Something Warm, Something New

摘要

I must admit to some skepticism when first asked to review The Discovery of Global Warming, The topic has been one of substantial scientific interest, especially over the last 15 years, and there have been many reports in the media about findings of note. What then could another book contribute to the mass of information we have already learned? I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Spencer Weart's account provides much valuable and interesting material about how the discipline developed╚Dnot just from the perspective of climate science but also within the context of the field's relation to other scientific disciplines, the media, political trends, and even 20th-century history (particularly the Cold War). In addition, Weart (the director of the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics) has done a valuable service by recording for posterity background information on some of the key discoveries and historical figures who contributed to our present understanding of the global warming problem.