A Sideways Look At Clouds

Download or read book A Sideways Look at Clouds written by Maria Mudd Ruth and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2017-08-18 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Written by a critically-acclaimed natural-history author • Shares author’s fun journey to understanding clouds • Written for the curious—but non-science—minded Author Maria Mudd Ruth fell in love with clouds the same way she stumbles into most passions: madly and unexpectedly. A Sideways Look at Clouds is the story of her quite accidental infatuation with and education about the clouds above. When she moved to the soggy Northwest a decade ago, Maria assumed that locals would know everything there was to know about clouds, in the same way they talk about salmon, tides, and the Seahawks. Yet in her first two years of living in Olympia, Washington, she never heard anyone talk about clouds—only the rain. Puzzled by this lack of cloud savvy, she decided to create a 10-question online survey and sent it to everyone she knew. Her sample size of 67 people included men and women, new friends in Olympia, family on the East Coast, outdoorsy and indoorsy types, professional scientists, and liberal arts majors like herself. The results showed that while people knew a little bit about clouds, most were like her—they had a hard time identifying clouds or remembering their names. As adults, they had lost their curiosity and sense of wonder about clouds and were, essentially, not in the habit of looking up. A Sideways Look at Clouds acknowledges the challenges of understanding clouds and so uses a very steep and bumpy learning curve—the author’s—as its plot line. The book is structured around the ten words used in most definitions of a cloud: “a visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the earth.” A captivating story teller, Maria blends science, wonder, and humor to take the scenic route through the clouds and encourages readers to chart their own rambling, idiosyncratic course.

Download or read book Rare Bird written by Maria Mudd Ruth and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Rare insights into the trials and joys of scientific discovery.” —Publisher’s Weekly

Download or read book The Skies Above written by Dennis Mersereau and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2022-04-01 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Skies Above explains nearly any and everything weather-related...enlightening and a worthwhile source" -- Portland Book Review 2022 National Outdoor Book Award Silver Medalist in Nature/Environment Full-color photography and illustrations Details seasonal events, from Nor’easters and northern lights to fire whirls and tornadoes Sidebars dive into fascinating facts, quirky phenomena, historic weather events, myths, and more Written by self-professed weather geek Dennis Mersereau, The Skies Above is designed to inspire equal parts amazement and curiosity. Accessible science, illuminating illustrations, and stunning photography bring the meteorological world to life. From basics such as weather fronts and types of precipitation to more unusual occurrences like polar vortexes, meteor showers, solar eclipses, and the spectacular mammatus clouds that signify a supercell thunderstorm, Mersereau tracks key phenomena across the seasons and demystifies celestial events visible to the naked eye but still enigmatic to most. He also delves into how climate change affects weather, forecasts, and other events, such as devastating wildfires and historic hurricanes churning across the Atlantic Ocean. The Skies Above provides readers with a deeper understanding of the processes and events that fill our skies, which not only soothes the anxiety produced by raucous storms, but instills a stronger and more meaningful appreciation of the beauty of days both stormy and calm.

Download or read book Beginnings, Middles, & Ends written by Ogden Willis Rogers and published by White Hat Communications. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sideways story is some moment in life when you thought you were doing one thing, but you ended up learning another. A sideways story can also be a poem, or prose, that, because of the way it is written, may not be all that direct in its meaning. What’s nice about both clouds, and art, is that you can look at them and just resonate. That can be good for both the heart and the mind. Many of the moments of this book have grown from experiences the author has had or stories he used in his lectures with students or told in his office with clients. Some of them have grown from essays written for others, for personal or professional reasons. They are moments on a path through the discovery of social work, a journey of beginnings, middles, and ends. With just the right blend of humor and candor, each of these stories contains nuggets of wisdom that you will not find in a traditional textbook. They capture the essence and the art and soul of social work. In a world rushed with the illusion of technique and rank empiricism, it is the author’s hope that some of the things here might make some moment in your thinking or feeling grow as a social worker. If they provoke a smile, or a tear, or a critical question, it’s worth it. Everyone makes a different journey in a life of social work. These stories are one social worker’s travelogue along the way.

Download or read book Firefighting written by Maria Mudd-Ruth and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1998 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains the challenging and dangerous work performed by firefighters, the clothing they wear, and the special gear they use.

Download or read book Still Life with Oysters and Lemon written by Mark Doty and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2002-07-10 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mark Doty's prose has been hailed as "tempered and tough, sorrowing and serene" (The New York Times Book Review) and "achingly beautiful" (The Boston Globe). In Still Life with Oysters and Lemon he offers a stunning exploration of our attachment to ordinary things-how we invest objects with human store, and why.

Download or read book Exquisite written by Suzanne Slade and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A picture-book biography of celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize A 2021 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book A 2021 Association of Library Service to Children Notable Children's Book Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) is known for her poems about “real life.” She wrote about love, loneliness, family, and poverty—showing readers how just about anything could become a beautiful poem. Exquisite follows Gwendolyn from early girlhood into her adult life, showcasing her desire to write poetry from a very young age. This picture-book biography explores the intersections of race, gender, and the ubiquitous poverty of the Great Depression—all with a lyrical touch worthy of the subject. Gwendolyn Brooks was the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize, receiving the award for poetry in 1950. And in 1958, she was named the poet laureate of Illinois. A bold artist who from a very young age dared to dream, Brooks will inspire young readers to create poetry from their own lives.