Meteorology: Predicting the Weather (Innovators, 12)

Grade 5-7–Though the prose runs a bit dry toward the end, this title really charges up one of science's supposedly more esoteric fields of research. The authors profile seven major figures in the history of meteorology, from Luke Howard, who developed our classification system for cloud types, to such household names as Ben Franklin and Daniel Gabriel ("sometimes called Gabriel Daniel") Fahrenheit. The lucid accounts of each scientist's accomplishments are enhanced with personal details, memorable facts (e.g., 100 degrees originally marked the colder end of the Celsius scale), and sharp insights ("Franklin's gift was his ability to see science all around him"), as well as illuminating side notes and quotes. The last few chapters, even one on tornado-chaser Howard Bluestein, tend to drag, and though the black-and-white illustrations are a well-chosen mix of formal portraits, period art, diagrams, and awe-inspiring views of Big Weather, the quality of their reproduction is often subpar. Still, readers will come away with a clearer sense not only of how wildly complex weather's causes are, but also of the brilliance and personal quirks of men who have sought, or are seeking, to understand them.–John Peters, New York Public Library
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