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Alaskans are expected to be experts on cold. The mystique of the state to outsiders is due in no small part to images of sparse white landscapes, glaciers and icebergs, polar bears and igloos, and the brave (crazy) people who call it home.

Even here in Juneau, we are often given credit for a heartiness and familiarity with frigid temperatures that we have not earned - our mild winters can hardly be called "cold" by Alaska standards. And residents of many other Alaska hubs have enough modern amenities to successfully relegate cold to the fringes of their lives.

But Anchorage-based author Bill Streever really does know about cold. He has made it his business to study it, and spent a year immersing himself in its icy flow (sometimes literally). Streever is the author of "Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places," a book that explores the nature of extremely low temperatures, what they do to the land, and how they affect the people and animals that live in its presence. The book also explores the effect of climate change on these frigid landscapes.

A biologist as well as an author, Streever first came to Alaska while doing research for a federal laboratory, the Waterways Experiment Statio. He now heads up a research program in the North Slope. Though he has written more than 50 technical publications on scientific topics from plants to environmental economics, this book has really brought him into the public eye. "Cold" has been reviewed in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Huffington Post, as well as NPR's "All Things Considered." And upon its release this past summer, it hit the New York Times bestseller list.

Streever is now at work on a new book, tentatively called "Heat: A Natural and Unnatural History."

Streever will talk about "Cold" at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Hearthside Books at the Nugget Mall.

This Saturday, the Nugget Mall store will host a "Kids Weather Day" from 1-3 p.m. The event will include storytime, crafts, prizes and refreshments.