Hamblin, Jacob D., ed., Roundtable Review of Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control by James R. Fleming. H-Environment Roundtable Reviews 1, no. 3 (August 2011),
www.h‐net.org/~environ/roundtables/env‐roundtable‐1‐3.pdf.
If climate change mitigation through political agreement has no hope of succeeding, does tinkering with the climate make sense? In May 2011, the National Research Council (of the US National Academies) published the final part of its report, America’s Climate Choices. The report called for more research on ways to manage not only greenhouse gases but also the solar radiation reaching the earth. And yet, despite this call for research, the report unequivocally described any short-term attempts to manipulate the earth as “imprudent,” and any long-term planning based upon such attempts as “unwise.” After reading James Rodger Fleming’s Fixing the Sky, it is clear that such ideas have tempted scientists and natural philosophers for centuries and more.
— Jacob D. Hamblin, “Introduction”
H-Environment’s Roundtable Book Reviews provide multiple perspectives on books and allow the authors the opportunity to respond. This unique dialogue can be a valuable insight into recent scholarship.
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