Rating: 
Summary: Applied science at it's best
Review: This was simply the best (non-technical) volcano book I have ever read! I could not put it down. The main portion of the book details the first rumblings of two famous volcanoes and follows events up to their climatic eruptions. Even if you are familiar with the individual volcanoes physical history you'll be fascinated with how earth science is truly applied in the "real world" and how many other pressures (political, social and economic) scientists in this field have to deal with. When you are done reading this book you will get a glimpse of what kind of passion, dedication and craziness is needed for those working in the field.
Rating:
Summary: Applied science at it's best
Review: This was simply the best (non-technical) volcano book I have ever read! I could not put it down. The main portion of the book details the first rumblings of two famous volcanoes and follows events up to their climatic eruptions. Even if you are familiar with the individual volcanoes physical history you'll be fascinated with how earth science is truly applied in the "real world" and how many other pressures (political, social and economic) scientists in this field have to deal with. When you are done reading this book you will get a glimpse of what kind of passion, dedication and craziness is needed for those working in the field.
Rating:
Summary: See also the hardcover reviews
Review: Thompson's book is a great page turner which will appeal to a very wide audience. Anyone interested in geology, volcanos, or disaster relief should be interested in the book, but also anyone interested in management studies and indirectly anyone interested in the new concern with terrorism and homeland defense. I was constantly struck while reading this book how the science and reaction to awakened volcanos is eerily like the US and other nations' responses to terrorism. Read the book and you'll see what I mean.
One small caveat: this book might not be suitable for all of those under age 13 due to strong language, however the language used was not gratuitous, instead it added to the stories.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, even for geologists!
Review: Volcano Cowboys is an excellent book about the real people behind the science. If you are looking for a book about how volcanoes form - this is not it, but it you are looking for a book about how real science is done read Volcano Cowboys!! These guys aren't the stereotypical geeky scientists we often picture sequestered in labs and pale-skinned from lack of sunlight. This is what field geology is all about - getting your feet dirty (and your pants and shirt and hands and hair)! This book is also a candid view of the politics involved in science and also the fact that volcanology, like all science, is a work-in-progress. No, we don't know everything there is to know about how volcanoes work - and that is what makes geology so very exciting! My one disappointment with the book were the pictures/figures. I want to see a diagram of Mt. St. Helens after the eruption to compare with the nice diagram of "before"!!! The photos are also a little hard to see in the paperback version.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, even for geologists!
Review: Volcano Cowboys is an excellent book about the real people behind the science. If you are looking for a book about how volcanoes form - this is not it, but it you are looking for a book about how real science is done read Volcano Cowboys!! These guys aren't the stereotypical geeky scientists we often picture sequestered in labs and pale-skinned from lack of sunlight. This is what field geology is all about - getting your feet dirty (and your pants and shirt and hands and hair)! This book is also a candid view of the politics involved in science and also the fact that volcanology, like all science, is a work-in-progress. No, we don't know everything there is to know about how volcanoes work - and that is what makes geology so very exciting! My one disappointment with the book were the pictures/figures. I want to see a diagram of Mt. St. Helens after the eruption to compare with the nice diagram of "before"!!! The photos are also a little hard to see in the paperback version.
Rating:
Summary: Pressure, Heat, and Danger -- And Then the Volcano, Too.
Review: What makes volcanoes run is forever hidden beneath the earth, every volcano is different, and intense work on understanding and predicting them has only occurred in the last two decades. People tend to think, "It's only a mountain, for goodness sakes," and aren't eager to abandon their real estate, even if they don't take time to consider how new and vague a science volcanology has been. So the volcanologists don't have the best of reputations. That is changing. In _Volcano Cowboys: The Rocky Evolution of a Dangerous Science_ (Thomas Dunne Books) by Dick Thompson, the ways of this relatively new science are explained, along with a good deal of social science and the histories of two of the best studied eruptions recently, Mount St. Helens and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. The book is a remarkable picture of how science is done under pressure. We get to meet a lot of the cowboys in this book, and they are, well, individuals; perhaps those who are fascinated by this dangerous science have to be a little off kilter. There are lots of anecdotes. For instance, at Pinatubo, some of the volcanologists were unexpectedly trapped in a building at Clark Air Force Base, and had no idea if the upcoming volcanic flow would take out the building as the minutes ticked by. But there were bags of popcorn, and one of the researchers tore into one and started eating. "How can you eat popcorn at a time like this?" exclaimed an incredulous geologist who was also trapped. "I always eat popcorn at this part of the movie," came the reply. Along with the anecdotes, there is a good deal of description about how this serious and dangerous work gets done. There is much about how scientists compete, and how the competition is worsened under public scrutiny and pressure. There are scary descriptions of how hard it was to get the public to listen and to leave endangered areas. The volcanologists are easily better at useful predictions than they were twenty years ago, but there is still too much unknown, and there is always going to be at least as much uncertainty as with the weather. This is a fine introduction into the dangerous and often unappreciated work of an unusual bunch of professionals.
Rating:
Summary: Pressure, Heat, and Danger -- And Then the Volcano, Too.
Review: What makes volcanoes run is forever hidden beneath the earth, every volcano is different, and intense work on understanding and predicting them has only occurred in the last two decades. People tend to think, "It's only a mountain, for goodness sakes," and aren't eager to abandon their real estate, even if they don't take time to consider how new and vague a science volcanology has been. So the volcanologists don't have the best of reputations. That is changing. In _Volcano Cowboys: The Rocky Evolution of a Dangerous Science_ (Thomas Dunne Books) by Dick Thompson, the ways of this relatively new science are explained, along with a good deal of social science and the histories of two of the best studied eruptions recently, Mount St. Helens and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. The book is a remarkable picture of how science is done under pressure. We get to meet a lot of the cowboys in this book, and they are, well, individuals; perhaps those who are fascinated by this dangerous science have to be a little off kilter. There are lots of anecdotes. For instance, at Pinatubo, some of the volcanologists were unexpectedly trapped in a building at Clark Air Force Base, and had no idea if the upcoming volcanic flow would take out the building as the minutes ticked by. But there were bags of popcorn, and one of the researchers tore into one and started eating. "How can you eat popcorn at a time like this?" exclaimed an incredulous geologist who was also trapped. "I always eat popcorn at this part of the movie," came the reply. Along with the anecdotes, there is a good deal of description about how this serious and dangerous work gets done. There is much about how scientists compete, and how the competition is worsened under public scrutiny and pressure. There are scary descriptions of how hard it was to get the public to listen and to leave endangered areas. The volcanologists are easily better at useful predictions than they were twenty years ago, but there is still too much unknown, and there is always going to be at least as much uncertainty as with the weather. This is a fine introduction into the dangerous and often unappreciated work of an unusual bunch of professionals.
Rating:
Summary: exciting vulcanology lesson for the non-expert
Review: Who knew volcanos could be so interesting and exciting? This traces the development of vulcanology in the US from the 1980 erruption of Mt. St. Helens through the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Phillipines in 1990s. Fast paced, suspenseful, technical but accessable. Now you can discuss pyroclastic flows with confidence. My only complaint is that the photos were insufficient (too few, quality not great). Still, you can go to USGS websites and download thousands. I rented Dante's Peak while reading the St. Helens section and was surprised to find a lot of the book in the movie. It made a wannabe vulcanologist out of me.
Rating:
Summary: Fast paced science and a wonderful read
Review: Writing about volcanoes may well be a subject that intrigues, but to follow the science of it, and personalise to the vulcanologists and their different schools, in the way that is done here, is no mean feat. This is a fast paced read, reflecting the thrill and horror of the big bang. What a great book!
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