Americans and Their Weather

By William B. Meyer

Book Overview

This revealing book synthesizes research from many fields to offer the first complete history of the roles played by weather and climate in American life from colonial times to the present. Author William B. Meyer characterizes weather events as neutral phenomena that are inherently neither hazards nor resources, but can become either depending on the activities with which they interact. Meyer documents the ways in which different kinds of weather throughout history have represented hazards and resources not only for such exposed outdoor pursuits as agriculture, warfare, transportation, construction, and recreation, but for other realms of life ranging from manufacturing to migration to human health. He points out that while the weather and climate by themselves have never determined the course of human events, their significance as been continuously altered for better and for worse by the evolution of American life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195131827
• ISBN13: 9780195131826
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

A different angle on American history

William B. Meyer covers the history of relations, mostly economic, between Americans, and their weather and climate. The prose is serviceable, but there is a lot of information, a lot of it surprising. Examples:Climate was a major motivation for English colonization. The warmer climate in the South allowed different crops to be grown than in England. They would not compete with English crops, and would replace imports from warm countries like Italy.The Urban Heat Island effect was discovered in colonial times. It was considered enough of a health threat that President Thomas Jefferson proposed measures to ameliorate it, which were pretty much ignored. The large majority of agricultural workers who went to California during the Depression, were not in fact Okies fleeing the Dust Bowl. They were ex-sharecroppers from the South, fleeing unintended consequences of government policies. "Most migrants to California were victims less of the direct effects of bad weather than of measures taken for protection against good weather." (p. 162)I recommend this book to anyone interested in public policy related to weather or climate, or in a different perspective on American history.