: William Ferrel, a self-taught 19th-century American farmer, used a pitchfork to carve equations into a barn door to explain why hurricanes move in circles and how heat flows from the equator to the poles.
Walker highlights the "wacky characters" behind these breakthroughs: Go to product viewer dialog for this item. An Ocean of Air: Why the Wind Blows and Other M...
The book details how humanity gradually understood the complex layers above our heads: The Human Side of Discovery : A one-eyed
: Reclusive genius Oliver Heaviside predicted a "mirror in the sky"—a layer of electrically charged metal that allows radio signals to bounce around the globe, a discovery that would later aid in the rescue of the Titanic. The Human Side of Discovery : William Ferrel
: A one-eyed barnstorming pilot discovered invisible "rivers of air" five miles above the Earth that blow with hurricane force.