Book Description

Natural catastrophes are nothing new to planet Earth.What is disturbing is the evidence author G. Cope Schellhorn has marshaled and carefully sorted out for us that indicates our world is entering a dangerous period of accelerated earth changes that quite possibly threatens the survival of the human species itself.Also a practical survival manual, the reader is led step by step through a series of chapters designed to maximize the survival odds in his/her favor. ... Read more

Book Description

"This is a must-read for students and meteorologists." --David Thurlow, Host and Executive Producer of The Weather Notebook radio show

A fascinating look at extreme weather and the men and women who are risking their lives to give us a better understanding of this meteorological phenomenon. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Informative but Ho-Hum
"Eye of the Storn" is not nearly as exciting as its cover or title would suggests. It is essentially a history of storm forcasting going all the way back to Ben Franklin's time. And while it is informative, it lacks the type of thilling narrative in its weather stories that one would expect. Most of the stories are taken from other books or magazine/newspaper articles. And unfortunately, the author makes at least one serious error by repeating the long standing falsehood that meteorolgist Issac Cline rode up and down the beach on horseback to warn residents of Galveston of the approaching 1900 hurricane. This is a myth, dispelled by the far superior book "Issac's Storm," that just won't die.

Overall, "Eye of the Storm" has plenty of historical information, but the reading is unlikely to have the pulse quickening effect of even a mild spring thunderstorm.

Great reading on a stormy day
What great timing! As we watch in awe pictures of the damage and destruction caused by the Spring tornadoes in Oklahoma, the "EYE of the STORM" comes along to explain the painstakingly detailed develpoment of scientific research of these powerful storms. In a well documented and entertainly written study, one can gain a better understanding of the weather about us and from whence it comes. ... Read more

Book Description

Here is a comprehensive overview of the geophysical,technological, and social aspects of natural disasters. This booksystematically reviews the agents of natural catastrophes -earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, drought, hurricanes, erosion, fires,etc. - in terms of their geophysical processes and effects. Thehuman impact and response is examined from various perspectives,including damage and the urban environment, the logistics of planningand emergency action, medical emergencies and the epidemiology ofdisasters, the Third World, and socio-economic consequences. Theauthor's unique interdisciplinary perspective helps the reader toachieve a clear perspective on natural disasters and possiblestrategies against them. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A short review of"Natural Disasters"
The author has written this book with the purpose to make a general work on natural hazards that synthesizes it in an accessible and sufficiently comprehensive form. He has tried to transcend the boundaries of disciplines while describing the, in essence very multidisciplinary, nature of geophysical and hydrological hazards.

It is always the difficult dilemma with books on natural hazards. Should it focus on certain aspects of the hazard (its probability of occurrence, its damage potential, the effectiveness of mitigation measures and building codes, its human behaviour and injury causation during the catastrophe, etc), or should the book be presented as a complete entity which involves physical, technological, economic and social realities? The author has chosen for the second option, although he does present now and then parts of the first option.

Many books on natural hazards too often fall to an anecdotal level of 'horror stories' lacking a serious academic treatment of the subject. Although the author includes many case studies in his book, he describes them in a very accurate and objective way. Alexander holds professorships in Massachusetts and in Italy (Siena and Urbino), and therefore many studies from Italy are presented inthe book.

The author finishes his book with a chapter on international strategies against disasters. He reviews the national policies, which vary from disaster relief, to technological adjustments, to comprehensive damage reduction, to multiple hazard management. Also the worldwide strategies of the UN (resolution 42/169 of 1987) adopting the IDNDR of the 90s (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction) are highlighted.

The sections on risk analysis in the book are interesting, although a bit outdated. Since the publication of the book in 1993 there has been a major step forward in the risk assessments of structures subject to extreme environmental loads.
... Read more

Book Description

Mozambique and the Great Flood of 2000 probes the effectiveness of various forms of aid, the extent of cooperation among agencies and governments, the amount of money raised through international public appeals, the use of relief funds, and the effectiveness of initial efforts at reconstruction. Documenting the experience of the floods, the authors provide important insights for future emergency planning and management in Mozambique and elsewhere. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Global warming is a fact. Although policymakers continue to argue about just what that means on a practical level, scientists assure us that one of the many consequences of that pattern of global warming will be ever more frequent, and ever more intense, storms of all kinds.

All of which makes David Longshore's book a timely and useful addition to a weather-watcher's library. Longshore, a historian with a particular interest in disasters, details the effects of hundreds of storms, from 1999's deadly Hurricane Floyd to unnamed tempests that wreaked havoc on the coast of India 700 years ago. His A-to-Z encyclopedia includes little-known fragments of history (such as Benjamin Franklin's career as a meteorologist, which extended well beyond the kite-in-a-thunderstorm legend to significant contributions, still current, to the Law of Storms); notes on such storm-bred phenomena as the "firefly effect," in which billions of grains of sand collide in midair and produce sparks; and chronologies of major storms, and major articles on individual storms and storm-prone nations.

In a helpful appendix, Longshore reminds his readers that although surprise hurricanes are largely a thing of the past, thanks to advances in storm prediction and monitoring, it is good common sense to keep your eye on the sky during hurricane and typhoon season. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (5)

So many facts, that some aren't
I appreciate the wealth of information in Longshore's books, and the many photographs and maps. It is one of the definitive laymen's books on hurricanes, but some of the material lacked a proofread and factcheck. I just received the book a week ago and have only perused some items. Having experienced Hurricane Betsy in New Orleans, I read that section, and found examples of errors. "Betsy's winds lashed neighborhoods in the western quadrant of New Orleans..." Actually it was New Orleans East that got hit the hardest. The author mentions 27000 homes "completely destroyed" in Golden Meadows. I doubt it. The 1998 population of GM was only 2079. He mentions entire beaches washed away in Bay St. Louis,MS. I lived in Bay St. Louis. There are no beaches, and never were. Then, Hurricane Betsy moved inland to ravish Baton Rouge. Not easy since BR is 100 miles to the west. Elsewhere in the book he refers to the "nation" of Hispaniola which is actually an island of two nations (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). He describes the Caribbean Sea as "situated between latitudes 10' and 30'N. Actually the sea lies between 9' and 22'. Finally, spare us the hyperbole and florid language. Every noun does not need to be preceded by an adjective and every verb by an adverb: "...The eradicating brunt of its seaborne fury." Sticking to the facts would give the text more credibility.

Please reprint this book ASAP
As previous reviewers have noted, this book must be reprinted. The errors have been detailed at length by previous reviewers and I won't bore you by repeating them.

Suffice it to say that if it's a 'must have' because a teenager is considering a career in meterology then perhaps it's worth getting this edition. However if you can wait, it's best to wait for the second edition when errata can be corrected.

That last piece of advice goes for nearly every reference book and piece of software.

A Good Idea, A Noble Effort, And A Mediocre Execution
David Longshore's Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones is an ambitious undertaking, impressive in its intent and scope. I was excited to pick up a copy for my library, but unfortunately, the more I read the more my excitement mingled with dissapointment. On the positive side, the work is fairly well organized and presented, and does make a handy quick reference guide. Unfortunately, it is also subject to a weakness common to encyclopedias of all types: it contains numerous errors, large and small. Several of the track charts presented for particular notable hurricanes are inaccurate to varying degrees. There are some errors in statistics, dates and the various minutiae associated with individual storm histories. More importantly, there are also places where Longshore's discussions of meteorology and other scientific material related to the subject are in error, or at least subject to serious debate. While most of these faults are minor in the larger context, a few are not, and when taken together they lessen the usefulness of the work. In addition to the errors, Longshore has an unfortunate tendency to engage in turgid prose and hyperbole; extreme adjectives and adverbs fly in great profusion about every storm and every aspect of every disaster. The net affect is the same as over-spicing the soup or adding too much sugar to the tea -- at best, one loses the flavor of the subject; at worst, the product can, at times, become almost indigestible. Personally, I am hoping that Checkmark Books and Mr. Longshore have opportunity to revise this work in the future, eliminating the mistakes, balancing the writing and tightening the reins on purple prose. Such efforts would greatly strengthen the merits of this work. Despite its faults, I would still recommend the Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones to anyone with a general interest in the subject. However, for those whose professional interests or responsibilities involve this topic, I would have to recommend that they rely on other materials for their research and reference libraries.

Encyclopedia of Hurricanes - Full of Faults
This book had a great deal of promise as a valuable research tool for hurricanes. Unfortunately, it is so full of typographic errors, grammatical faux pas, and incorrect information that it becomes a dangerous book to have been published. It looks like this book published by "Facts on File" is full of facts unchecked.

Meteorologically, and common sense-wise, this work fails in almost every conceivable way. It talks about storms that never existed (i.e. Larry of 1984 (an error from page 212)...the name is on that 1985 season's list and has never been used). Elena was ascribed the year 1965, even though storms of that name existed in 1979 and 1985 (error on page 105, yet correct on page 109). Time travel is realized by the storm incorrectly dated as October 29, 1893 which destroys a Lightship two months prior to its inception (page 242 error)! A Louisiana tropical storm from June 1912 is incorrectly dated as 1812 (error on page 216). And the errors go on and on.

If they had run the book through a simple spell/grammar check, it would have been much better. Some errors even an elementary school student wouldn't make. Take for example a passage from page 50 (extra comma):

...the hurricane dropped 7 inches of rain on the state's, southwest portion, spawning flash floods...

After talking in one paragraph about three 1860 hurricanes that struck Louisiana, this line follows (page 215):

A similar series of triple strikes was further witnessed in 1860 when three large hurricanes came ashore Louisiana between August 11 and October 3.

It is stunning that this book even went to print.

Despite excessive errors, there is some good information in this book. However, only people with significant knowledge about weather and hurricanes would be able to separate the facts from the faults. Maybe when an editor takes hold of this book, it will be of more value

Everything you want to know.
It's all here, from explanations of the naming systems to the role of animals as harbingers, scavengers, and weathervanes in tropical storms.
The information is comprehensive and laid out handily, with tracking maps, easy-to-follow meteorological explanations, and clear drawings and charts to provide all the data anyone is likely to need. There are also useful appendices with safety precautions, a chronology of major hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, and tropical storms, a bibliography, good index, photos, and more.
This is an essential work for residents of vulnerable areas, a fine reference for students and libraries, and a fine gift for that storm buff. (The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.) ... Read more

Book Description

Throughout history, natural disasters have devastated mankind. In some cases, they have even altered the course of human history. With more than 500 entries, Natural Disasters, Revised Edition provides a comprehensive and internationalsurvey of these tragic occurrences.

Following a general introduction are chapters organized according to disaster type: including avalanches and landslides, hurricanes, earthquakes, icestorms and snowstorms, famines and droughts, tornadoes, floods, typhoons, plagues and epidemics, storms, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and natural explosions. Each entry features basic facts about each disaster, background information, as well as its impact on mankind and the environment. Thrilling eyewitness accounts, helpful chronologies, and illustrations provide additional insight for readers.

Sample entries include:
* World AIDS epidemic
* Hurricane Iniki, Hawaii (1992)
* Typhoon Fred, China (1994)
* Ebola virus, Zaire (1995)
* Eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat (1995-1997)
* Avalanche, Mt. Everest (1996)
* Cyclone, Bangladesh (1997)
* Floods, India (1998)
* Snowstorms, Austria (1999)
* Drought, Somalia (1999)
* Earthquake in India (2001). ... Read more

Reviews (65)

Taking on Noah's Job
John Woodmorappe placed himself in Noah's shoes, so to speak, and considered all the hundreds of details that Noah would have had to deal with in preparing a year-long home on a ship for his family and for several hundred or thousand animals. This was no easy task. It took Noah about 120 years to prepare for the adventure. It took Woodmorappe quite some time to research all the details. It takes the reader some thoughtful time to consider the immensity of the task that faced Noah. After the initial reading, the reader is left with a fantastic reference book, full of documentation from both modern and ancient sources. There is an answer for any question about life on board the Ark. How much and what kind of food had to be stored? How did everyone get along together? etc. Of course, some tasks could have been handled with alternative ways. Woodmorappe suggests several, where appropriate. Moreover, he purposely tries to imagine the most difficult scenarios that Noah might have faced and shows that even those cases were surmountable. It is awesome to think of what our eight ancestors went through to bring about all of the present human race, as well as the land animals and birds that we share the globe with.

A Treasure Trove of Scientifically-Researched Answers
Every century has seen people reflecting on the Flood which the Bible describes. There have always been people who believed that God could do everything written in His word, just as there have always been severe critics of the Bible. It was easy to substantiate an atheistic, anti-biblical standpoint. All one had to do was ask a few critical questions, like: How could the whole of the animal kingdom fit into one wooden boat? Where did they get a supply of drinking water for such a long journey? How did they get rid of such a huge amount of faeces? Are there scientific answers to these questions? John Woodmorappe has collected all these critical questions and examines them meticulously in his 219 page book. Over a period of 20 years, he has carried out his own detailed research, evaluating a total of 1,390 publications. This book is a treasure trove of scientifically researched answers on the topic of Noah's Ark. I especially valued the many quantitative estimates of the number of animals on the ark, for example, or the amount of food and drinking water they must have taken on board, the air circulation which was necessary, or how much a crew of only 8 people would have worked (manpower studies). I have never read such a thorough and extensive scientific study on this topic in which the many biological and engineering questions are answered. I can do nothing but strongly recommend this book.

Excellent Study
Instead of relying solely on faith to believe in the Flood of Noah, Woodmorrappe gives the reader his tireless, detailed research into the many areas of concern for the 'hows' and 'whys' of the building of the ark; the care and feeding of the animals; recovery after the Flood, etc. He explains how 'kind' is not equal to species; storage analysis of water and food; housing for the people and animals; manpower studies for feeding and waste disposal; and he even address the question of diseases and parasites on the ark. This is a well written and well researched document that all, creationist and evolutionist, who are interested in the Genesis account of the Flood should read. I highly recommend adding this to your library.

Answers every objection in scientific detail
A 100-carat diamond of a book. This volume answers every conceivable objection to the physical possibility of Noah having preserved air-breathing, land-dwelling organisms in a boat during a one-year global flood. I mean EVERY objection, at least through 1995. Space, food, water, manpower, gathering of animals, specialized diets, where to fit the dinosaurs - it's all there, in painstaking detail, abundantly referenced almost entirely from the general (NOT the creationist) scientific literature. It also covers biographical distribution and genetic variation issues for the post-flood repopulation. As in the author's other books, the false accusation that young earth creationists are "unscientific" or "ignore the facts" are compellingly refuted. This book is probably the most thoroughly researched, systematically presented volume in modern creationist literature. It is well organized in short, topical chapters. Most of the material is accessible to the layperson. Well worth the investment, either to answer your own questions, or someone else's when they arise.

An amazing amount of data.
The amount of work going into compiling the data for this book was amazing. The author took great care in developing a compelling argument for his thesis! ... Read more

Book Description

This is one of the many gripping accounts of victims who have hadto battle for their lives against the elements and other unforeseen disastersthat have occurred in Montana. Taut with the fury of catastrophes and thecourageous efforts of men and women to save lives, Montana Disasters takes youto the scenes of the fires of 2000, landslides in Yellowstone National Park, andother places where the forces of nature and humans wreaked havoc.

Montana Disasters is a real-life thriller. It will leave you with thebreathless sense of how it feels to be caught in mining catastrophes, flashfloods, fires, and more. It will expose you to the sorrow and elation ofvictims' friends and families. Brace yourself for this vivid chronicle ofterror, triumph, and tragedy. ... Read more

Book Description

Introduction During the first two to four weeks after any disaster, workers rush to fix collapsed bridges and freeways, utility crews replace broken poles, gas lines and power lines while water crews repair water supplies and sewers. The Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Salvation Army set up shelters and food lines, all working to repair the infrastructure and establish order from chaos. But engineers can't fix people, nor can retrofitted buildings heal the trauma that survivors of natural disasters experience.

Disaster survivors need more than simple advice from a grief counselor. They need a mental mechanism to cope with their emotional trauma. If you are a disaster victim, this book provides you with that mental mechanism. If you have a relative or friend who has been in a natural disaster, this book will help you understand what the person is going through and how you can help with the healing process.

Coping and moving beyond the emotional trauma works best when you use the right "tactics," tactics that are found in this book. The six tactics tell you what to do to build the mechanism you need. They offer a solution, not a diagnosis. They belong to a unified psychotherapy, not an eclectic collection of mental health exercises that merely try to make you think differently.

These tactics differ from traditional counseling in three profound ways. First, they help put you in charge of you. You become the expert on your needs and your solutions. Second, unlike traditional counseling theories, these do not rely on a "talking cure." They disprove the notion that to recover and avoid posttraumatic stress disorder, you must relive your horror by repeatedly talking about what you saw, heard and felt. (In fact, this is one of the worst things that you can do.) Third, they refute the counseling and medical notion that you will go through predictable stages of grief recovery before getting over your ordeal.

A human behavior model, not a medical disease model, underpins these six tactics. The human behavior model holds that emotional reactions result from ordinary human characteristics, not pathogens, and that our emotional reaction system is unique and differs from that of any other person. There is no formula to follow. Rather, you can learn to neutralize your emotional upset even during catastrophic circumstances, a position confirmed by three decades of field research at the Center for Counter-Conditioning Therapy®. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Immediate Help with Natural Disaster and Other Life Traumas
Although the title of the book points to the treatment of trauma from natural disasters like fire, flood or earthquake, its use is easily extended to other large traumas in life: widowhood, layoff, shocking medical news like breast cancer. When I got my own shocking news, I so appreciated specific remedies which I could use right then and there - and which did much to alleviate my emotional pain and fear. For example, the "thought-voices" - those involuntary intrusions which surface day or night to send you dark, dreary and counterproductive messages - can and should be quieted to give you the space to get back on track, to get back into your life, quickly. There are techniques in this book to silence these unwanted messengers. A goal is to not linger in the trauma, not to be debilitated by it. With compassionate regard, Singer's style is clear, touching and well-written; she gets right to the point; her practices and techniques are grounded in decades of treating trauma victims; there is no "padding". I am generally super leery of therapy and self-help but give this book 5 stars and gratitude for its lucidity, practicality and the specific help that it gave me personally.

This book is useful even beyond arena of natural disasters
Although the title of the book points to the treatment of trauma from natural disasters like fire, flood or earthquake, its use is easily extended to other large traumas in life: widowhood, layoff, shocking medical news like breast cancer. When I got my own shocking news, I so appreciated specific remedies which I could use right then and there - and which did much to alleviate my emotional pain and fear. For example, the "thought-voices" - those involuntary intrusions which surface day or night to give you dark, dreary and counterproductive messages - can and should be quieted to give you the space to get back on track, to get back into your life, quickly. There are techniques to silence these unwanted messengers. A goal is to not linger in the trauma, not to be debilitated by it. With compassionate regard, Singer's style is clear, touching and well-written; she gets right to the point; her practices and techniques are grounded in decades of treating trauma victims; there is no "padding". I am generally super leery of therapy and self-help but give this book 5 stars and gratitude for its lucidity, practicality and the specific help that it gave me personally.

With information, advice and counseling
Natural disasters come in a wide variety of forms and degrees of severity. But there is one universal factor -- their devastating impact on the lives and emotions of the men, women and children who endure and survive them. In Emotional Recovery After Natural Disasters, Ilana Singer has written a unique self-help book of information, advice and counseling on how best to get back to a normal life after experiencing a flood, fire, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or any other kind of natural disaster. Singer addresses "ordeal fatigue", depression as a response to trauma, the phenomena of "ambient anxiety", and more. Of special interest are the chapters "Children Speak"; Teens Speak"; "Senors and Trauma Recovery". Emotional Recovery After Natural Disasters is enhanced further with a chapter dedicated to "Frequently Asked Questions"; a glossary, a bibliography for further study, and an index. If you or a loved one is experiencing a delayed or impaired psychology/emotional recovery from a natural disaster experience, then I urge you to give a careful reading to Ilana Singer's Emotional Recovery After Natural Disasters. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Informative and Eye-opening!
The media can do so many things that affect our everyday lives. The news does more than just report the news. Often the news is created with sound bite and quick clips of enduring images that tell a story, but not necessarily the real story.

After reading Fry's carefully constructed book, based on seemingly endless hours of research, I realized how TV news is shaping our opinions of events and perhaps misrepresenting the truth. Although the book is about media coverage of the great floods of the early '90s, Fry's sharp conclusions can be applied to current media coverage of the war in Iraq, or even the events of 9/11.

Now, more than ever, Constructing the Heartland is a must read for anyone who wants to know why and how the media spins real events to fit into TV friendly packages. After a while, you'll catch yourself switching from newscast to newscast finding many different glimpses of the same event, all based on real facts and all told in unique voices. ... Read more

Book Description

A handsome collection of the most important documents of the United States of America.Included in the collection of 13 important documents are both the original script and printed versions of the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.Also included are the Amendments to the Constitution, The Mayflower Compact, Washington's 1st Inaugural Address, The American's Creed, Monroe Doctrine, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address, The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and the Star-Spangled Banner. ... Read more

Book Description

The nature of fire, its symbolic significance, and its exploitation and control are examined in this fascinating study. Written in a lively style and enhanced by 117 compelling illustrations, it probes all aspects of fire, from the techniques used to extinguish oil well blazes to the prominence of fire imagery in religion and poetry. It examines fire's utility in matters of comfort, as in heating, lighting, cooking, and crafts; for spectacular forms of amusement, such as fireworks; its catalytic effects in explosives and internal combustion; its significance to ancient forms of worship; and many other fascinating applications. With its highly readable, nontechnical approach, this volume will interest lay readers as well as experts and professionals. Over 85 black-and-white and 2 color photos.
... Read more