Air sustains the living. Every creature breathes to live, exchanging and changing the atmosphere. Water and dust spin and rise, make clouds and fall again, fertilising the earth. Twenty thousand fungal spores and half a million bacteria travel in a square foot of summer air. The chemical sense of aphids, the ultraviolet sight of swifts, a newborn's awareness of its mother's breast - all take place in the medium of air. With the passionate narrative style and wide-ranging erudition that have made William Bryant Logan's work a touchstone for nature lovers and environmentalists, Air: The Restless Shaper of the World is – like the contents of a bag of seaborne dust that Darwin collected aboard the Beagle – a treasure trove of discovery.
William Bryant Logan is a certified arborist. He is the author of the "wise and excellent" (March Cocker, The Times Literary Supplement), Oak and Dirt the latter of which was made into an award-winning documentary.
"A joyous read from a brilliant communicator."
- The Bookseller