Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather

by Michael Smith

Overview

Witness the most devastating storms of the last thirty years through the eyes of the visionaries who saw them coming

• An insider's perspective of the science and history of weather forecasting. For decades, the author has dedicated his life to saving lives by combining science, experience and instinct. The resulting narrative provides a fascinating window into the world of scientific investigation and its impact on all of us.
• A gripping story-telling approach to major natural disasters. With the dramatic depth of Isaac's Storm, the author traces the Herculean effort to improve weather forecasting and advance warning systems. Warnings is narrative non-fiction at its heart-pounding best.
• Fascinating biographical sketches of the most renowned meteorologists. In his extraordinary career, the author has worked with many of the leaders in climate research, including Dr. Theodore Fujita, creator of the Fujita Scale for tornado measurement. The book depicts the personalities behind the breakthroughs, providing insights into the turbulent world of America's scientific establishment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608320349
Publisher:	Greenleaf Book Group, LLC
Publication date:	05/01/2010
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

After several years as a television broadcaster, meteorologist Mike Smith founded WeatherData, a custom weather forecasting service. In 1992, Mike won the American Meteorological Society's Award for Outstanding Contribution to Applied Meteorology and shared in WeatherData's 2000 Award for Outstanding Service to Meteorology by a Corporation. He is a recipient of five United States patents, with four other U.S. and foreign patents pending. His company now provides specialized weather forecasting services for AccuWeather.

Editorial Reviews

A well-known meteorologist and founder of WeatherData, Smith takes readers on a fast-paced account of the biggest storms in recent years and how weather forecasting has developed into a true science since the 1950s. Part memoir, part science account, Smith's tale begins in the late 1940s, when weathermen were actually forbidden to broadcast tornado warnings. The U.S. Weather Bureau blocked storm forecasting for fear of getting it wrong, just as today, according to Smith, the FAA has banned weather radios from airport control towers. He delivers a moment-by-moment account of the monster tornado that leveled Greensburg, Kans., in 2007 as well as a damning account of governmental incompetence in the leadup to Hurricane Katrina. But as Smith shows, scientists themselves can be close-minded and prevent their field from progressing: Smith recounts the struggle by Theodore Fujita, creator of the tornado severity scale, to see his findings on microbursts—which have killed hundreds of people in airline crashes—accepted by other scientists. This account of people who do something about the weather should appeal to just about anyone who enjoys talking about it. Photos. (May)

Publishers Weekly