A to Z of Scientists in Weather and Climate (Notable Scientists) - Hardcover

Rittner, Don

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816047979 ISBN 13: 9780816047970

Publisher: Facts on File, 2003

Synopsis

Presents profiles of more than one hundred scientists in the field of meteorology and climatology, from ancient times to the present day.

About this title

Reviews

Two inviting volumes "designed for high school students, researchers, teachers, and general readers." As is typical for the Notable Scientists series, these titles are clearly written and well organized and aim to include male and female contributors in their fields. The authors have included 115 (Weather and Climate ) and 145 (Marine Scientists ) scientists from varied educational and economic backgrounds, many countries, and different time periods.

Arrangement is alphabetical by last name, with most entries one or two pages long. Introducing each essay is basic biographical information (birth and death dates, nationality, field, education, and positions held). Emphasis is on how the person's work contributed to scientific understanding. Interestingly, although both titles encompass fields like mathematics, meteorology, and oceanography, there are only a few entries repeated in both books--Vilhelm Friman Koren Bjerknes (his name is spelled differently in each), Benjamin Franklin, Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, and Alfred Lothar Wegener. Librarians will be intrigued to read about Kurt Vonnegut's brother Bernard, who held 28 patents and developed cloud seeding.

Both volumes are well indexed. In addition to general indexes, there are lists of scientists by scientific field, country of birth, country of major scientific activity, and year of birth. Both titles define unfamiliar terms in context, but Weather and Climate also includes a glossary of lengthy, very well explained definitions. The bibliography in Marine Scientists has two pages of fairly current books and a few Web sites. The Weather and Climate bibliography offers eight pages of print and online sources, including much older journal articles. A list of climate-related Web sites is also included.

These volumes are definitely worth the price for high-school and public libraries. They may be useful for reports in middle-school collections too. RBB
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Edition details

• Publisher: Facts on File
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0816047979
• ISBN 13: 9780816047970
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272