Forces of Nature: The Awesome Power of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tornadoes. National Geographic - Hardcover

O'Neill Grace, Catherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792263286 ISBN 13: 9780792263289

Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books, 2004

Synopsis

Spectacular images, detailed diagrams, and fact-filled narrative combine to bring readers up close and personal with some of Earth's most dynamic forces. Through interviews with scientists in the field, the author reveals how volcanoes, earthquakes, and tornadoes occur and what's being done to predict when they will strike so lives can be saved.

About this title

About the Author

Catherine O’Neill Grace has written several children’s books, including 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving. She lives in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Grade 4-8–A companion volume to the National Geographic film of the same title, this book presents the basics of these phenomena with a focus on the work of four scientists who study them: Richard Herd, Marie Edmonds, Ross Stein, and Joshua Wurman. Grace describes how volcanoes develop and the efforts to predict their behavior, highlighting the eruption of Soufriere Hills on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Focusing on the seismically active region that includes the North Anatolian Fault near Istanbul, Turkey, she details attempts at earthquake prediction and what is being learned about safer buildings by studying Hagia Sophia, a structure that has survived numerous quakes. The author presents the Midwest's "Tornado Alley" as a prime example of a breeding ground for these storms, and reveals how and why they are formed. Survival tips are included, as are sidebars with factual data and statistics. Outstanding color and black-and-white photos and diagrams augment the very readable text. Lin Sutherland's Earthquakes and Volcanoes (Reader's Digest, 2000) is similar in style, but lacks the focus on the work of specific scientists. Grace's book is an attractive presentation about a popular subject.–Jeffrey A. French, Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, Willowick, OH
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Gr. 4-6. Illustrated with stunning, sharply detailed stills from a documentary film of the same name, this introduction to scientists studying an active volcano on Montserrat Island, in the eastern Caribbean; earthquakes near Istanbul; and tornadoes in the "tornado alley" in the central part of the U.S. imparts not only basic information about the causes of such phenomena but also vivid impressions of their immense scale and capacity for destruction. Based in part on personal interviews, and including safety advice, fact boxes, notes on similar catastrophes in history, and useful lists of print and Web resources, the oversize volume will attract browsers and also serve students as an authoritative source about natural disasters. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792263286
• ISBN 13: 9780792263289
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64