Rating: 
Summary: A New Seminal Work on Hurricanes!
Review: A lot of people have been waiting a long time for a Hurricane book like this one! This is a well integrated history of hurricanes and hurricanes forecasting. By well integrated I mean that it deals with the sociological and political implications of hurricanes as well as the science and pure history. The combination of a journalist and a meteorologist is perfect. The anecdotes are very well chosen and insightful. It is a very readable book.I would recommend that this book be the center of a high school honors course anywhere where hurricanes are part of the environment. It is a great spring board for studies in History, Science, Mathematics and Government. It really is that good. It deserves to be a prize winner and a best seller.
Rating:
Summary: A New Seminal Work on Hurricanes!
Review: A lot of people have been waiting a long time for a Hurricane book like this one! This is a well integrated history of hurricanes and hurricanes forecasting. By well integrated I mean that it deals with the sociological and political implications of hurricanes as well as the science and pure history. The combination of a journalist and a meteorologist is perfect. The anecdotes are very well chosen and insightful. It is a very readable book. I would recommend that this book be the center of a high school honors course anywhere where hurricanes are part of the environment. It is a great spring board for studies in History, Science, Mathematics and Government. It really is that good. It deserves to be a prize winner and a best seller.
Rating: 
Summary: Avast... it be hurricanes I sees on the horizon!
Review: As of today, we Floridians are being threatened with our 4th hurricane in less than 2 months. Being a Chicago born lass, I've only had experience with tornadoes. Now that I'm living here in SW Florida, I decided to get this book in order to understand these incredible storms more fully.
In 1502, Christopher Columbus noticed how strong the winds were in his "New World" waters; Europeans were used to the winds that sometimes came from the Mediterranean (up to 100 MPH), but the storms that brewed in the western Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico hit up to an unheard of 145-150 MPH. When Columbus got that old creaky feeling in his joints, he requested to take cover from the new governor who, in his jealousy for the Spanish soveriegns affections, bid him to leave. Columbus kept his eye on the skies and sailed west with his crew. The storm he said would come did indeed hit, and it is recognized today as the first hurricane prediction in history.
Hurricanes have continued to fascinate man. Fortunately, we now have technology that helps us understand them better. Chapter 4 breaks down "Flying Reconnaissance", or the "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft that flies right into the eye of the storm to measure wind speeds. The first flight, oddly enough, was based on a dare. Joseph Duckworth, an Army Air Corps pilot, was egged on by British soldiers regarding his skil in "instrument flying" (flying according to instruments verses sight). Duckworth flew right into the storm and returned 2 hours later. He basically pioneered the "instrument" flying method (most soldiers were "contact pilots", flying only in good weather and using land to navigate), teaching new students his techniques, and the benefits have been passed along to us.
Personal experiences are here, including a ship admiral's description of the howling winds (..."it was like Hell's chorus", he said). The book also explains a hurricane/tropical storm in detail, lending some understanding to all those technical terms they toss about on "The Weather Channel". Being equipped with this information doesn't give me any more control, but at least I can honestly say I understand them a whole lot better. One chapter is dedicated soley to Hurricane Andrew. Perhaps one day, a revised copy of this book will be expanded to include Frances, Jeanne, and the infamous Charley. Great reference, interesting reading.
Rating:
Summary: Well blow me down.
Review: Ever since I was a child trapped inside by the pouring rain as the remnants of Camille passed over East Tennessee, I have been fascinated by hurricanes. With that in mind, this book was hard to resist. Especially since I had spent many hours watching Dr. Sheets on television. It is pretty obvious though that Jack Williams did most of the writing and for those of us who are not that familiar with the science of meteorology that is a very good thing for this is a very complicated subject and dumbing down is exactly what I needed. This book is not so much a book about major hurricanes as it is a history of the predicting of hurricanes. From Columbus to the present satellites and Doppler systems this book tells the story of man's attempts to guess what Mother Nature is up to. There is even a chapter about attempts to actually control hurricanes. Even with the simple way the authors attempted to tell their story I was lost at times but not all too often. For a trained meteorologist this book would probably seem almost childish, but for the average person like myself it is just about right. I still don't completely understand everything about wind sheer, computer models, and latent heat but I am at least familiar with the terms now. From now on, as a hurricane approaches the U.S. coast and I sit there in front of the TV I will have a vague idea of how the computer models work and will know all about the Bermuda high. The chapter I found the most interesting was the chapter about hurricane Andrew. That is the kind of thing I was actually looking for in this book but even though I only found one chapter of what I had been looking for, I still found this book to be highly informative, interesting, and well written. I imagine that Dr. Sheets could write an entire book on Andrew, and I wish he would
Rating:
Summary: Well blow me down.
Review: Ever since I was a child trapped inside by the pouring rain as the remnants of Camille passed over East Tennessee, I have been fascinated by hurricanes. With that in mind, this book was hard to resist. Especially since I had spent many hours watching Dr. Sheets on television. It is pretty obvious though that Jack Williams did most of the writing and for those of us who are not that familiar with the science of meteorology that is a very good thing for this is a very complicated subject and dumbing down is exactly what I needed. This book is not so much a book about major hurricanes as it is a history of the predicting of hurricanes. From Columbus to the present satellites and Doppler systems this book tells the story of man's attempts to guess what Mother Nature is up to. There is even a chapter about attempts to actually control hurricanes. Even with the simple way the authors attempted to tell their story I was lost at times but not all too often. For a trained meteorologist this book would probably seem almost childish, but for the average person like myself it is just about right. I still don't completely understand everything about wind sheer, computer models, and latent heat but I am at least familiar with the terms now. From now on, as a hurricane approaches the U.S. coast and I sit there in front of the TV I will have a vague idea of how the computer models work and will know all about the Bermuda high. The chapter I found the most interesting was the chapter about hurricane Andrew. That is the kind of thing I was actually looking for in this book but even though I only found one chapter of what I had been looking for, I still found this book to be highly informative, interesting, and well written. I imagine that Dr. Sheets could write an entire book on Andrew, and I wish he would
Rating:
Summary: Good history recap, but not a lot of war stories.
Review: First, this is a good book. It covers the history of hurricanes as completely as I would want. There are some amazing details and I learned a great deal. However, this is not what I expected by the title of the book. I was anticipating a first hand account of Dr. Sheets' experiences doing his job at the NHC. Instead what I got was Jack Williams doing a history of hurricane forecasting. It's not bad, it's just not the same. The book also gets into some "first hand" experience of hurricanes, including Hugo, that makes for some interesting reading. But this doesn't happen until near the end of the book. I was also disconcerted by the fact that Dr. Bob Sheets is supposed to be the author but there isn't a single reference to "I", "me", or "my family" in the book. If he wrote it, why is he and his family always in the third person? I.E. "Dr. Sheets this.." and "When Dr. Sheets went..." etc. Read it. Like it. But don't expect a book written by Dr. Sheets. They just borrowed his name to sell an otherwise pretty good book.
Rating:
Summary: Good history recap, but not a lot of war stories.
Review: First, this is a good book. It covers the history of hurricanes as completely as I would want. There are some amazing details and I learned a great deal. However, this is not what I expected by the title of the book. I was anticipating a first hand account of Dr. Sheets' experiences doing his job at the NHC. Instead what I got was Jack Williams doing a history of hurricane forecasting. It's not bad, it's just not the same. The book also gets into some "first hand" experience of hurricanes, including Hugo, that makes for some interesting reading. But this doesn't happen until near the end of the book. I was also disconcerted by the fact that Dr. Bob Sheets is supposed to be the author but there isn't a single reference to "I", "me", or "my family" in the book. If he wrote it, why is he and his family always in the third person? I.E. "Dr. Sheets this.." and "When Dr. Sheets went..." etc. Read it. Like it. But don't expect a book written by Dr. Sheets. They just borrowed his name to sell an otherwise pretty good book.
Rating:
Summary: You will re-read this book each Hurricane season
Review: Hurricane Watch should be read and re-read, from those who trade on Wall Street, to the trading pits in Chicago, from history buffs to the millions of "closet" weather fanatics, not to mention the nearly 100 million American's that are at risk by the most destructive storm on Earth! Hurricane Watch gracefully details the past, present and future casualties and catastrophic economic losses that hurricanes have created and will unleash in the not-so-distant future... Sheets and Williams do a tremendous job of "filling in the holes" of why meteorologists pursue the perfect hurricane forecast. JG
Rating:
Summary: Good read.
Review: I live on the coast and have been interested in hurricanes since I was a child. I'm no meteorologist - just a person who wanted to learn more. This book was interesting. I especially enjoyed the chapter which talked about Project Stormfury and the one on Hurricane Andrew.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for any meteorologist - professional or amateur
Review: I'm not even quite finished this book and I'm total impressed and ingrossed with it, and sorry to see that I'm near the end. It not only describes things in simple terms but it also traces the history of hurricanes with various accounts that are entertaining and/or sobering. In this way it caters for all types, those who want the facts and those who don't mind it being done in a story-like fashion. This makes it refreshing when compared to 'stuffy' text books on the subject. Great work, well thought out and excellent integration of the material. I wish there could be a sequel :-)
| 
