Hurricane Watch

August 13, 2001
The powerful winds of the famous Galveston hurricane of 1900 drove mountains of surging water inland with little warning, and met with little understanding. Hurricanes are no different today, but thanks to advances in meteorology—conceived by people like Sheets, the former director of the National Hurricane Center—and the wide dissemination of information by news media—particularly journalists like USA Today
weather page founder Williams—the United States public is much better prepared than in the past. While thousands died amid massive destruction at the turn of the century, monstrous Andrew destroyed billions of dollars in property in 1992, but took few lives. Sheets and Williams deliver an accessible history of how meteorologists have learned to understand and predict the course of these fearsome atmospheric giants. Except for a basic blunder in the description of satellite orbital mechanics, in which the authors describe a fictitious centrifugal force instead of inertia, the technical writing is clear and accurate. Complementing the discussion of science and technology are stories of human tragedy and triumph and of the risks that still lurk along our coastlines. Readers will easily and eagerly follow the authors' step-by-step look at advances in both meteorology and emergency response from the first known successful hurricane prediction in the 16th century—on Columbus's fourth voyage to the New World—through advances in instrumentation, satellite imagery, aircraft reconnaissance and computer modeling in the 20th century to the unresolved problems and the uncertainties of changing climate in the 21st.

August 3, 2001
Sheets and Williams, on the other hand, are experts in their fields. Sheets is a former director of the National Hurricane Center and a noted authority on hurricanes. Williams is the founder of the USA Today weather page and author of The Weather Book. Their book is both a comprehensive history of U.S. hurricane forecasting and a clear explanation of the science of hurricanes. Anyone who lives in hurricane-prone areas or is interested in hurricanes or science history will appreciate this clearly written work. Lay readers will grasp how hurricanes form, strengthen, and travel, and experts will take much from Sheets's personal accounts of Hurricane Andrew, the history of hurricane hunter aircraft in forecasting, and the explanation of how technological advances have greatly improved the science of hurricane forecasting. Storms will continue to strike, but the authors show that we are much better prepared. Highly recommended for all libraries, especially those in hurricane-prone areas. Jeffrey Beall, Univ. of Colorado Lib., Denver

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2002
Adult/High School-A thoroughly satisfying, chronological investigation of the history and science of hurricanes. Early chapters set the stage with a discussion of 15th-18th-century understandings of atmospheric phenomena, from which point the authors coach readers through 19th- and 20th-century advances in knowledge and technology. They employ vivid accounts of monumental storms and of the people who pioneered groundbreaking techniques to improve the process of forecasting in the interest of saving lives. With its dozen appendixes of facts on deadliest storms, as well as a glossary and valuable index, the book is structured in a way that would accommodate quick research by students. However, its greater value lies in a reading of the entirety as a fascinating exploration of the complex weather patterns that induce hurricanes and of the dedication of those who track them. This volume would be equally viable for its science or its career perspectives.-Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2001
When explaining the satellite imagery of swirling hurricanes heading for the East or Gulf Coasts, Sheets might have had the most-watched face on TV. Now retired from the National Hurricane Center, he has this go at relating the litany of hurricane disasters, from the time of Christopher Columbus through the shellacking delivered to Florida in 1992, working into the historical narrative an explanation of the formation of these tempests and advances in guarding against their depredations. Sheets credits the first recognition of the scale and inward-spiraling of hurricane winds to William Redfield, who pieced together the cyclonic picture from New England trees flattened by an 1821 hurricane. Progress in forecasting was slow; killer storms continued to surprise coastlines and ships, taking lives by the hundreds, or thousands, as at Galveston in 1900 (dramatized in Erik Larson's "Isaac's Storm, "1999). The second half of Sheets' book describes the revolutionizing of forecasts thanks to computer modeling, the weather plane, and satellite platforms. A must-have title for science collections. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)