully examine snow as a historical, cultural, and scientific phenomenon. From "Winter Wonderland" to "Snowmageddon," we've had a long, love-hate relationship with snow. This entertaining look at snow in all its delightful and fearsome manifestations delves into science, history, economics, and popular culture to examine snow's enduring hold on the imagination. Through profiles and anecdotes, the author discusses the reactions throughout history to snowfall. Snow, beautiful and magical, was sometimes considered one of nature's blessings. But then it was also a nuisance needing to be managed and moved, and worse, a terrifying, sometimes-crippling catastrophe to be battled. Blizzards and high-volume snowfall presented a serious obstacle to progress, travel, growth, and industry. Readers will learn about the making and removing of snow, the psychology of winter, and the history of snow in literature, art, and popular culture. The author also summarizes the current scientific understanding of major winter weather events and what is known about the complex interplay between the jet stream and the Gulf Stream. Despite sophisticated computer modeling, accurate forecasting is still a challenge. Finally, the book considers the impact of global warming on snowfall and the potential for causing a water crisis in the West and major losses in the winter recreation industry. Whether you look forward to months on the ski slopes or loathe the effects of winter on your daily commute, you'll come away from this book with a new appreciation for this amazing and important natural phenomenon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633885943
Publisher:	Prometheus Books
Publication date:	12/08/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	483,398
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

In more than thirty years as a staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Anthony R. Wood has written on many and varied subjects, including taxes, coastal development, and the Gulf Stream. He is currently the policy and solutions editor at Philadelphia Media Network, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and philly.com. His specialties, however, have been climate and weather. He has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize four times and won numerous awards, including a National Association of Science Writers award for a newspaper series and a Society of Professional Journalists award for environmental writing. He writes frequently about weather, and his weather columns have long been a popular philly.com feature.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 First Snows: Colonial Ambushes 1

Chapter 2 Snowmen: Giants of Snow Research 9

Chapter 3 Pax Nivalis: When Snow Was Welcome 35

Chapter 4 Majestic Silence: The Storm That Changed America 47

Chapter 5 Mighty Streams: The Conspirators of Blizzards 71

Chapter 6 Of Bombs and "Flakegate": When Forecasts Fail 93

Chapter 7 Battle of the Titans: The Rise of Commercial Weather 115

Chapter 8 Westward Snow: The Great White Reservoir 141

Chapter 9 Making It: The Art of Man-Made Snow 159

Chapter 10 The Vanishing: The Future of Snow 179

Epilogue: Panic and the Pursuit of Happiness 205

Addendum 215

Notes 217

Index 239

Editorial Reviews

09/28/2020

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and first-time author Wood delivers an amiable if disjointed look at those “magically varied crystals that we call ‘snow.’ ” Emphasizing that “some people will do almost anything to avoid , while others pine for it,” he weighs the positive and negative sides of winter weather, noting both the boon it provided to transportation in preindustrial America by creating “snow-and-ice surfaces and reliably frozen waterways” across which goods could be easily hauled, and the severe disruption and destruction brought about by storms like the 1888 Great White Hurricane and by more recent monster blizzards. People who share Wood’s passion for his subject prominently feature in his anecdotes, including Wilson Alwyn Bentley, the 19th-century Vermont farmer who captured microscopic images of snowflakes that transformed understandings of snow, and Joel Myers, the self-made founder of AccuWeather. Wood’s examples of how people react to snow are varied in time period, from the 17th century (when snowstorms were often received as signs of God’s anger) to the present (when the more common reaction to a bad forecast is to clear out convenience and grocery stores), but less so geographically, rarely venturing outside the northeastern U.S. This should appeal to those eagerly awaiting the first snowfall of the year, but will likely leave others out in the cold. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Wood's paean to snow, to ‘God's DNA,’ is part history, part science, part memoir, and entirely like an extended prose poem. Beautiful, mysterious, and famously unpredictable, snow has shaped American history, from Colonial era surprise at frequent deep snowfalls and frigid temperatures at latitudes far south of England's, to the shock of deadly bomb-carrying balloons in Oregon in 1944 that had ridden jet stream winds in the upper atmosphere all the way across the Pacific Ocean. Wood's story is sweeping, compelling, witty, and delightfully well-told. It's the perfect book for anyone whose heart leaps like a school child's whenever snow pops up in a weather forecast.” – Mark Bowden, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Blackhawk Down and Killing Pablo

“In Snow, Anthony R. Wood, one of the nation’s foremost chroniclers of weather, has given us a memorable cavalcade of the science, history, and pristine beauty of the snowflake. As Wood writes, ‘Weather has become a national pastime,’ and his work illuminates the legendary blizzards, the meteorologists who predicted them, those who failed to foresee them, and scientists — like Dave Robinson, known as ‘Dr. Snow’ in the trade — who can explain them. If you love snow and follow the weather, Snow — full of vivid descriptions, accessible science, [and] profiles of some memorable characters — will be indispensable reading.”   —William K. Marimow, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Veteran weather journalist Anthony Wood has written a riotously fun and fascinating history of one of nature’s most elegant creations: the snowflake. In his able hands, this beautiful, frustrating, and at times treacherous form of precipitation becomes a compelling page turner. Whether you await the first snow of the season with joy or trepidation, you will delight in this lively accounting of a natural phenomenon that has so deeply affected humankind over the ages. I was hooked from the first page. Who knew learning about the science of snowfall could be so entertaining?" —John Grogan, author of Marley & Me and The Longest Trip Home  

“As you read through Snow you will be introduced to some of the pioneers from the past and present. Although you may have never had the opportunity to meet or speak to any of them, there is a common thread – it is Anthony R. Wood – a pioneer in his own right. Never have I known someone outside meteorology who could so accurately report on or so easily explain the intricate working parts of the atmosphere as they relate to the science of meteorology. You will understand the love-hate relationship that we have with one of natures’ most paralyzing events.” – Jim Eberwine, former National Weather Service meteorologist and current Emergency Management Coordinator, Absecon, N.J.

"Emphasizing that 'some people will do almost anything to avoid [snow], while others pine for it,' he [Wood] weighs the positive and negative sides of winter weather, noting both the boon it provided to transportation in preindustrial America by creating “snow-and-ice surfaces and reliably frozen waterways” across which goods could be easily hauled, and the severe disruption and destruction brought about by storms like the 1888 Great White Hurricane and by more recent monster blizzards."-Publishers Weekly

"I read Snow in record time. It is a wonderful book, beautifully told, lush with knowledge and passion, always smart and coherent, and accessible. No small accomplishment!" —Gilbert M. Gaul, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Geography of Risk: Epic Storms, Rising Seas, and the Cost of America's Coast.

"An impressive job on a fascinating topic." -Dr. Norman  E. Rosenthal, clinical professor of psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical School, author of the Washington Post No. 1 best-seller Super Mind.

"Compelling book. ... It captivated me. ... There's some great storytelling here, plenty of Wood's characteristic wit and some fascinating geekery. Is it really true that no two flakes are alike? Read it and find out!"—Samdy Bauers, environmental writer

"Wonderful book ... It is a delightful, educational and entertaining read."-Sue Richardson, Jericho, VT Historical Society and great-grandniece of Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley

From the Publisher