Richard Wolfson

In Earth's Changing Climate, Professor Richard Wolfson presents a clear and concise explanation of how (and why) our planet's climate is changing. To those who say, "the Earth's climate is always changing, and has changed many times in the past", he explains that those past changes occurred due to natural causes over hundreds of thousands or millions of years, and today's changes are occurring hundreds of times more rapidly than past "natural" changes. He explains how past "natural" changes show more have occurred, and explains how anthropogenic changes are unlike the past, and why these rapid changes present severe challenges to our now heavily populated planet.

The information is presented in a series of twelve "lectures", each of which is clear and understandable to the non-scientist. The data provides the accepted technical information from scientific organizations across the globe, and is refreshing in that it's not done in a partisan way as one might hear from ideologues on either side of the argument trying to make political points.

If there's a downside to the book, it's mainly in format I selected. I listened to the book, which is great for a daily commute in an automobile, but doesn't lend itself to easily reference the graphs and slide the author sometimes refers to when making his points. To truly understand the information, seeing the graphs really drives the message home. The graphs and charts are available with the audiobook, however if one chooses to listen to the audiobook in the car, as I did, the strength of the arguments being made might not be fully appreciated. However, if the reader has access to the graphs, or already has a fairly good understanding of the information, the need to see the graphs as Professor Woldson discusses the information is not as important.

One other very minor critique is that the information in the book no longer is the most current.
The book is about five years old, and the science and knowledge of climate change continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The information in the book is still valid, of course, however the most recent data available only makes Professor Wolfson's points all the more poignant. show less

A very short read, and rather entertaining. It starts with some historical overview of the ideas and goes into the subject of relativity using simple, lucid explanations. It doesn't really go into the heavy mathematics, so if you are new to the subject it is quite good.

It explains how people thought of the Ether and other such things so it was pretty interesting for all of that.

You wouldn't think we needed another popularization on relativity, but this one is engagingly done.

Video lecture by The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com) about the basic science behind climate change and global warming. Although I already know a lot about climate change, I learned a lot from this course and feel more confident about what the mainstream/traditional views are, and where there are questions of less certainty. This is basic education everyone should have in high school, like chemistry and biology. There is a considerable amount of politics surrounding global warming, and show more having the knowledge to separate the science from the politics is vital, which this course provides the basic scientific facts. show less