The Weather Doctor's Book Reviews

Weather Matters:
An American Cultural History Since 1900

by Bernard Mergen

Weather Matters. Of course it does to this writer. And in this book, author Bernard Mergen explores why weather weather matters to Americans enough that it has become a major part of the American culture and society. Mergen looks a the historic changes from the late 1800s to the current time that have influenced the American weather services from the early days of the Signal Corps, through the Weather Bureau years to the current NOAA National Weather Service. Changes that have as much to do with politics and economy as to the science of weather. He also looks at how the nation has perceived the weather though cultural expression and the marketing of weather by business and the media. This book covers a wide range of viewpoints on America's obsession with weather not addressed elsewhere.

I first encountered Bernard Mergen through his fascinating volume Snow in America which has many parallels to this book. In reading both books, I found his views covered topics that I find interesting to explore outside the strict sciences of meteorology and climatology. In this regard, I do have some quarrels with the author on choices of materials. While he covers weather and the cinema, visual arts, poetry and literature, he slights the connections of weather with music in all its forms. And though I realize that in this huge topic Mergen has undertaken to explore something must be left out, I felt he spent too much times discussing the plots of certain novels and movies (a couple pages on “The Ice Storm” and “Groundhog Day” yet no mention of the classic introductory scene to “The Wizard of Oz”).

While I would have organized materials differently, my quarrels with Mergen’s materials is small compared to the overall impact of the book. He has done a commendable job in weaving a rather diverse topic into one that starts the thinking process about how we perceive, react to, fear, embrace and even try to change the weather. I will certainly explore further several of the topics discussed in this book.

In the pages of this book, Mergen comments on weather humor, the butterfly effect, weather’s impact on personal health and comfort, what it is like to spend a week as a storm chaser, and the history of weather modification. Mergen concludes Weather Matters by saying “Weather is a source for creative expression and spiritual inspiration....Without the power and beauty of weather, life would be insipid.” No wonder American’s take delight in talking about the weather.

Weather Matters receives my strong recommendation for any weather aficionados’ library; it is history, it is culture, it is food for thought. Most of all it is entertaining.