The Secret World of Weather
How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Telegraph Best Books of 2021
'A wonderfully enthusiastic guide to how we can all learn how to understand the weather simply by looking and feeling, smelling and touching... scientifically rigorous and accessible' Observer
'Gooley marshals a riveting compendium of weather-reading skills . . . he has plenty of facts at his fingertips with which to excite' The Times
The weather changes as we walk around a tree or turn down a street. There is a secret world of weather - one that we all live in, but very few see.
Each day we pass dozens of small weather signs that reveal what the weather is doing all around us - and what is about to happen. The clues are easy to spot when you know how, but remain invisible to most people.
In The Secret World of Weather you'll discover the simple rules that explain the weather signs. And you'll learn rare skills that enhance every minute you spend outdoors, whether you are in a town, on a beach or in a wilder spot.
As the author of the international bestsellers The Walker's Guide and How to Read Water, Tristan Gooley knows how to de-code the phenomena and signs to look for. As he says, 'I want you to get to know these signs as I have, as characters. By studying their habits and behaviours, the signs come to life and the meaning reveals itself. From this flows an ability to read what is happening and what is about to happen.'
This is the ultimate guide to exploring an undiscovered world, one that hides in front of our eyes.
'A sensitive study that combines theoretical physics with beautiful nature writing' Telegraph
'This breezy new book reveals how to read nature's very own weather forecast . . . full of fascinating trivia' Daily Mail
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"It is time to... celebrate the weather signs that few notice," writes expedition leader Gooley (The Natural Navigator) in this ingenious collection of tips and tricks for analyzing and anticipating weather phenomena. Rather than relying on "charts on screens" to predict the weather, readers can look around their surroundings for clues. In a chapter on wind, for example, Gooley advises on how to note wind direction and changes, as "there is a strong connection between wind direction and weather changes." Another chapter covers plants, fungi, and lichens, and encourages readers to feel leaves for their texture, which can determine whether a place has received regular sunshine. Even the human fist, he writes, can help indicate how far away a storm cloud is if "you stretch out your fist on its side" and compare it to the height of a cloud. Gooley's knowledge is highly specialized (he goes so far as to provide the French term for a specific type of cloud, for example), but the wealth of wisdom on offer is impressive. Adventurers in the making will find this worth returning to.
