Writing on Air

For centuries, humans have tried to master air. Sea captains rein it in with their sails, and pilots cut through it with their wings. We have machines to pump air into our lungs and computers to anticipate the movement of the winds. Air pervades everything we do and gives us life, yet it is impossible to capture. We can only evoke it through images, impressions, and feelings. This book offers a collage of such evocations expressed through prose, poetry, photography, and drawings.From aerial plankton to Navajo wind gods, from joyful singing to painful emphysema, from gentle breezes to violent storms, Writing on Air creates a fresh way of thinking about the role of air in our everyday lives. Included in the book are prose pieces by poet Hayden Carruth, paulo da costa, Kristjana Gunnars, filmmaker Werner Herzog,
Howard Mansfield, Sarah Menin, and C. L. Rawlins; an excerpt from a play by Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann on the discovery of oxygen; poems by Lori Anderson, Tonu
Õnnepalu, Andrew Schelling, and Virgil Suárez; and art and photography by Manuel Acevedo, Stuart Allen, Marsha Cottrell, Susan Derges, the Korwa tribe of the Indian hills, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Tuula Närhinen, and the airborne dancers of Project Bandaloop.

Air in our everyday and imaginative lives, as portrayed by a wide range of writers, photographers, and artists.

Publishers Weekly

"Air is a spiritual barometer. It cannot help but inspire," writes poet John Olson of the insubstantial medium in which we move and breathe. This delightful collection brings together prose, poetry and illustrations on the subject of air. The art is particularly creative: how, after all, does one visualize the invisible? These artists manage to do so, with images of a hot-air balloon; clouds; the impact of a strong wind on a now-tilting structure; and a man lying on the ground, face up, his arms pointed above him as though he were about to dive into the sky. Scientists Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann offer a playlet in which Antoine Lavoisier, Joseph Priestley and Carl Wilhelm Scheele argue over which one of them was the first to discover oxygen; naturalist David Lukas describes air that "is far from empty," full of dust motes, fibers of spider silk and more; and philosopher David Appelbaum considers the laugh, "a bubble drive heavenward by a physics of effervescence." This rich collection will spark the imagination of anyone eager to consider one of our most essential elements. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

David Rothenberg is Professor of Philosophy at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and founder of the Terra Nova book series. His most recent books are Always the Mountains and Sudden Music: Improvisation, Art and Nature.

Wandee J. Pryor is former Managing Editor of Terra Nova projects at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.