Customer Reviews

Meteorology Today

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The title is very apt. For anyone interested in descriptive concepts (no maths)of general meteorology and environment systems - how they work, this book covers just about every topic of interest to us today. Content is clearly laid out and easy to understand. The graphics are first class. This is a great book for basic understanding of the workings of our atmosphere. I congratulate the author. As a companion and for further indepth knowledge (with simle maths) I suggest Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers.

I teach at the local community college and for the first semester teaching "Weather and Climate", I was handed Ahrens' paperback version of this text. The hardback version is only a few dollars more and includes much more information.

Each chapter deals with just a single topic of weather phenomenon, such as a separate chapter about tornadoes and a different one on Hurricanes. Extreme weather is not grouped together into a single chapter.

The layout of the material is process oriented. This text will give easy-to-understand information about the processes of meteorology. In simple language, Ahrens explains why weather "happens", but the book does not dwell on the mathematics of the processes, so is easy to understand by non-technical people.

The graphics are first class, the associated publisher's web site for this text hosts quite a bit of content related to the text, and the text is updated frequently to include the latest weather phenomenon, such as last year's hurricanes.

If I were to have a complaint, the text is light on world weather. World air circulation, ocean current, and other small-scale meteorological factors are discussed. But, other than part of a chapter dealing with the Köppen system, large-scale weather outside the United States is not investigated to any degree of depth. For example, if I wanted an understanding of seasonal weather that I would encounter in a visit to Italy ... I would be much better served with an internet search.

However, having said that, I teach this class and this is the textbook I use above all of the others available today. I have not found a better one.

Months ago when I was looking for a suitable book for studying Meteorology, I came across this one. At first sight after previewing the book I decided there and then this would be the perfect book for me to study on. Everything from the pictures, to the charts and illustrations added to the enjoyment of this book. I am very impressed with the layout of this book and would recommend this to anyone wanting to begin there career in the Meteorology field or just for fun. This is a must have for any weather enthusiast. Thank You for this great book C. Donald Ahrens!

This is the best book I've ever read on the subject. Too often, authors put the cart before the horse by touching on subjects the book hasn't covered yet, forcing the reader to page ahead and read about what's being talked about so he can go back and understand what should have been explained to him 100 pages earlier. This book has beautiful illustrations and photographs, and is the easiest, by being the CLEAREST, book to grasp by anyone who wants to learn about the weather. Everything is discussed in an orderly fashion, and the style of writing is engaging enough to make topics, which might otherwise be boring, extremely fascinating. There is constant LIFE running through these pages.

This book manages to walk the line between heavy science and simplicity, making the reader feel at ease by being able to understand complicated subjects without feeling like he is being treated like a child.

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough, and if it weren't for the fact that I had to stop so I could take in what I was learning, I would not have been able to put it down.

Wow, this book is easy to follow, easy to understand, very informative, visually stimulating, beautiful illustrating pictures, & PERFECT for learning about meteorology. My view of our mysterious earth will never be the same, I have been enlightened through this powerful book! VERY, VERY INTERESTING.

This book is a very good textbook. It is easy to read even for a beginner. It has a lot of nice, large pictures in it. It explains meterology well.

I liked this book as it was laid out well. The author does not use jargon and writing style is clear and easy to understand. With that said, it did not spoon feed the reader mush. I did not look at the online segments, but it was nice to see that they were there if I needed it.

I would recommend this book if you are interested in learning about our weather and global climate.

I really like this textbook so far. Weather is a very visual subject and this book is full of beautiful, full page images. It is also written in an easy to understand manner - Great for first time meteorology students. I definitely recommend this book to professors looking for a meteorology text book.

I ordered this for school and it arrived on time and as described. However the contents of this book is garbage. The author is clearly concerned with showing how much he knows as opposed to passing on knowledge. His explanations are vague and not helpful. The book contains practice questions but has no answers in the back. How does he expect people to know if they are right or wrong if he does not provide answers to the questiosn he asks? The questions themselves also tend to be vague, almost as if he wants to see who is smart enough to decipher his drivel more than finding out who has understood. If anybody has the authority to review this book and possibly select it for use in a school, I would put my firm FAIL on this text. I have given up trying to understand what is in it, and I have now moved on to use alternative means of information gathering. A complete waste of money.