The air that surrounds the whole earth is called the “atmosphere.” It is hard to see except when a strong wind comes along. But when there is no wind, is anything there? Scientists and philosophers have speculated about this for more than two thousand years.

A few did experiments and they found that air has pressure and is made up of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen gases. They also found that the atmosphere has a definite height and doesn’t stretch to the moon.

Finally, this book tells the drama of the discovery of argon and the noble gases. We also find out from our rocket probes details about the atmospheres of other planets.

This book actually manages to squeeze quite a bit in: the Earth’s atmosphere, what makes it up, what surprises lurked there for scientists who discovered it, and how it compares with the atmospheres of the other planets. Excellent for younger readers, adults would find this same information better presented for them in books like (of course) Asimov’s New Guide to Science which itself has a lengthy section on the atmosphere.