Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book had a great deal of promise as a valuable research tool for hurricanes. Unfortunately, it is so full of typographic errors, grammatical faux pas, and incorrect information that it becomes a dangerous book to have been published. It looks like this book published by "Facts on File" is full of facts unchecked.

Meteorologically, and common sense-wise, this work fails in almost every conceivable way. It talks about storms that never existed (i.e. Larry of 1984 (an error from page 212)...the name is on that 1985 season's list and has never been used). Elena was ascribed the year 1965, even though storms of that name existed in 1979 and 1985 (error on page 105, yet correct on page 109). Time travel is realized by the storm incorrectly dated as October 29, 1893 which destroys a Lightship two months prior to its inception (page 242 error)! A Louisiana tropical storm from June 1912 is incorrectly dated as 1812 (error on page 216). And the errors go on and on.

If they had run the book through a simple spell/grammar check, it would have been much better. Some errors even an elementary school student wouldn't make. Take for example a passage from page 50 (extra comma):

...the hurricane dropped 7 inches of rain on the state's, southwest portion, spawning flash floods...

After talking in one paragraph about three 1860 hurricanes that struck Louisiana, this line follows (page 215):

A similar series of triple strikes was further witnessed in 1860 when three large hurricanes came ashore Louisiana between August 11 and October 3.

It is stunning that this book even went to print.

Despite excessive errors, there is some good information in this book. However, only people with significant knowledge about weather and hurricanes would be able to separate the facts from the faults. Maybe when an editor takes hold of this book, it will be of more value

David Longshore's Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones is an ambitious undertaking, impressive in its intent and scope. I was excited to pick up a copy for my library, but unfortunately, the more I read the more my excitement mingled with dissapointment. On the positive side, the work is fairly well organized and presented, and does make a handy quick reference guide. Unfortunately, it is also subject to a weakness common to encyclopedias of all types: it contains numerous errors, large and small. Several of the track charts presented for particular notable hurricanes are inaccurate to varying degrees. There are some errors in statistics, dates and the various minutiae associated with individual storm histories. More importantly, there are also places where Longshore's discussions of meteorology and other scientific material related to the subject are in error, or at least subject to serious debate. While most of these faults are minor in the larger context, a few are not, and when taken together they lessen the usefulness of the work. In addition to the errors, Longshore has an unfortunate tendency to engage in turgid prose and hyperbole; extreme adjectives and adverbs fly in great profusion about every storm and every aspect of every disaster. The net affect is the same as over-spicing the soup or adding too much sugar to the tea -- at best, one loses the flavor of the subject; at worst, the product can, at times, become almost indigestible. Personally, I am hoping that Checkmark Books and Mr. Longshore have opportunity to revise this work in the future, eliminating the mistakes, balancing the writing and tightening the reins on purple prose. Such efforts would greatly strengthen the merits of this work. Despite its faults, I would still recommend the Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones to anyone with a general interest in the subject. However, for those whose professional interests or responsibilities involve this topic, I would have to recommend that they rely on other materials for their research and reference libraries.

I appreciate the wealth of information in Longshore's books, and the many photographs and maps. It is one of the definitive laymen's books on hurricanes, but some of the material lacked a proofread and factcheck. I just received the book a week ago and have only perused some items. Having experienced Hurricane Betsy in New Orleans, I read that section, and found examples of errors. "Betsy's winds lashed neighborhoods in the western quadrant of New Orleans..." Actually it was New Orleans East that got hit the hardest. The author mentions 27000 homes "completely destroyed" in Golden Meadows. I doubt it. The 1998 population of GM was only 2079. He mentions entire beaches washed away in Bay St. Louis,MS. I lived in Bay St. Louis. There are no beaches, and never were. Then, Hurricane Betsy moved inland to ravish Baton Rouge. Not easy since BR is 100 miles to the west. Elsewhere in the book he refers to the "nation" of Hispaniola which is actually an island of two nations (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). He describes the Caribbean Sea as "situated between latitudes 10' and 30'N. Actually the sea lies between 9' and 22'. Finally, spare us the hyperbole and florid language. Every noun does not need to be preceded by an adjective and every verb by an adverb: "...The eradicating brunt of its seaborne fury." Sticking to the facts would give the text more credibility.

As previous reviewers have noted, this book must be reprinted. The errors have been detailed at length by previous reviewers and I won't bore you by repeating them.

Suffice it to say that if it's a 'must have' because a teenager is considering a career in meterology then perhaps it's worth getting this edition. However if you can wait, it's best to wait for the second edition when errata can be corrected.

That last piece of advice goes for nearly every reference book and piece of software.

David Longshore's Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones is an ambitious undertaking, impressive in its intent and scope. I was excited to pick up a copy for my library, but unfortunately, the more I read the more my excitement mingled with dissapointment. On the positive side, the work is fairly well organized and presented, and does make a handy quick reference guide. Unfortunately, it is also subject to a weakness common to encyclopedias of all types: it contains numerous errors, large and small. Several of the track charts presented for particular notable hurricanes are inaccurate to varying degrees. There are some errors in statistics, dates and the various minutiae associated with individual storm histories. More importantly, there are also places where Longshore's discussions of meteorology and other scientific material related to the subject are in error, or at least subject to serious debate. While most of these faults are minor in the larger context, a few are not, and when taken together they lessen the usefulness of the work. In addition to the errors, Longshore has an unfortunate tendency to engage in turgid prose and hyperbole; extreme adjectives and adverbs fly in great profusion about every storm and every aspect of every disaster. The net affect is the same as over-spicing the soup or adding too much sugar to the tea -- at best, one loses the flavor of the subject; at worst, the product can, at times, become almost indigestible. Personally, I am hoping that Checkmark Books and Mr. Longshore have opportunity to revise this work in the future, eliminating the mistakes, balancing the writing and tightening the reins on purple prose. Such efforts would greatly strengthen the merits of this work. Despite its faults, I would still recommend the Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones to anyone with a general interest in the subject. However, for those whose professional interests or responsibilities involve this topic, I would have to recommend that they rely on other materials for their research and reference libraries.

It doesn't take an extensive search to see this encyclopedia is crafted as it should have been. We find articles here on historic storms, hot spot locations, hurricane dynamics and tracking technology. Longshore made sure not to leave anything out. Cyclone enthusiasts must be sure to keep a copy on the shelf.

While text entries are often extensive, though, I found myself wanting a little more at many points. Too often the articles ended abruptly without the reader having a full sense of the subject's importance. This is not a major flaw but could have been avoided by a better writer.

The book also misses a five star rating for errors. I was not as bothered by them as others, but that's probably because I subconciously skipped over them. Needles to say, an Encyclopedia must be accurate and well edited. Perhaps the mistakes have been corrected in the latest editions.

It's all here, from explanations of the naming systems to the role of animals as harbingers, scavengers, and weathervanes in tropical storms.
The information is comprehensive and laid out handily, with tracking maps, easy-to-follow meteorological explanations, and clear drawings and charts to provide all the data anyone is likely to need. There are also useful appendices with safety precautions, a chronology of major hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, and tropical storms, a bibliography, good index, photos, and more.
This is an essential work for residents of vulnerable areas, a fine reference for students and libraries, and a fine gift for that storm buff. (The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)