An amazing book! I had recently read a powerful piece by her, "An Unfrozen North" in High Country News, and wanted to read more of her writing, so tracked her down and discovered this book. It is a history of the scientists and ideas that have framed our understanding of the complexity of global climate relationships, and traces how "we" have come to understand them. Its a wonderful read!!! It has charming portraits of the scientists, makes accessible some of the ideas and understanding gleaned by their work, and it has descriptions of the consequences of extreme weather for the people who live through these events.It was published 2002, though, and I really want to see her write a volume 2, what we have learned in the last 15 years. But if you (like me) are fascinated by weather, and so curious about the 2017-2018 record storms on the east coast that are coming hand-in-hand with the record droughts and we are experiencing in the southwest, and with California's December fires, and want to understand more about the foundations of why we know they are linked, this is your book. Man's contribution to global warming is just a little bit at the end -- that is why I'm wanting to see her Vol. 2! Hope she is on it.