What We Are Reading Today: ‘Planetary Climates’

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Updated 26 December 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Planetary Climates’

  • As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth’s climate history and future

Author: ANDREW INGERSOLL 

This concise, sophisticated introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite—from Mercury to Neptune and even large moons such as Saturn’s Titan.

Although the climates of other worlds are extremely diverse, the chemical and physical processes that shape their dynamics are the same.

As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth’s climate history and future.

 


What We Are Reading Today: Laws of the Land

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Updated 09 January 2026
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What We Are Reading Today: Laws of the Land

  • Employing archives from Mainland China and Taiwan that have only recently become available, this is the first book to document fengshui’s invocations in Chinese law during the Qing dynasty

Author: Tristan G. Brow

Today the term fengshui, which literally means “wind and water,” is recognized around the world. Yet few know exactly what it means, let alone its fascinating history. In “Laws of the Land,” Tristan Brown tells the story of the important roles — especially legal ones — played by fengshui in Chinese society during China’s last imperial dynasty, the Manchu Qing (1644–1912).

Employing archives from Mainland China and Taiwan that have only recently become available, this is the first book to document fengshui’s invocations in Chinese law during the Qing dynasty.