The Discovery of Global Warming (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine)
The Discovery of Global Warming (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine) – Review
The Discovery of Global Warming is a very excellent introduction to climate science (CS) as a whole. While CS is usually seen as a new development by the general public it has been around for quite a while. Weart does a excellent charge of detailing the both the event of CS and the reason scientists eventually became interested. One of the more remarkable aspects Weart brings out is how basic items such as soot, water vapor, climate cycles, sun spots, etc. were officially recognized as adding elements and addressed. CS started as an attempt to explain the ice ages, but early on CO2 was found as a wild card that may affect the earth’s climate. Weart identifies the different players in the basic science, and the involvements of each. CS quickly picked up in the 1950’s as a technical field, and Weart covers this very well. It is interesting to learn that so much of CS was due to military research on climate and weather, stemming from the WWII experiences, and an appreciation of how a better fully understanding of how weather works could help shipping and possible military operations. Early attempts at climate modeling are completely covered, along with the struggle to determine origins of varying weather effects, and which agents would have a better effect over the long term. Overall, Weart covers CS from it’s inception to the present, describing the main players, how the science developed, how it eventually became international in scope, and a broad look at political reaction. This is a excellent history that will inform on how climate science has originally developed. This book does not concentrate at all on the deniers, and the efforts by industry and some politicians, think tanks, etc. to subvert the consensus on global warming. Descriptions of the science are necessarily broad, this is not a technical manual on how the science works. If you want a book that will cover the overall curve of CS, from the usually beginning flickers of an idea to the present, this is a well valuable acquisition.