Reviews (3)

This disaster is for real, and it is going to affect YOU!
I am astonished this book is out of print. Unlike most books warning of future calamities, this one's subject, a great earthquake devastating Tokyo and surrounding towns on the Kanto plain, is virtually certain to happen. The only question is "When?". The answer would appear to be, "Any time at all, now.", given the fact that detailed record-keeping shows a tremendous earthquake strikes this area about every seventy years, and that the last one was on September 1, 1923! Japan is the world's most severe-earthquake-prone area.

The author sets forth, in harrowing detail, not only what may be expected when the catastrophe occurs, but what may be expected to precede and, even more importantly, to follow the temblor.

A widespread cataclysm on the Kanto Plain will prove devastating to the economy all over the world, given Japanese overseas investment, which investment would naturally be withdrawn to rebuild the shattered megalopolis, and its varied heavy and light industry, as well as its many world business headquarters.

Indeed, given the inflated value of Japanese realty, every insurer around the globe will be jeopardized, not only through direct policies issued, but through reinsurance policies taken out by other insurance companies. This is the tip of the iceberg.

Loss of life may be astronomical. This would include countless business leaders and their families. also to be expected would be immense political chaos and instability in one of the world's leading economic powers. Yoour own stock portfolio, retirement fund, company pension and job may be greatly implicated. This is the one regional disaster that can easily shift history.

You should be informed about this ever-approaching calamity. Unless plate tectonics ceases to operate, and it won't, this disaster is going to happen, and it is going to affect you!!

This book doesn't have all the answers, and probably not even all the questions, given the complexity of Japanese society and economic structures. But it will make you think, and that's the first line of defense.

I'll bet your stockbroker or financial advisor doesn't know about this, but he or she should. After you read the book, have them read it too. Then decide how to protect yourself, and do it, because this is one disaster that is going to wait for nobody. It is going to make Kobe's earthquake look like small potatoes. I guarantee it.

Sixty thousand Angels....Now enroute to TOKYO?
I rated this Book 4 stars consider 5 if by the time you read this Sixty Seconds has become an Epitaph. Fine book, goes hand in hand with Late Night Radio ;-).....But in all seriuosness Mr Hadfield is building a dire scenario of what is more than just a dam good possibility. Look where the Island of Japan sits...on/at the convergence of several techtonic plates. In comparison, the Kobey EQ will be a walk in the Park...The aftermath of Financial Wreckage & Ruin would/will change the World Forever. Think not that we all off the hook, we still live on the brink of Edgar Cayce and Michelle de Nostradamus.... What about that generated Tsunami...? Prehaps time to get that board ready....Surf's up Dudes!

A scary portrait of what is likely to happen to Tokyo
I have two copies of this book -- one at home and one at the office. I plan to use it as a handy reference for when the "Big One" hits Tokyo for my reporting. Hadfield, a geologist-turned-journalist has done his homework and paints a very sober picture of the ramifications from a huge quake in Japan on the people who live here and the world economy. ... Read more

Book Description

Seismic waves--generated both by natural earthquakes and by man-made sources--have produced an enormous amount of information about the Earth's interior. In classical seismology, the earth is modeled as a sequence of uniform horizontal layers (or spherical shells) having different elastic properties and one determines these properties from travel times and dispersion of seismic waves. The Earth, however, is not made of horizontally uniform layers, and classic seismic methods can take large-scale inhomogeneities into account. Smaller-scale hetereogeneities, on the other hand, require other methods. Observations of continuous wave trains, known as coda waves, that follow direct S waves have shown that there are heterogeneities having random sizes scattered randomly throughout the Earth's lithosphere. This book focuses on recent developments in the area of seismic wave propagation and scattering through the randomly heterogeneous structure of the Earth, with emphasis on the lithosphere. The presentation combines information from many sources to present a coherent introduction to the theory of scattering in acoustic and elastic materials and includes analyses of observations using the theoretical methods developed.Written for advanced undergraduates or graduate students of geophysics or planetary sciences, this book should also be of interest to civil engineers, seismologists, acoustical engineers, and others interested in wave propagation through inhomogeneous elastic media. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

EXCELLENT field guide!
I cannot speak highly enough of this book.
My boyfriend and I just got back from our first trip to Yellowstone- and this book was invaluable to us.
We took it with us as we went to the various geyser basins. It was incredibly helpful!

We read about the geysers,hot springs, fumuroles and mud pots as we got to each one.

The book also has great color photos of each feature.

It is broken down into these sections:
* Geyser Life
* Mammoth Hot Spring Terraces
* Norris Geyser Basin
* Gibbon Geyser Basin
* Lower Geyser Basin
* Midway Geyser Basin
* Biscuit Geyser Basin
* Black Sand Basin
* Upper Geyser Basin
* Shoshone Geyser Basin
* Mud Volcano Area
* West Thumb Geyser Basin
* Heart Lake Geyser Basin
* New Zealand - (3 hot springs)

As an example, here's what the book says about Fountain Paint Pots (in the Lower Geyser Basin):
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Temperature= 202.8 degrees F
Dimensions: 80 X 40 feet

Fountain Paint Pots was originally named "Mud Puff" by the 1871 Hayden survey and later turn-of-the-century tourists called it Mammoth Paint Pots.But guide books referred to the area as Fountain Geyser and Paintpots and the name was adopted in 1927.

The mud is composed of clay and fine particles of silica broken down by acids and grinding action.
The tinting of the mud in colors of pink and gray from iron oxides is derived from the original rock.
The bubbling action results in escaping steam and gasses- mainly carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.

In the spring and early summer the mud is thin and the pots boil. By late summer and fall there is less moisture and the mud is thicker, creating unusual shapes and formations.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The only gripe that I have about this book is that it does not list every single feature.
There is a map at the beginning of each section- in red are the features that are talked about- and in black are the ones that are not mentioned.

In the Lower Geyser Basin- there were several feautures that we came to that were not talked about in the book, such as:
Leather Pool, Celestine Pool, Firehole Pool and Surprise Pool, Hot Lake, Jet Geyser, Twig Geyser, etc...

In the Midway Geyser Basin, Opal Pool is not talked about. We walked up to it and wanted to know more about it.

But I do highly recommend this book.
Most of the features are listed. The author talks about the history and goes into detail about the characteristics about the features.
I recommend this book for anyone taking their first trip to Yellowstone. Take this book along with you as you tour the fascinating geological features of the park.You will be glad that you had this helpful guide.
This book also is great for everyone who loves Yellowstone and would like to learn more about the magic of this park.

A very useful book when touring Yellowstone National Park.
I took my family to Yellowstone National Park hoping to see some of the more unusual geysers in action. Carl Schreier's book was a great help in choosing which geysers to wait for to see the eruptions. For each geyser, hot spring, and fumarole, Schreier's book contains a photo and interesting information concerning the discovery of the various thermal sights, and an accurate description of the interval and duration of the geysers. Everyone in our family was reading it. ... Read more

Book Description

This book can be used as a reference by both specialists (e.g., seismologists, earthquake engineers, and physicists) and related professionals (e.g., government officials, land use planners). Scientific issues (the physics of earthquake occurrence and implications for predictability), applications (procedures for time-independent hazard estimates, and time-dependent forecasts solidly grounded on recent progress in earthquake physics, as well as unresolved scientific questions pertaining to such estimates), and policy issues (practical measures for seismic risk reduction in Greece and Turkey, and how governments should view earthquake prediction) are comprehensively covered. Each of the eight chapters is followed by a thorough set of references to recent literature.CD-ROM with color figures is included. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Review from Natural Hazards March 2004
"This book provides a comprehensive one-volume summary of the state-of-the-art in both the basic and applied aspects of earthquake occurrence and seismic risk reduction. It can be used as a reference by both specialists (e.g., seismologists, earthquake engineers, and physicists)and related professionals (e.g., government officials, land-use planners). The volume covers scientific issues, their applications, and policy issues. Each of the eight chapters is followed by a thorough set of reference to recent literature." ... Read more

Book Description

The material in this volume provides the basic theory necessary to understand the principles behind imaging the subsurface of the Earth using reflection and refraction seismology. For reflection seismology, the end product is a "record section" from a collection of "wiggly traces" that are recorded in the field from which information about the properties of subsurface structure and rock can be derived. For the most part, the principles of imaging are the same regardless of the depth to the target; the same mathematical background is necessary for targeting a shallow water table as for investigating the base of the earth's continental "crust" at a depth of 30-50 km. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Listen to the man!
George's hot spring guides consistently rock the house!

His directions are always the best, his "two cents" comments are always appreciated, and his listing of springs is fairly comprehensive.

Hisother two hot springs books are great, as well.

Soaking by Starlight
To soak in a natural hot spring beneath a bazillion blazing stars is akin to stealing the creme filling outta the Oreos...and no one notices!Finding these special, out of the way places to soak -- off the beaten path-- is a triumph and a wonder. Thank you so much for fording the way intouncharted waters...... ... Read more

Book Description

Updated and expanded, this new edition is a thorough introduction to the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of 3-D seismic data. Developed from university courses, the text teaches the fundamentals of 3-D seismic theory, techniques, and application. Includes free companion CD with related QuickTime(r) movies and SeisCom 7 for rapid calculation of 2-D and 3-D seismic quantities. ... Read more

Book Description

Modern seismology is a relatively new science; most current ideas originated no earlier than the latter half of the nineteenth century. The focus of this book is on seismological concepts, how they originated and how they form our modern understanding of the science. A history of seismology falls naturally into four periods: a largely mythological period previous to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake; a period of direct observation from then to the development of seismometers in the late 19th century; a period during which study of seismic arrival times were used to outline the structure of the earth's interior extendingthe 1960s; the modern era in which all aspects of seismic waves are used in combination with trial models and computers to elucidate details of the earthquake process. This history attempts to show how modern ideas grew from simple beginnings. Ideas are rarely new, and their first presentations are often neglected until someone is able to present the evidence for their correctness convincingly. Much care has been used to give the earliest sources of ideas and to reference the basic papers on all aspects of earthquake seismology to help investigators find such references in tracing the roots of their own work. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a major, definitive, landmark study of the young volcanoes of eastern Australia and parts of New Zealand.It deals with the rock types and origin of the volcanoes as well as the inclusions of the upper mantle and lower-crustal rocks found in the volcanic deposits. Fifty-nine authors contribute a wide range of chapters dealing with the significance of the volcanoes, the insights the area offers about the nature and origin of the earth's crust and the mantle beneath, and the geological evolution of eastern Australia and New Zealand over the past 70-80 million years. University academics and earth scientists in industry will be interested in this book, which will also serve as a highly useful reference work for undergraduate and graduate students. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Physical Volcanology's Best Buy
Volcanic Plumes encapsulates nearly every aspect of physical volcanologythat is critical to understanding the mechanics of pyroclastic transportand deposition. The book discusses modern theory of numerical, physical,and chemical modeling in an open and fair manner, taking care to presentseveral competing schools of thought on controversial topics. In doing so,authors continually reference historical volcanologic events as casestudies to illustrate how the predictions of a certain model agree with theobserved phenomena very well in one instance, and not in another. This bookprovides the reader with a more technical and complete reference tophysical volcanology than any other book on the market today. Add this toyour "Volcanic Successions" (Cas and Wright), and"Encyclopedia of Volcanoes" (Sigurdsson and others) and you willhave the most complete reserve of information on Volcanology that isavailable. A very worth while purchase. ... Read more

Book Description

The two volume International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology represents the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior's (IASPEI) ambition to provide a comprehensive overview of our present knowledge of earthquakes and seismology.This state-of-the-art work is the only reference to cover all aspects of seismology--a "resource library" for civil and structural engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and seismologists in academia and industry around the globe.

Part B, by more than 100 leading researchers from major institutions of science around the globe, features 34 chapters detailing strong-motion seismology, earthquake engineering, quake prediction and hazards mitigation, as well as detailed reports from more than 40 nations.Includes chapters and CD-ROM-based content detailing practical resources for seismologists, including additional materials from the printed chapters, a compilation of earthquake catalogs around the world, a global earthquake database with search and display software, selected software for earthquake and engineering seismology, and digital imagery of faults, earthquakes, volcanoes and their effects.

Also available is The International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, Part A.

*Authoritative articles by more than 100 leading scientists
*Extensive glossary of terminology plus 2000+ biographical sketches of notable seismologists
*Two CD-ROMs ... Read more

Book Description

Volcanoes and the Environment is a comprehensive and accessible text incorporating contributions from some of the world's authorities in volcanology. This book is an indispensable guide for those interested in how volcanism affects our planet's environment. It spans a wide variety of topics from geology to climatology and ecology; it also considers the economic and social impacts of volcanic activity on humans. Topics covered include how volcanoes shape the environment, their effect on the geological cycle, atmosphere and climate, impacts on health of living on active volcanoes, volcanism and early life, effects of eruptions on plant and animal life, large eruptions and mass extinctions, and the impact of volcanic disasters on the economy. This book is intended for students and researchers interested in environmental change from the fields of earth and environmental science, geography, ecology and social science. It will also interest policy makers and professionals working on natural hazards. ... Read more

Book Description

Here is a state-of-the-art report on the ductility of steel structures, containing a comprehensive review of the technical literature vailable, and presenting the results of the authors' extensive research activities in this area.Analytical and numerical methods are described and a wealth of practical information is provided.The book will be of great interest to researchers, designers, professionals and advanced students in the fields of civil and structural engineering. ... Read more

Book Description

This work offers a unique coverage of modern seismic instrumentation. It provides not only detailed information on the basic understanding of seismic instruments but it also includes an overview of current equipment on the market.

Furthermore, the following topics are included:
- installing seismic stations, networks, and arrays
- working with portable instruments
- calibrating instruments
- dealing with response information
- and teaching about seismic instruments.

This book is primarily intended for seismologists and technicians working with seismological instruments. The aim is that it should be used as a practical tool with only the amount of theory needed to understand the basic principles, and the answers to most practical problems should be found here.

This book is written in such a way that it is understandable for a broad range of professionals working with seismological instruments and seismic data, whether students, engineers, or seismologists. Both practical and theoretical topics are covered, with the main emphasis on practical aspects. The book is based on the authors' (seismologist and physicist) experience working in this field for more than 25 years.

Reviews (1)

Was there
I was in 7th grade in Aptos, CA when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit Northern California. I didn't remember a whole lot about that time, so I bought this book to refresh my memory. ... Read more