Book Review: A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming

Abstract

In A Vast Machine, Paul Edwards documents the evolution of a broad scientific field that began with the curiosity of a few 19th-century explorers and scholars and now spans a worldwide community of scientists, engineers, and other specialists working with huge quantities of data, immensely complex computer models, and many sophisticated instruments and measurement platforms. As a scholar in science and technology studies, Edwards provides historical context and insightful perspectives on how observations of Earth’s weather and climate have shaped scientific theories and models underpinning weather prediction and climate change—and how these in turn have dramatically affected our “knowledge infrastructure”: the ways in which environmental measurements are now made, analyzed, interpreted, and used both in science and in global debates about environmental policy. In particular, he elucidates what scientists often take for granted—that models and observational data together form an inseparable basis for scientific understanding and prediction—in the context of current policy debates that have often tried to characterize observational data as independent, immutable representations of “truth” and computer models as imperfect tools subject to scientific bias and error.A compelling aspect of A Vast Machine is Edwards’ careful history of the development of weather observations and prediction in conjunction with the simultaneous and often intertwined evolution of climate monitoring and modeling. Weather data networks and numerical weather prediction models have grown rapidly in response to immediate societal needs and interests, evolving into ubiquitous technologies and well-oiled systems for delivering useful information to a wide range of users. Climate data networks and climate models share many similar components and approaches, but require a shift in perspective in analyzing and using data and model predictions. For example, long time series of climate data need continual reassessment and reanalysis because improvements in our current knowledge and understanding of what determines and influences climate also affect how we interpret measurements made in the past.Because the global climate system is so complex and interconnected across land, oceans, atmosphere, the cryosphere, and the biosphere, the process of making observations collected from around the world—even through Earth-orbiting satellites—into truly “global” data sets requires significant innovation and investment. Edwards identifies different types of “data friction” that affect the flows and transformations of data and information, not only technical bottlenecks and constraints but also challenges stemming from coordinating scientists and systems across different disciplines, countries, and cultures. He also examines the institutional and structural histories of national agencies, international organizations, and other stakeholders that have shaped the evolution of weather and climate science and observational systems, including the strong influence of war, the military, politics, and the emergence of global environmental institutions and awareness.For anyone interested in global warming or more generally in climate or weather issues, A Vast Machine is well worth a careful read. It provides an unusually broad and long-term view of the development of climate science and associated climate data, models, and information infrastructure, supplemented by useful figures and very detailed notes and references. Edwards begins with helpful guidance on what chapters might be of strongest interest to some readers or too technical for others. For those more generally interested in science, science and technology policy, and data and information management issues, he offers a sprinkling of comparisons with analogous issues and pointers to relevant literature.As someone who has been closely involved for several decades in many of the research, data, and assessment activities and institutions documented in this volume, I found it indeed a rare and unexpected opportunity to learn so much about how these endeavors have fit into a vast and vibrant scientific enterprise that is of critical importance to the sustainability of our planet. The volume is also a testament to the vision and breadth of interests of the late Stephen Schneider of Stanford University, who helped Edwards with many aspects of his research (and who was a key mentor for this reviewer as well).

Full text

A 182
v o l u m e 119
|
n u m b e r 4
|
April 2011
•
Environmental Health Perspectives
A Vast Machine: Computer
Models, Climate Data, and
the Politics of Global Warming
by Paul N. Edwards
Cambridge MA:MIT Press, 2010. 518 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-262-01392-5, $32.95
In A Vast Machine, Paul Edwards docu-
ments the evolution of a broad scientific
field that began with the curiosity of a
few 19th-century explorers and scholars
and now spans a worldwide community
of scientists, engineers, and other special-
ists working with huge quantities of data,
immensely complex computer models, and many
sophisticated instruments and measurement platforms. As a
scholar in science and technology studies, Edwards provides histori-
cal context and insightful perspectives on how observations of Earth’s
weather and climate have shaped scientific theories and models under-
pinning weather prediction and climate change—and how these in turn
have dramatically affected our “knowledge infrastructure”: the ways in
which environmental measurements are now made, analyzed, inter-
preted, and used both in science and in global debates about environ-
mental policy. In particular, he elucidates what scientists often take for
granted—that models and observational data together form an insepara-
ble basis for scientific understanding and prediction—in the context of
current policy debates that have often tried to characterize observational
data as independent, immutable representations of “truth” and com-
puter models as imperfect tools subject to scientific bias and error.
A compelling aspect of A Vast Machine is Edwards’ careful history
of the development of weather observations and prediction in conjunc-
tion with the simultaneous and often intertwined evolution of climate
monitoring and modeling. Weather data networks and numerical
weather prediction models have grown rapidly in response to immedi-
ate societal needs and interests, evolving into ubiquitous technologies
and well-oiled systems for delivering useful information to a wide
range of users. Climate data networks and climate models share many
similar components and approaches, but require a shift in perspective
in analyzing and using data and model predictions. For example, long
time series of climate data need continual reassessment and reanalysis
because improvements in our current knowledge and understanding
of what determines and influences climate also affect how we interpret
measurements made in the past.
Because the global climate system is so complex and inter-
connected across land, oceans, atmosphere, the cryosphere, and the
biosphere, the process of making observations collected from around
the world—even through Earth-orbiting satellites—into truly “global”
data sets requires significant innovation and investment. Edwards iden-
tifies different types of “data friction” that affect the flows and trans-
formations of data and information, not only technical bottlenecks and
constraints but also challenges stemming from coordinating scientists
and systems across different disciplines, countries, and cultures. He also
examines the institutional and structural histories of national agencies,
international organizations, and other stakeholders that have shaped
the evolution of weather and climate science and observational systems,
including the strong influence of war, the military, politics, and the
emergence of global environmental institutions and awareness.
For anyone interested in global warming or more generally in
climate or weather issues, A Vast Machine is well worth a careful read.
It provides an unusually broad and long-term view of the development
of climate science and associated climate data, models, and information
infrastructure, supplemented by useful figures and very detailed notes and
references. Edwards begins with helpful guidance on what chapters might
be of strongest interest to some readers or too technical for others. For
those more generally interested in science, science and technology policy,
and data and information management issues, he offers a sprinkling of
comparisons with analogous issues and pointers to relevant literature.
As someone who has been closely involved for several decades in
many of the research, data, and assessment activities and institutions
documented in this volume, I found it indeed a rare and unexpected
opportunity to learn so much about how these endeavors have fit into a
vast and vibrant scientific enterprise that is of critical importance to the
sustainability of our planet. The volume is also a testament to the vision
and breadth of interests of the late Stephen Schneider of Stanford
University, who helped Edwards with many aspects of his research (and
who was a key mentor for this reviewer as well).
Robert S. Chen
Robert S. Chen directs CIESIN, an interdisciplinary research center in Columbia
University’s Earth Institute. A geographer, he manages the NASA Socioeconomic
Data and Applications Center, co-leads the IPCC Data Distribution Centre,
and is active in international data sharing and preservation initiatives. He staffed
many early National Research Council climate change reports.
Climate Change and Policy
Gabriele Gramelsberger, Johann Feichter, eds.
New York:Springer, 2011. 240 pp.
ISBN: 978-3-642-17699-9, $159
Coping with Global Environmental
Change, Disasters and Security
H.G. Brauch, Ú. Oswald Spring, C. Mesjasz,
J. Grin, P. Kameri-Mbote, B. Chourou,
P. Dunay, J. Birkmann, eds.
New York:Springer, 2011. 1,815 pp.
ISBN: 978-3-642-17775-0, $399
Dealing with Contaminated Sites
Frank A. Swartjes, ed.
New York:Springer, 2011. 1,114 pp.
ISBN: 978-90-481-9756-9, $279
Environmental Cardiology: Pollution
and Heart Disease
Aruni Bhatnagar, ed.
New York:Springer, 2011. 390 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-84973-005-1. $199.95
Global Change: Mankind–Marine
Environment Interactions
H.-J. Ceccaldi, I. Dekeyser, M. Girault,
G. Stora, eds.
New York:Springer, 2011. 450 pp.
ISBN: 978-90-481-8629-7, $179
Handbook of Renewable Energy
Technology
Ahmed F. Zobaa, Ramesh C. Bansal, eds.
Hackensack, NJ:World Scientific, 2011. 876 pp.
ISBN: 978-981-4289-06-1, $270
Human Population: Its Influences on
Biological Diversity
Richard P. Cincotta, Larry J. Gorenflo, eds.
New York:Springer, 2011. 242 pp.
ISBN: 978-3-642-16706-5, $129
Implementing the New Biology:
Decadal Challenges Linking Food,
Energy, and the Environment
Paula Tarnapol Whitacre, Adam P. Fagen,
Jo L. Husbands, Frances E. Sharples, eds.
Washington, DC:National Academies Press, 2010.
52 pp. ISBN: 978-0-309-16194-7, $18.90
In Search of Biohappiness: Biodiversity
and Food, Health and Livelihood
Security
M.S. Swaminathan
Hackensack, NJ:World Scientific, 2011. 200 pp.
ISBN: 978-981-4329-32-3, $88
Intraseasonal Variability in the
Atmosphere–Ocean Climate System,
2nd ed.
William K.-M. Lau, Duane E. Waliser
New York:Springer, 2011. 320 pp.
ISBN: 978-3-642-13913-0, $179
Materials for Sustainable Energy
Vincent Dusastre, ed.
Hackensack, NJ:World Scientific, 2010. 360 pp.
ISBN: 978-981-4317-64-1, $148
Pathways for Getting to Better Water
Quality: The Citizen Effect
Lois Wright Morton, Susan S. Brown, eds.
New York:Springer, 2011. 273 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-4419-7281-1, $129
Statistics for Earth and Environmental
Scientists
John Schuenemeyer, Larry Drew
Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011.
407 pp. ISBN: 978-0-470-58469-9, $110
The Economic, Social and Political
Elements of Climate Change
Walter Leal Filho, ed.
New York:Springer, 2011. 875 pp.
ISBN: 978-3-642-14775-3, $279
The End of Energy: The Unmaking of
America’s Environment, Security, and
Independence
Michael Graetz
Cambridge, MA:MIT Press, 2011. 384 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-262-01567-7, $29.95
The Energy Problem
Richard S. Stein, Joseph Powers
Hackensack, NJ:World Scientific, 2011. 210 pp.
ISBN: 978-981-4340-31-1, $38
Understanding Knowledge as a
Commons: From Theory to Practice
Charlotte Hess, Elinor Ostrom, eds.
Cambridge, MA:MIT Press, 2011. 381 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-262-51603-7, $20
Urban Airborne Particulate Matter:
Origin, Chemistry, Fate and Health
Impacts
Fathi Zereini, Clare L. S. Wiseman, eds.
New York:Springer, 2011. 656 pp.
ISBN: 978-3-642-12277-4, $279
Arnold Greenwell/EHP
Announcements
|
New Books
Book Review