Song of the Sky

"Song of the Sky" is about the "ocean of air," aviation, and navigation -- how people through history have found their way from one place on earth to another. The range and quality of the author's writing make it a fascinating book that holds the reader's interest throughout 400 pages. This is popular science and adventure writing at its best. Murchie builds his story around a single flight from the U.S. to Europe of a commercial airliner in the early 1950s. He was the navigator on the flight and he describes how he determines the aircraft's speed and direction and pinpoints his location. (He speaks of his "computer" which in reality was a wooden slide rule. "Song of the Sky" was published in 1954 when navigation was still a paper and pen affair.) Chapter one leads with the dramatic story of an ice build up on the wings of his airplane which threatens to cause it to stall and crash. Murchie then broadens out his subject to give a fascinating history of navigation through the ages, including a lot of attention to Pacific Islanders who navigated over thousands of miles of empty oceans by charting and remembering patterns in ocean waves and currents. He describes weather and storms and their impact on flying and includes a lot of tales of flying adventures and misadventures to illustrate his points. "Song of the Sky" was published 50 years ago and so the reader may expect to find a few anachronisms -- but very few. The heart of the book is sound. This is one of the most exciting and informative books I have ever read and it has a permanent place on my bookshelf. As a book about aviation, I find it far superior to "Wind, Sand and Stars" which is often considered the classic of the genre. Smallchief

My wife and I have bought, sold and given away about 50 copies of this wonderful book since 1979. In 1980, we located Mr. Murchie, by telephone at his home in New Hampshire and talked to him a long time, he was 80 years old then.I talked to him one other time, then lost contact with him after that.He was so kind and knowlegable, even sent us an autographed copy of his 2nd edition and we later located an autograhed 1st edition. If your care anything about weather, flying or natural science,you should read this book!! I told him the book was so well written it could be taught in school as a text, he modestly said "it has been". If you ever wondered how a bird takes off, or how its feathers were formed, read this book! we have ever book this wonderful man wrote and they are all exceptional!!

Song of The Sky; An Exploration of the Ocean of Air by Guy Murchie First Published by Houghton Mifflin 1954 Simple descriptions or labels cannot capture the essence of this eclectic and well-researched book, which proved a popular award winner in its day. The recipe includes one part meterology, one part navigation, one part history of early flight, one part bird flight, one part flying lore, one part travel log, one part war story, seasoned with a dash of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Six pages detail the names of the planet's various winds, in the native tongues of the people who encounter them. In trying to comprehend how the book came to be so varied, it helps to understand that the author was a mariner, a school teacher, a pilot, a navigator, a musician, a war correspondent, and an artist. He has illustrated the book with pen and ink renderings of art deco C-54 transports, majestic sky scapes, and technical sketches of snow crystals. In all, it is as rich and comprehensive response to flight and the sky as any author has recorded for us.

Murchie was obviously a great influence on Richard Bach's early flying books. His narrative style of framing topics about navigation within a flight across the Atlantic must have been the inspiration for Bach's "Stranger to the Ground," another great book about flying. Murchie takes you on journies through the evolution of early ocean navigation, celestial navigation, and flight. Fascinating even for non-pilots and non-science oriented readers. A master of explaining complex phenomenon, "Song of the Sky" will leave the reader with an appreciation of man's long struggle to conquer the ocean and sky. If you like Richard Bach or Ernest Gann, you will absolutely love "Song of the Sky."

Guy Murchie is extraordinary: a wartime flier who knows the world of science intimately, yet describes it all with the soul of a poet. Go aloft with him: feel the air currents lift your body, yet know why the air molecules move as they do. Whether you are interested in airplanes--or meteorology-- or navigation--or not, this book belongs in your library. Illustrated with numerous tiny drawings by the author.