Heaven's Breath: A Natural History of the Wind

I read this book years ago while kayaking in the Sea of Cortez. The winds were always on our minds, determining when we could paddle, when we would go to shore...how much sand was in our rice and fish. The book was a wonderful and interesting examination of more aspects of wind than I could have imagined. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in thinking about why things are the way they are in our natural world.

You find a book by chance, just cruising the shelves at the library, the evocative title makes you pick it up. You fall in love with it. It inspires you to write a poem. You return it. Then you forget the author, the title -- key word searches come up with nothing. You've lost it. You would be haunted by a book like this.And so ten years later when you happened upon it at Half-Price books, it was like finding a ring that you'd thought would be lost forever.I adore this scientific, philosophical, endearing, poetic, book.

By rhythm, content, and just plain curious facts this is one of the best nature books around. Whether the discussion is of the winds of Jupiter or the winds of the Sahara, Watson is consistently engaging and erudite. Don't miss the appendix with the best list of winds from around the world, including Foehn, Zephyr, Sirrocco and Santa Ana.

It covers everything about the wind you can imagine, and then some. Required reading for the seasoned meteorologist and the weather-watching dabbler alike. Not only powerfully informative but an extemely intriguing and pleasurable read. One of my top ten all time favorite books.