Atmosphere, The: An Introduction to Meteorology [Hardcover]

Frederick K. Lutgens (Author), Edward J. Tarbuck (Author), Dennis Tasa (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0137429746 | ISBN-13: 978-0137429745 | Edition: 7

A revised introduction to meteorology, this text includes updated and expanded material on ozone depletion, global warming, and acid rain. It includes coverage of severe weather events including the 1995 hurricane season and examples from 1996.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Traditional in both structure and approach, this text offers a current and comprehensive introduction to the atmosphere, its components, problems, and applications. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Key Benefit: Traditional in both structure and approach, this book offers a current and comprehensive introduction to the atmosphere, its components, problems, and applications. Key Topics: Poviding a strong emphasis on readability, this book was substantially rewritten with the aim of producing a user-friendly book. Coverage includes sections on World Distribution of Temperature and Cycles of Air Temperature, a section on Humidity, and a section on How Do We Detect Climate Change. Strong, updated examples of environmental issues, such as ozone depletion, global warming, acid rain, and air pollution, allow instructors to demonstrate relevance of the subject matter. Market: For anyone interested in subjects on weather, climate, atmosphere, or any of the physical sciences.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 434 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div; 7 edition (June 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137429746
• ISBN-13: 978-0137429745
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT, May 2, 2000

By 

Sallie J Tremblay (Minot, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atmosphere, The: An Introduction to Meteorology (Hardcover)

Having no college background, but a great interest in the weather, I searched high and low for a comprehensive book that would be understandable and informative. This book greatly increased my knowledge of the weather. It is a quality textbook that covers, in depth, what other books just touch on. High and low pressure systems, fronts, weather systems, trade winds, jet streams, precipitation, clouds, visual effects, measuring devices and much more. I would really love to get the next book that carries on where this one left off, but to go much farther will probably require more knowledge of math and physics. This book also gave me the desire for further learning. It's almost contagious because the information is so amazingly interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who truly loves weather study. Completing the questions in each section really helps to hold the information gained.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A carefully written well-illustrated non-technical textbook., July 11, 1999

By 

Rob Bird ([e-mail]) (Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Atmosphere, The: An Introduction to Meteorology (Hardcover)

I am not qualified to judge the content of this evidently widely-used textbook but it seems carefully written, eg its treatment the relationship between the temperature of a parcel of air and the amount of water vapor it can carry, bearing in mind the cautions on the subject at Penn State University's "Bad Meteorology" web site. It appears to be comprehensive in scope to judge from its Table of Contents, which is comparable to that of other introdutory non-technical meteorology texts I have seen. Photographs and drawings are plentiful, clear with respect to content, and beautifully printed.

When I say "non-technical" I mean readers looking for even a rudimentary treatment of the math, physics, and chemistry of the atmosphere will be disappointed unless, for example, you consider something like a Fahrenheit/Celsius conversion formula mathematically taxing. This is the technical level intended by the authors and publisher however and not a fault of the book.

But if some aspect of meteorology should turn you on when you read about it in "The Atmosphere" expect no help from the text if you want to explore the matter further: bibliography and notes are absent. This may be an artifact of publishing economics or a (bad) judgement about the intellectual curiosity of the average college underclassman rather than an author's omission but it's inexcusable in my view, even for a high school text. It merits a two-star penalty.

If you're a non-science major taking an elective meteorology course to round out your degree requirements and this text is on the reading list you could do worse. If you have an active interest in the earth's atmosphere and the study of it, even if you don't have a background in the hard sciences, you should invest in a different text.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent text, and a super home library reference., July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Atmosphere, The: An Introduction to Meteorology (Hardcover)

This is the textbook for a course I just took in Junior College (St. Pete, FL). Although I have many other texts and references on Weather on my shelves, The Atmosphere will take the number one spot now. The diagrams and illustrations are very good, and the Appendices are worth the cost of the book alone. Thanks, Bill Bell, St.Pete Florida 7-15-99