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"A marvellous, sceptical history of the culture of prediction." -Meaghan Morris

About the Author

Andrew Ross is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and a social activist. A contributor to The Nation, the Village Voice, New York Times, and Artforum, he is the author of many books, including, most recently, Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City and Nice Work if You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times. He lives in New York.

Reviews

A marvellous, sceptical history of the culture of prediction. Between the technocrat's theme-park dreams and the catastrophist's ominous signs, he sees futures that we can live in.
*Meaghan Morris*

Sharply critical yet generously appreciative, Strange Weather will stand as the definitive study of the technoculture which increasingly dominates our lives.
*Joel Kovel*

The essays collected here continue Ross's middle-level discussion begun in his No Respect: Intellectuals & Popular Culture ( LJ 5/15/89). In each book Ross seeks a common language between intellectual leaders and common people. An English professor and cultural critic, he discusses in case studies several scientific countercultures: the New Age, hackers, cyberpunk fiction, futurists, global warming, and weather forecasting. He urges these communities to refine their analysis of hard science and technology in order to achieve more influence on the social and environmental outcomes of future sci-tech projects. Although the book assumes wide reading in these areas, examples are selected to support the author's position but not the richness of the community. For example, science is equated with factual knowledge. The debate generated by such writers as Bruno Latour in his Science in Action (Harvard Univ. Pr., 1987) is neglected here. A conclusion, glossary, and bibliography would enhance accessibility. An optional purchase for large public and academic libraries.-- Christopher R. Jocius, Illinois Mathematics & Science Acad., Aurora

A marvellous, sceptical history of the culture of prediction. Between the technocrat's theme-park dreams and the catastrophist's ominous signs, he sees futures that we can live in. -- Meaghan Morris
Sharply critical yet generously appreciative, Strange Weather will stand as the definitive study of the technoculture which increasingly dominates our lives. -- Joel Kovel