{"product_id":"a-vast-machine-isbn-9780262518635","title":"A Vast Machine","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe science behind global warming, and its history: how scientists learned to understand the atmosphere, to measure it, to trace its past, and to model its future.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eGlobal warming skeptics often fall back on the argument that the scientific case for global warming is all model predictions, nothing but simulation; they warn us that we need to wait for real data, “sound science.” In \u003ci\u003eA Vast Machine\u003c\/i\u003e Paul Edwards has news for these skeptics: without models, there are no data. Today, no collection of signals or observations—even from satellites, which can “see” the whole planet with a single instrument—becomes global in time and space without passing through a series of data models. Everything we know about the world's climate we know through models. Edwards offers an engaging and innovative history of how scientists learned to understand the atmosphere—to measure it, trace its past, and model its future.\u003c\/p\u003e[A] stimulating, well-written analysis...a visual feast.—\u003cb\u003eRonald E. Doel\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is an excellent book and a valuable resource for all sides in the debates over global warming.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eSteven Goldman\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEnvironmental History\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA compelling account of how political and scientific institutions, observation networks, and scientific practice evolved together over several centuries to culminate in the global knowledge infrastructure we have today.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eChad Monfreda\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eReview of Policy Research\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming\u003c\/i\u003e by Paul Edwards is an outstanding example of the potential for historians to contribute to broader public debates and give non-specialists insight into the work done by scientists and the process by which computer simulation has transformed scientific practice.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eThomas Haigh\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCommunications of the ACM\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA 2010 Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA thorough and dispassionate analysis by a historian of science and technology, Paul Edwards' book is well timed. Although written before the University of East Anglia e-mail leak, it anticipates many of the issues raised by the 'climategate' affair. [...] \u003ci\u003eA Vast Machine\u003c\/i\u003e puts the whole affair into historical context and should be compulsory reading for anyone who now feels empowered to pontificate on how climate science should be done.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eMyles Allen\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Vast Machine\u003c\/i\u003e...will be readily accessible to that legendary target, the general reader...The author's impressive scholarship and command of his material have produced a truly magisterial account.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eRichard J. Somerville\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eScience Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eI recommend this book with considerable enthusiasm. Although it's a term reviewers have made into a cliché, I think \u003ci\u003eA Vast Machine\u003c\/i\u003e is nothing less than a tour de force. It is the most complete and balanced description we have of two sciences whose results and recommendations will, in the years ahead, be ever more intertwined with the decisions of political leaders and the fate of the human species.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eNoel Castree\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Scientist\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the whole, this is a very good and informative read on the problems in atmospheric modeling and the way computers are—and have been—used in the process.\u003c\/p\u003e—\u003cb\u003eJeffrey Putnam\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eComputing Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e—Paul N. Edwards is Professor in the School of Information and the Department of History at the University of Michigan. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America\u003c\/i\u003e (1996) and a coeditor (with Clark Miller) of \u003ci\u003eChanging the Atmosphere: Expert Knowledge and Environmental Governance\u003c\/i\u003e (2001), both published by the MIT Press.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301387260133,"sku":"NP9780262518635","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262518635.jpg?v=1767720893","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/a-vast-machine-isbn-9780262518635","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}