Reading the Glass
A Sailor's Stories of Weather
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Narrated by:
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Greg Tremblay
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By:
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Elliot Rappaport
About this listen
A fascinating insight into the science of weather and the strange, wild and wonderful world of life at sea.
What's in a cloud? What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard? And what exactly is El Niño? Elliot Rappaport, a professional captain of traditional sailing ships, has spent three decades at sea, where understanding weather could be the difference between life and death. In Reading the Glass, he offers a sailor's-eye view of the moving parts of our atmosphere and unveils the larger patterns it holds: global winds, storms, air masses, jet streams, and the longer arc of our climate.
Told through a series of tall ship voyages, Rappaport's narrative takes listeners from the icy seas of Greenland to the Roaring Forties, places where one can experience all four seasons in an hour. He navigates the turbulent waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, en route to storied port cities of the Mediterranean. In the vast tropical Pacific, he crosses the equator, where heat, moisture, and unsettled winds churn out powerful squalls, and drops anchor in isolated ports of call. He explores wide swathes of ocean to explain how the trade winds have carried ships westward for centuries, and how ancient Polynesian explorers pushed back the other way.
Written in stunning prose, brimming with wisdom, curiosity, and humour, Reading the Glass brilliantly blends science and memoir to reveal how weather has shaped our oceans, our history, and ourselves.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Elliot Rappaport (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Reading the Glass is an extraordinary book by a modern-day Melville whose deep knowledge, boundless curiosity and endearingly wry humour make him the perfect guide to the world beyond our shores. Elliot Rappaport has completely transformed my awareness of the vast reaches of water that dominate our planet's surface, and of the debt we all owe to our ancestors who made a science and an art out of crossing them. I can't recommend this book highly enough." (Mark Vanhoenacker, author of Skyfaring)
"We live on a planet - easy to forget in your secure suburban home, but not out on the open sea. The author provides a gripping account of what weather is, how it feels to be in the middle of it, and what we can expect going forward!" (Bill McKibben, author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon)
"Part Bill Nye, part Captain Cook, Elliot Rappaport leads an around-the-world adventure filled with eye-popping insights from the deepest depths to the high atmosphere. For those of us too chicken to cross thousands of miles on ships, Rappaport's action-packed logbook is full of history, wisdom, and hilarious stories from life on the open seas." (Daniel Stone, author of The Food Explorer)
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10% science, 90% other stuff
- By Daniel W. Fox, Jr. on 10-09-20
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Madhouse at the End of the Earth
- The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
- By: Julian Sancton
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters.
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Excellent story
- By Ginger 3701 on 05-23-21
By: Julian Sancton
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The Ice Diaries
- The Untold Story of the USS Nautilus and the Cold War’s Most Daring Mission
- By: Captain William R. Anderson, Don Keith - contributor
- Narrated by: Roger Mueller
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Ice Diaries tells the incredible true story of Captain William R. Anderson and his crew's harrowing top-secret mission aboard the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. Bristling with newly classified, never-before-published information, The Ice Diaries takes listeners on a dangerous journey beneath the vast, unexplored Arctic ice cap during the height of the Cold War.
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a great book about brave men
- By TDL Martin on 02-05-20
By: Captain William R. Anderson, and others
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Skyfaring
- By: Mark Vanhoenacker
- Narrated by: John Moraitis
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In Skyfaring, airline pilot and flight romantic Mark Vanhoenacker shares his irrepressible love of flying on a journey from day to night, from new ways of mapmaking and the poetry of physics to the names of winds and the nature of clouds. Here, anew, is the simple wonder and transcendent joy of motion and the remarkable new perspectives that height and distance bestow on everything we love.
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I agree with most comments about the narrator
- By Warren on 08-26-15
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Icebound
- Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World
- By: Andrea Pitzer
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In the best-selling tradition of Hampton Sides’ In the Kingdom of Ice, a “gripping adventure tale” (The Boston Globe) recounting Dutch polar explorer William Barents’ three harrowing Arctic expeditions - the last of which resulted in a relentlessly challenging year-long fight for survival.
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Great book - missing maps :(
- By Stephen on 01-20-21
By: Andrea Pitzer
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The Ice at the End of the World
- An Epic Journey into Greenland's Buried Past and Our Perilous Future
- By: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Jon Gertner
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Ice at the End of the World, Jon Gertner explains how Greenland has evolved from one of earth’s last frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory. The history of Greenland’s ice begins with the explorers who arrived here at the turn of the 20th century. Their original goal was to conquer Greenland’s seemingly infinite interior. Yet their efforts eventually gave way to scientists who built lonely encampments out on the ice and began drilling - one mile, two miles down.Their aim was to pull up ice cores that could reveal the deepest mysteries of earth’s past.
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Adventure, Science, Advocacy
- By EM Goodkind on 09-08-19
By: Jon Gertner
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Krakatoa
- The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa - the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster - was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly 40,000 people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round die planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light.
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Great subject, great writing, great voice
- By rwise on 01-26-04
By: Simon Winchester
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How to Read Water
- By: Tristan Gooley
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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A must-have audiobook for walkers, sailors, swimmers, anglers and everyone interested in the natural world, in How to Read Water, Natural Navigator Tristan Gooley shares knowledge, skills, tips and useful observations to help you enjoy the landscape around you. From wild swimming in Sussex to wayfinding off Oman, via the icy mysteries of the Arctic, Tristan Gooley draws on his own pioneering journeys to reveal the secrets of ponds, puddles, rivers, oceans and more to show us all the skills we need to read the water around us.
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Reasonably Interesting, Perhaps Better in Print
- By Alex Angel on 12-05-22
By: Tristan Gooley
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A Voyage for Madmen
- By: Peter Nichols
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death. In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones and electronic positioning systems.
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Not Awesome
- By Shaun G. on 04-23-19
By: Peter Nichols
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South
- By: Ernest Shackleton
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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On 8 August 1914, five days after the outbreak of World War One, the Endurance, a wooden-hulled, coal-fired icebreaker, set sail for the South Pole, in a bid to complete the first-ever trans-Antarctic expedition, which would cross the continent from the Weddell Sea to Scott's base at Cape Evans, via the Pole. However, despite the best planning, the ship succumbs to the ice floes of the Weddell Sea, and is subjected to months of uncontrollable drifting before its crew makes a scramble for Elephant Island, where they battle constant cold and starvation.
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Outstanding author and narrator - best version
- By Stephen on 12-17-19
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Into the Raging Sea
- Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of the El Faro
- By: Rachel Slade
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in the worst American shipping disaster in 35 years. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications and a sophisticated navigation system could suddenly vanish - until now. Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves - whose conversations were captured by the ship’s data recorder - journalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery.
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This Book is Tragic for More Than Just its Story
- By John A. Tucker on 10-23-19
By: Rachel Slade
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Graveyard of the Lakes
- Great Lakes Books Series
- By: Mark L. Thompson
- Narrated by: Scott MacDonald
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In Graveyard of the Lakes, Thompson suggests that most of the accidents and deaths on the lakes have been the result of human error, ranging from simple mistakes to gross incompetence. In addition to his compelling analysis of the causes of shipwrecks, Thompson includes factual accounts of more than 100 wrecks. Graveyard of the Lakes will forever change the listener's perspective on shipwrecks.
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Graveyard of the Lakes
- By Bernard Slicker on 02-11-18
By: Mark L. Thompson
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Jules Verne Collection
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days and The Mysterious Island
- By: Jules Verne
- Narrated by: Jim D. Johnston
- Length: 43 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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From the pen of one of the literary world’s finest explorers of the imagination, these classic tales of fantastical habitats and intrepid adventurers delve deep into every mysterious corner of planet Earth. Whether you’ve adventured with Verne before or are only just setting off on your maiden voyage, this collection encompasses the most extraordinary adventures the father of science fiction has to offer.
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Classics, But Hours of Scientific Exposition.
- By Sarah on 05-02-21
By: Jules Verne
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Conquering the Pacific
- An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery
- By: Andrés Reséndez
- Narrated by: Phil Morris
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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It began with a secret mission, no expenses spared. Spain, plotting to break Portugal’s monopoly trade with the fabled Orient, set sail from a hidden Mexican port to cross the Pacific - and then, critically, to attempt the never-before-accomplished return, the vuelta. Four ships set out from Navidad, each one carrying a dream team of navigators. The smallest ship, guided by seaman Lope Martín, a mulatto who had risen through the ranks to become one of the most qualified pilots of the era, soon pulled far ahead and became mysteriously lost from the fleet.
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Must Read, Excellent
- By Amazon Customer on 10-07-22
By: Andrés Reséndez
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Into the Deep
- A Memoir from the Man Who Found Titanic
- By: Robert D. Ballard, Christopher Drew
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The legendary explorer of the Titanic shares inside stories of danger, suspense, and discovery - plus previously untold stories about his own dyslexia and how it has shaped his life.
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A Study of the Ego
- By Thomas on 06-08-21
By: Robert D. Ballard, and others
What listeners say about Reading the Glass
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-04-24
deserves a second listen
This is worth a second and possibly third listen. definitely recommended. filled with valuable hints and explanations.
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