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Divine Wind: The History & Science of Hurricanes
Kerry Emanuel
fascinating blend of history, science, and art will appeal to weather junkies, science buffs
Oxford University Press
October 2005
285 pages ISBN: 0195149416 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Imagine standing at the center of a Roman coliseum that is
20 miles across, with walls that soar 10 miles into the
sky, towering walls with cascades of ice crystals falling
along its brilliantly white surface. That's what it's like
to stand in the eye of a hurricane. In Divine Wind, Kerry Emanuel, one of the world's
leading authorities on hurricanes, gives us an engaging
account of these awe-inspiring meteorological events,
revealing how hurricanes and typhoons have literally
altered human history, thwarting military incursions and
changing the course of explorations. Offering an account of
the physics of the tropical atmosphere, the author explains
how such benign climates give rise to the most powerful
storms in the world and tells what modern science has
learned about them. Interwoven with this scientific account are descriptions of
some of the most important hurricanes in history and
relevant works of art and literature. For instance, he
describes the 17th century hurricane that likely inspired
Shakespeare's The Tempest and that led to the
British colonization of Bermuda. We also read about the
Galveston Hurricane of 1900, by far the worst natural
calamity in U.S. history, with a death toll between 8,000
and 12,000 that exceeded the San Francisco earthquake, the
Johnstown Flood, and the Okeechobee Hurricane combined. Boasting more than one hundred color illustrations, from
ultra-modern Doppler imagery to classic paintings by
Winslow Homer, Divine Wind captures the profound
effects that hurricanes have had on humanity. Its
fascinating blend of history, science, and art will appeal
to weather junkies, science buffs, and everyone who read
Isaac's Storm.
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