An inspiring picture book about the meteorologist whose discoveries
helped us understand how weather works
When Joanne Simpson (1923-2010) was a girl, she sailed her boat beneath
the puffy white clouds of Cape Cod. As a pilot, she flew her plane so
high, its wings almost touched them. And when World War II began and
Joanne moved to the University of Chicago, a professor asked her to
teach Air Force officers about those very clouds and the
weather-changing winds.
As soon as the war ended, Joanne decided to seriously study the clouds
she had grown to love so much. Her professors laughed. They told her to
go home. They told her she was no longer needed. They told her, "No
woman ever got a doctorate in meteorology. And no woman ever will."
But Joanne was stubborn. She sold her boat. She flew her last flight.
She saved her money so that she could study clouds. She worked so hard
and discovered so much that--despite what the professors said--she
received a doctorate in meteorology. She was the first woman in the
world to do so.
Breaking Through the Clouds tells the story of a trailblazing
scientist whose discoveries about clouds and how they work changed
everything we know about weather today.