Perils of a Restless Planet: Scientific Perspectives on Natural Disasters

From epidemics and earthquakes to tornados and tidal waves, the overwhelming power of nature never ceases to instill humankind with both terror and awe. As natural disasters continue to claim human lives and leave destruction in their wake, Perils of a Restless Planet examines our attempts to understand and anticipate such phenomena. Now available in paperback, this highly acclaimed book draws on actual events from ancient to present times. Coverage focuses on basic scientific inquiry, technological innovation and, ultimately, public policy to provide a lucid and riveting look at the natural events that have shaped our view of natural disasters. While shedding light on the elusive quality of nature's intermittent tantrums and the limits scientific study and laboratory replication impose on our understanding of its mercurial ways, the author extrapolates from the history of science to suggest how we may someday learn to warn and protect the vulnerable populations on our small, tempestuous planet. Compelling and informative, this book will find readers both in and outside of the scientific community.

A wide-ranging, gratifyingly lively investigation into the more violent ravings of Mother Nature from Zebrowski (College of Technology/Penn. State Univ.). All of the great natural catastrophes are visited here- -earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, epidemics, hurricanes, tornadoes, and firestorms--from Thera to Kobe, with stops at Lisbon, Messina, Galveston, San Francisco, Alaska, and other notable venues. Yet this isn't just a litany of the most godawful cataclysms, for Zebrowski is interested in the whys and wherefores behind such events, curious to make sense of their seeming randomness, anxious to gain a step toward predictability. To this end he plumbs atmospheric dynamics, wave physics, plate tectonics, plague vectors; explores the history of science (highlighting the work of Pythagoras, Galileo, and Newton); and argues for the support of arcane scientific projects, as he is a believer in the crucial need for all kinds of research, as well as in the creative leap of faith and inductive reasoning. Interesting as all this is--pleasingly accessible via Zebrowski's unhurried, skeptical, clear style--it is nature's fury that makes this book vibrate: a phosphorescent tsunami that lifts the man-of-war USS Wateree and delivers it into the Atacama Desert, two miles from its anchorage off the coast of southern Peru; the strange and silent lakes of Cameroon that on two occasions in the 1980s displaced the atmospheric oxygen and suffocated all those nearby; the witnessing by five British monks in 1178 of the results of a huge asteroid colliding with the moon. Zebrowski's infectious relish makes it hard not to look forward to the next plague--of, say, black widows--as he might tell it. Mother Nature raves on, unpredicatbly and unsparingly. Zebrowski loves her still, though, like any vexed and fascinated scientist, he sure would like to know what sends her off her rocker. (b&w illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Natural catastrophes seem so capricious as to be unpredictable and unavoidable, but complacency usually combines with ignorance to raise the death toll whenever a tsunami or storm strikes. These human factors underlie Zebrowski's highly informative introduction to the geological, atmospheric, and astronomical sources of disasters. Writing a more interesting tale than a mere catalog of destruction would be, Zebrowski examines dozens of the best-known and lesser-known acts of God in terms of what, from science's current level of understanding, occurred to wipe out Lisbon in 1755, for example, or to wash a U.S. Navy ship miles inland in 1868. The culprits, wave energy propagating through rock and water, respectively, lead Zebrowski to describe the behavior of earthquake waves. And since the failure of buildings and dams contributes mightily to disasters, Zebrowski delivers a minilesson in civil engineering, the first defense against floods, quakes, and high winds, the last leading to the author's concise summary of chaotic behavior. A winning combination of story and science. Gilbert Taylor

Zebrowski's (Pennsylvania Coll. of Technology) examination of natural disasters, ancient and modern, provides a unique look at the intersection of humanity and earth processes. Descriptions of famous and not so famous disasters ranging from tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanoes to epidemics and tornadoes are followed by in-depth discussion of why they occurred. In each case, examination of the effects of these phenomena upon human habitations and structures provides insight into the nature of living on a dynamic planet. The mechanisms for forecasting and their shortcomings are included. This book is well written and interesting, and, although preachy at times, it provides an excellent look at the science behind disaster prediction and prevention. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.?Jeanne Davidson, Oregon State Univ. Lib., Corvallis
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.