Chaos in the Heavens

Jean-Baptiste Fressoz is a historian of science and technology, previously at Imperial College London, now based in Paris at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He is the author of The Happy Apocalypse (forthcoming) and The Shock of the Anthropocene (with C. Bonneuil).Fabien Locher is a historian of science, technology and environment at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. He is the author of Le Savant et la Tempête. Etudier l'atmosphère et prévoir le temps au XIXe siècle.

• Introduction: Ten Theses on Climate Change1 Christopher Columbus's True Discovery'The trees produce clouds and rain'The sacred tree of El HierroSlavery in a temperate zone2 Improving the World?Colonial propaganda'Cosmical suspicions'The sacred tree and the global water cycle3 The Climate of HistoryWhy did the Romans decline?The climatic history of the European peoplesRanking NationsCountering the encroaching cold4 The Birth of Historical ClimatologyMeteorologists tackle the pastThe pitfalls of historical thermometryThe sources of historical climatology5 An Arsenal in the Indian OceanA nature for warBernardin de Saint-Pierre, or an unconditional eulogy of treesAn energy crisis6 The Climate of the Revolution'Repairing the climate''Compelling the weather to release its prey''The forestry security''Stop, stop that lethal axe'Napoleon and the water cycle7 Climate PatriotismThe climate of independenceThe climate of improvement8 In the Shadow of the VolcanoA planetary catastropheA providential debacleReassuring glaciersA climate of laissez-faire9 Should the National Forests be Sold?Forests, debt, and climate'The torch of reason in our sacred woods'The Revolution's environmental legacy10 The Crusades of François-Antoine RauchRauch's vision: a material, global and divine harmonyBabylon, or the ruins of the futureThe bad business of the climate11 Circular no. 18: An Inquiry into Climate Change from TwoThe Ministry of the Interior and of ClimateDeciphering changePointers, evidence, and testimonyScales of changeThe forests and climates of the globeForgetting the inquiry12 The Power of ForestsAn affront to propertyForestry externalitiesPlaying on uncertaintyReturn to Tacarigua13 The Horizon ClearsRepairing France: from the sky to the groundThe slow eclipse of the forestry issueThe end of the agricultural ancien régime14 The Enigmas of the Climatic PastThe labyrinth of changeThe new climate sciencesThe furnace of the CarboniferousEntering the Holocene15 Restoring the World, Governing EmpiresThe Arab and the climateThreats to the RajThe frontier climateFrom the Sahara to the NamibA planet of deserts16 The Innocent Carbon of the Nineteenth CenturyThe theology of carbonRegulatory mechanismsPrecursors of their timeConclusionAfterwordIndex

A truly fabulous book -- surprising, thought-provoking and rich in historical irony. It is a necessary corrective to the narrative which makes the emergence of climate change as a matter of concern relatively recent and incremental. But it is more enlightening, more provocative and more entertaining than any mere necessity would have required.