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 | Why the Sky Is Blue: |
| LEARN MORE ABOUT PRINCETON'S SPECIAL SALE |
 Cloth $19.00 37% off regular price U.S. and Canada only |
Why is the sky blue? Parents don't know what to say when their children ask. Why the Sky Is Blue answers this ancient and surprisingly complex question in a more entertaining and accessible way than ever before. Götz Hoeppe takes the reader on a historical and scientific journey to show the various ways people in different times and places have explained why the sky looks blue. The richly illustrated story begins with ancient myths and philosophy and ends with the cutting-edge science of optics, statistical physics, and ozone depletion. Most importantly, it is the story of how scientists discovered that the sky's blue depends on life on Earth and the makeup of our planet's ozone layer. Without microbial life's impact on the composition of the atmosphere, the clear daytime sky would probably lack its distinctive color. And without the ozone, the twilight sky's color would also be very different--not the sapphire tone of l'heure bleue, but rather a yellowish or greenish hue. Why the Sky Is Blue shows that skylight can be viewed from a surprising variety of vantage points. We learn how our physiology and cognitive capacities govern our perception of the sky's color. And we discover why this everyday experience has been such a source of fascination and controversy over the centuries. Delightful and intriguing, Why the Sky Is Blue shows how the attempt to answer this age-old and deceptively simple question only enhances the magic of the blue sky we see above us. Götz Hoeppe is an editor of the popular German science magazine Spektrum der Wissenschaft and a lecturer in social anthropology at Heidelberg University. He is the author of Conversations on the Beach: Fishermen's Knowledge, Metaphor and Environmental Change in South India. "As Götz Hoeppe's excellent history of our attempts to explain the blue of the sky shows, from moments of wonder...scientific theories grow...A thorough and detailed history."--P. D. Smith, Times Literary Supplement Praise for the original German edition: "In this richly illustrated volume, the author describes and explains the color and appearance of the firmament, from earlier times to the current day. It is an exciting excursion from mythology, art, and philosophy up through modern science."--Die Welt Praise for the original German edition: "This is a multilayered book that makes a seemingly commonplace observation the starting point of an exciting journey of discovery . . . The color of the sky proves to be the key to understanding many of our cultural achievements in science, art and everyday life."--NDR 1's Bücherwelt Praise for the original German edition: "Hoeppe has succeeded in something completely special: the book combines the research of the natural sciences with philosophical and cultural reflections--all elegantly expressed."--Saarländischer Rundfunk "Delivering far more than the title promises, Hoeppe's book describes an intellectual quest that began with the ancients. He details our growing understanding of the sky's light, and the insights and experiments that brought it about. . . . A well-illustrated, rewarding read."--Jon Richfield, New Scientist "Hoeppe offers accessible insights into a question that extends well beyond the realm of science."--Deutsche-Welle "This book could as easily have been titled 'Is the Sky Blue?' And the answer to that is yes and no.... One of the interesting things about Why the Sky is Blue is that as a German, Hoeppe spreads credit for the development of physics farther east than most popular scientific histories in English do. He also presents a number of phenomena that readers can try out in their backyards."--Harry Eagar, Maui News List of Illustrations ix Subject Areas: | ||||||
Special online sale for customers in the U.S. & Canada only
Prices subject to change without notice File created: 10/18/2009 | ||||||
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