Author: Kim Cross Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1476763070 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
Chronicales the history of a superstorm that devistated the Southern United States in April 2011. The storm caused the biggest tornado outbreak in recorded US history.
Author: Nancy Mathis Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 0743296605 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 261
Book Description
Veteran journalist Mathis has produced a compulsively readable account of one of the most terrible tornadoes in history--a mile-wide F5 twister--and the extraordinary people who kept it from becoming the deadliest.
Author: Howard B. Bluestein Publisher: ISBN: 9780195307115 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 210
Book Description
Tornadoes are the most violent, magnificent, and utterly unpredictable storms on earth, reaching estimated wind speeds of 300 mph and leaving swaths of destruction in their wake. In Tornado Alley, Howard Bluestein draws on two decades of experience chasing and photographing tornadoes across the Plains to present a fascinating historical account of the study of tornadoes and the great thunderstorms that spawn them. A century ago, tornado warnings were so unreliable that they usually went unreported. Today, despite cutting-edge Doppler radar technology and computer simulation, these storms remain remarkably difficult to study. Leading scientists still conduct much of their research from the inside of a speeding truck, and often contend with jammed cameras, flash floods, and windshields smashed by hailstones and flying debris. Using over a hundred diagrams, models, and his own spectacular color photographs, Bluestein documents the exhilaration of hair-raising encounters with as many as nine tornadoes in one day, as well as the crushing disappointment of failed expeditions and ruined equipment. Most of all, he recreates the sense of beauty, mystery, and power felt by the scientists who risk their lives to study violent storms. For scientists, amateur weather enthusiasts, or anyone who's ever been intrigued or terrified by a darkening sky, Tornado Alley provides not only a history of tornado research but a vivid look into the origin and effects of nature's most dramatic phenomena.
Author: Aliette de Bodard Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc. ISBN: 1625671636 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 384
Book Description
The second book in the critically acclaimed Obsidian and Blood trilogy: The year is Two House, and the Emperor of the Mexica has just died. The protections he afforded the Empire are crumbling, and the way lies wide open to the flesh-eating star-demons--and to the return of their creator, a malevolent goddess only held in check by the War God's power. The council should convene to choose a new Emperor, but they are too busy plotting against each other. And then someone starts summoning star-demons within the palace, to kill councilmen... Acatl, High Priest of the Dead, must find the culprit before everything is torn apart. REVIEWS: ‘Political intrigue and rivalry among a complex pantheon of divinities drive this well-paced murder mystery set at the height of the Aztec Empire in the late 15th century. De Bodard reintroduces the series hero Acatl, high priest of the dead, immediately following the death of the Tenochtitlan leader. One of the council members in charge of choosing a successor has been brutally murdered in what looks like an attempt to influence the decision. But the deaths continue and the political situation grows more complex, while the empire looks to be increasingly at risk of invasion by malignant powers. Acatl must go face-to-face with the most powerful god in his world and put the good of the empire above his antipathy for is rivals to achieve the uneasy succession. De Bodard incorporates historical fact with great ease and manages the rare feat of explaining complex culture and political system without lecturing or boring the reader.’ —Publishers Weekly ‘Another thing that intrigues me here is the whole fact that historically we know that the real empire died out mysteriously and completely and as such there is always that thought in the back of my mind that the author could choose to bring about the end of days. That highlighted sense of possible doom is something that is missing from too many novels. The way the story is told in this book is very impressive, the plot is both mature and seductive, twisting and turning like a weather vane in a force 9 gale while the action is both bloodthirsty and imaginative. The world building is fantastic and we get to learn even more of this rich culture and the many gods and creatures of the dark. I really can’t fault this book at all and recommend it to one and all but if you haven’t yet read Servant of the Underworld I suggest that you get them both and read them in order, you won’t be disappointed.’ —SF Book Reviews ‘Bodard’s writing is polished and striking, as she convincingly fills in the colorful elements of the Aztec culture–even if those colors tend to be of blood and bile as well as flowers and hummingbirds... beautiful, grimy, breathtaking, and morbid. 5*’ —Examiner ‘Aliette de Bodard has done it again. Harbinger of the Storm is an action packed Aztec mystery opera with magic, interventions from the gods and more twists and turns than the first book. It even has a love story with amusing snippets here and there... The story is self contained and can be enjoyed standalone, but you will not want to miss out on the first. I wish it was 2012 already even if the world is going under while I read the final Obsidian & Blood.’ —Cybermage
Author: Brantley Hargrove Publisher: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 1476796106 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
The saga of the greatest tornado chaser who ever lived: a tale of obsession and daring and an extraordinary account of humanity’s high-stakes race to understand nature’s fiercest phenomenon from Brantley Hargrove, “one of today’s great science writers” (The Washington Post). At the turn of the twenty-first century, the tornado was one of the last true mysteries of the modern world. It was a monster that ravaged the American heartland a thousand times each year, yet science’s every effort to divine its inner workings had ended in failure. Researchers all but gave up, until the arrival of an outsider. In a field of PhDs, Tim Samaras didn’t attend a day of college in his life. He chased storms with brilliant tools of his own invention and pushed closer to the tornado than anyone else ever dared. When he achieved what meteorologists had deemed impossible, it was as if he had snatched the fire of the gods. Yet even as he transformed the field, Samaras kept on pushing. As his ambitions grew, so did the risks. And when he finally met his match—in a faceoff against the largest tornado ever recorded—it upended everything he thought he knew. Brantley Hargrove delivers a “cinematically thrilling and scientifically wonky” (Outside) tale, chronicling the life of Tim Samaras in all its triumph and tragedy. Hargrove takes readers inside the thrill of the chase, the captivating science of tornadoes, and the remarkable character of a man who walked the line between life and death in pursuit of knowledge. The Man Who Caught the Storm is an “adrenaline rush of a tornado chase…Readers from all across the spectrum will enjoy this” (Library Journal, starred review) unforgettable exploration of obsession and the extremes of the natural world.
Author: Kimberly Hisako Cross Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1476763062 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
"Immersive reporting and dramatic storytelling from the middle of the horrific superstorm of April 2011, a weather event that killed 348 people"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Helen Czerski Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393248976 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 330
Book Description
“[Czerski’s] quest to enhance humanity’s everyday scientific literacy is timely and imperative.”—Science Storm in a Teacup is Helen Czerski’s lively, entertaining, and richly informed introduction to the world of physics. Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, or innovative medical testing. She provides answers to vexing questions: How do ducks keep their feet warm when walking on ice? Why does it take so long for ketchup to come out of a bottle? Why does milk, when added to tea, look like billowing storm clouds? In an engaging voice at once warm and witty, Czerski shares her stunning breadth of knowledge to lift the veil of familiarity from the ordinary.
Author: Kenneth W. Noe Publisher: LSU Press ISBN: 080717419X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 687
Book Description
Finalist for the Lincoln Prize! Traditional histories of the Civil War describe the conflict as a war between North and South. Kenneth W. Noe suggests it should instead be understood as a war between the North, the South, and the weather. In The Howling Storm, Noe retells the history of the conflagration with a focus on the ways in which weather and climate shaped the outcomes of battles and campaigns. He further contends that events such as floods and droughts affecting the Confederate home front constricted soldiers’ food supply, lowered morale, and undercut the government’s efforts to boost nationalist sentiment. By contrast, the superior equipment and open supply lines enjoyed by Union soldiers enabled them to cope successfully with the South’s extreme conditions and, ultimately, secure victory in 1865. Climate conditions during the war proved unusual, as irregular phenomena such as El Niño, La Niña, and similar oscillations in the Atlantic Ocean disrupted weather patterns across southern states. Taking into account these meteorological events, Noe rethinks conventional explanations of battlefield victories and losses, compelling historians to reconsider long-held conclusions about the war. Unlike past studies that fault inflation, taxation, and logistical problems for the Confederate defeat, his work considers how soldiers and civilians dealt with floods and droughts that beset areas of the South in 1862, 1863, and 1864. In doing so, he addresses the foundational causes that forced Richmond to make difficult and sometimes disastrous decisions when prioritizing the feeding of the home front or the front lines. The Howling Storm stands as the first comprehensive examination of weather and climate during the Civil War. Its approach, coverage, and conclusions are certain to reshape the field of Civil War studies.
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Author: Kim Cross
Author: Nancy Mathis
Author: Howard B. Bluestein
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Author: Brantley Hargrove
Author: Lars Anderson
Author: Kimberly Hisako Cross
Author: Helen Czerski
Author: Stephen King
Author: Kenneth W. Noe