A Billion Butterflies: A Life in Climate and Chaos Theory

Coming April 22, 2025

“A BILLION BUTTERFLIES is the wonderful story of Jagadish Shukla's pathfinding contributions for extending the range of forecasting weather and climate variations. He is one of the towering figures in the science of weather and climate and his book should be read far and wide.”

—Syukuro Manabe, Nobel Laureate (2021)

“A BILLION BUTTERFLIES is a must-read for anyone interested in the foundations of our understanding of the climate crisis. In this sweeping survey of science, politics, and history, Jagadish Shukla—a pioneer in the field of climate dynamics—takes us on the fascinating personal journey of a once-skeptical scientist led, by the science itself, to become a passionate advocate for climate action.”

—Michael E. Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Our Fragile Moment: How lessons from the Earth's past can help us survive the climate crisis

“A BILLION BUTTERFLIES is engaging and illuminating―part fascinating memoir, part critical history of modern climate science, and part manifesto. It is the almost magical story of a barefoot boy who rises from a tiny Indian village and discovers how to predict the previously unpredictable monsoon rains. Along the way he has to overcome the contrary scientific thinking of some of meteorology’s greatest minds.”

—Rob Wesson, geophysicist and author, Darwin’s First Theory