From airborne pheromones to human flight, William Bryant Logan examines all aspects of a most ephemeral element of nature in Air
IN THE opening chapter of Air, William Bryant Logan peers down a microscope at the minuscule particles that fungus expert John Haines has just filtered from the breeze outside. As well as a few glassy crystals of silica and black blobs of carbon, he sees an array of microorganisms: fungus spores in the shape of miniature hot-air balloons, transparent bags of loot, strings of sausages, golden eggs, tiny globes with even tinier continents etched onto them.
“The microorganisms in the air resemble miniature hot…
