Weather Books

A very timely addition to any school or community library Earth Science collection for young readers grades 2 to 5, Thomas Adamson's Tsunamis is an informative and "kid friendly" introduction to the kind of tidal waves that inundated the coastal areas of the countries of the Indian Ocean. Tsunamis teaches young readers how tsunamis form, how they move and reach the store, the damage they can create, warning systems used to alert people, and the aftermath of the terrible devastation caused by the December 26, 2004 tsunami. The simple, clear language and the full-color diagrams and photographs offer clear and readily grasped facts and science. Note that Tsunamis is available to school and public libraries at the library rate ($15.95), and all proceeds from 2005 sales are being donated to the United Nations Children's Fund to help children affected by the 2004 tsunami.

Grandson is collecting all the Magic Tree House books and guides--haven't had a chance to read this one w/him yet -- but we haven't been disappointed yet. These are great books for children -- 1st - 3rd grade level especially. The guides are more detailed than the stories --- so can read over and over at different ages and the child will understand more each time.

Grandson is collecting all the Magic Tree House books and guides--haven't had a chance to read this one w/him yet -- but we haven't been disappointed yet. These are great books for children -- 1st - 3rd grade level especially. The guides are more detailed than the stories --- so can read over and over at different ages and the child will understand more each time.

Darleen Bailey Beard is coming to my school in about a week and a half and on her web site... I read that the story of "Twister" was true, but some of it was fiction (like the characters, etc.) but the idea was true: a tornado really came when she was a girl and her mom wouldn't go down in the cellar because she had just fixed her hair up and she didn't want to get her hair messed up!

This book is really good it has great fun facts about tornadoes and how they form

There may be better subjects for conversation than the weather, but no more frequent one. It is always essential to quote Mark Twain on the subject, "Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it." This may, of course, no longer be true, since we seem to be changing our climate as time goes on. On the other side of the Atlantic, Dr. Johnson said, "When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather." Tom Fort, in his book that is about weather in general and British weather in particular, _Under the Weather: Us and the Elements_ (Century), includes this second famous quotation about the weather, but also includes what Johnson said afterwards: "They are in haste to tell each other what each must already know; that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm." We do the same now, of course, but we can do more, since we can talk about predictions and what the weatherman has told us to expect. Everyone knows how faulty such predictions can be, and criticism of what the weatherman has told us is now part of the conversation. Fort has given a general history of how we came to be able to predict the weather, and to criticize the predictions, in a funny book that is full of eccentric characters historical and contemporary.

"Once, of course," writes Fort of his fellow Britons, "we counted the weather as being one of the favours bestowed on us by a God who regarded us with particular favour among the nations of the world." This idea continues to be prevalent among many, with God's hand being held responsible for the good weather allowing for, say, the Dunkirk evacuation. It was often the rectors of the church that kept records of the natural history of their parishes, and Fort finds the earliest meteorological writings in the daily record kept by William Merle, rector in Driby village between 1337 and 1344. Fort gives a sample of Merle's diary, and remarks, "The outstanding failing of the weather journal as a literary form - its dullness - is amply illustrated by this example." Records like this, however, are fondly cherished, even though lacking any objective measurement, they cannot add to the understanding of weather or weather changes. Weather watchers can now perform their hobby with extensive equipment and objective measures. Even if you have no interest in recording detailed weather observations, you do have an interest about knowing whether to take an umbrella or not. The saddest story in this book is Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy, who is more famous as the captain of the _Beagle_ that took Darwin on his voyage. (FitzRoy was an ardent creationist whose own book about the voyage maintained that dinosaurs were extinct because they had been too big to get through the door of Noah's Ark.) As a sailor, he knew how vital weather predicting could be, and he worked earnestly to get an inchoate weather reporting and predicting system going. When it proved to be fallible, his work was lumped with that of the cranks and charlatans known as the astrometeorologists, and he was mocked by the newspapers and his peers. He was driven to suicide.

But there are plenty of happier tales here, like the perfectly named Dr. Merryweather who invented the Tempest Prognosticator. Dr. Merryweather (Fort admits he at first thought the name was a hoax, but it is genuine) invented a weather predicting device that in his own words "is worth all the barometers in the world." Doctor Merryweather had his insight when he realized that the documented restlessness of leeches at the approach of wind and rain could be harnessed for the betterment of mankind. His Prognosticator of 1851 housed not one, but twelve leeches (toward whom he was affectionate), each in its own little bottle, each attached to one of twelve hammers that would ring a bell when bad weather approached. The device worked just fine, according to Dr. Merryweather and his supporters, but it was ignored by governmental and academic authorities, and the doctor's enthusiasm waned. However, Fort tells us all is not lost: "Enthusiasts at the Barometer Museum in Devon have recreated a working version, complete with leeches, which they say is extremely reliable." It's just the sort of touch that recurs in an amusing book, full of surprising stories, about a subject of inexhaustible interest.

I am a 'weather' freak. This book was way better than all other books I have ( many). It is VERY scholarly & takes slogging through...maybe even note!! But well worth the effort.Get it!!

so saying the children set about collecting a plastic car, a house from "Monopoly" (No, the blue one.) and a tiny Superman (good plan). To know the conclusion one must have A Unit About WEATHER. Yet, creating a tornado is only the "tip of the iceberg" (pun intended) when it comes to understanding weather. A Unit About WEATHER makes it not only easy but fun

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Very Detailed. Must for any weather fan