Customer Reviews

Perils of a Restless Planet: Scientific Perspectives on Natural Disasters

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3 star:		(1)
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I picked up this book while in Cambridge, strolling through one of the bookstores in town. Thumbing through the pages, it looked like a collection of stories about natural disasters - something I thought would be interesting reading in the evening, after poking around old cathedrals, castles, and local pubs. Anyway, it was father's day and my wife offered to get it as a present - I gladly accepted and began reading it right away.

It wasn't the book I expected. Sure, it has lots of stories about notable natural disasters, but it's much more than just sensational accounts. It's actually a well-thought-out science book with some excellent material about the nature of science in general, complete with basic tutorials on such things as strengths of materials, wave propagation, the weather, and chaos.

The book begins with an account of the 1755 disaster that virtually destroyed Lisbon. The catastrophe consisted of an offshore earthquake that leveled much of the city (especially the un-reinforced buildings of stone masonry) followed by a tsunami and fires that basically destroyed what was left. This chapter also tells the story of the destruction of Thera (today called Santorin or Santorini) in the Aegean Sea. This island volcano erupted catastrophically, destroying most of it approximately 1600 B.C. An interesting part of this story is the conjecture that the catastrophe led to the eventual downfall of the civilization on Crete, not far away.

The book then switches modes, temporarily, with a very nice expose on the evolution of science, and what science is. I especially appreciated Zebrowski's illustration of the basic assumptions in science, and how the philosophy and methods of science have evolved since Aristotle.

Have you ever wondered at the differences in casualties between different cities? Well, you should. Zebrowski compares two remarkable catastrophes to make a point. One was the earthquake that struck San Francisco in 1906, and the other was an earthquake that hit Messina in 1908. Both earthquakes were of roughly the same magnitude, but the death toll was far greater n Messina than in San Francisco. The difference? Construction. In Messina the buildings were made primarily of un-reinforced stone masonry, while in San Francisco they were mostly made of wood. This serves as the introduction to a chapter that illustrates many important and basic ideas about the strengths of materials, and how the proper selection of such materials can make tremendous differences in how buildings survive earthquakes. If you live in earthquake country this chapter will be particularly relevant.

One of the things I liked best about this book is how it takes the reader through so many different topics. There are examples of deep lakes with dissolved carbon dioxide. When disturbed by something like a landslide, this deep water can be rolled to the surface, and with the pressure released, belches large quantities of carbon dioxide across the countryside. The carbon dioxide hugs the ground, displacing oxygen and causing death by suffocation.

Zebrowski has one of the best basic descriptions of exponential population growth that I've seen, and he follows it up with a real-life example of what happens when human population growth goes unchecked, with the example of Easter Island. The basic lesson here is that, with rapid doubling times, by the time you realize you have a problem it's probably already out of control. Quite possibly the greatest threat facing the human race today is our unchecked population growth. And by the time everyone realizes - or is finally forced to admit - that it's a problem, it could be too late to do much about it. Every government and religious leader needs to be familiar with the arguments that Zebrowski puts forward in this chapter.

There are too many other examples to go into much detail. Zebrowski discusses things like evolution, and how natural disasters affect the evolution (and extinction) of species. Other topics include the bubonic plagues, epidemics, discussions about tsunamis (including some good stuff on wave motion and tides), earthquakes, different scales for measuring the energy released in earthquakes, volcanoes, and asteroid impacts. In all these cases the author makes a point of illustrating the effect of these catastrophes by recounting historical examples. But what I liked best was the way he delves into the science behind each type of natural catastrophe.

The last chapter on natural disasters deals with hurricanes and tornadoes. This leads naturally to the book's closing topics of irreproducible phenomena and chaos. There are better books on chaos, but this was not Zebrowski's primary topic. His chapter makes a nice introduction to the subject. The point of his closing remarks is that the science of natural disasters is intermingled with the unpredictability of chaos, and that some fundamentally new science is needed to make additional significant progress in dealing with predictions of things like earthquakes and hurricanes. Some of the material in this last chapter might be a bit difficult to understand if you haven't had some prior exposure to the subject (it tends to be a little abbreviated).

Overall, this is a wonderful book. It's informative, well written, nicely illustrated, heavily referenced, has a complete index, and (most importantly) the practical information within it might even save your life. It's well worth reading, in my opinion, if you like science and are a little bit curious about our restless planet.

One of the best books I've read in a long time. This is popular science done right! For a start, the writing is very clear and the author manages to explain some complicated subjects in a straightforward manner.
A book on natural disasters wouldn't be complete without exciting tales of death, mayhem and general destruction. In this book, the author proves himself a first rate yarn spinner. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what happened when Mont Pelee exploded or when Lisbon was swamped by a tsunami.
This is the kind of science book I like. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, yet also assumes the reader is intelligent and can grasp new concepts. For example, the second chapter (in a book on natural disasters) is titled "The Evolution of Science" and provides a lucid and compact summary of the history and philosophy of science, no less! Bravo! Another great thing is the auther is always ready to point out the limitations of current science or current techniques. Some authors tend to gloss over the unknowns and pretend they know everything.
You can learn a lot from this book. Each page is dense with scientific information, with no filler. What to do if involved in an earthquake, hurricane, tsunami or volcano. How to build a house. How the richter scale works. Its all in there. And the author isn't afraid to throw a few equations into the mix to illustrate the science behind the discussed phenomenon.
If you are a thinker, you will love this book. Guaranteed!

This is a fascinating book. The stories of blood and gore are captivating enough, but the real thrill is in the mystery of how and why nature chooses to destroy. The science behind disasters is not traditional textbook science, instead it is science at the cutting edge, full of more questions and speculations than answers. This is a book that causes the reader to pause and say *Hmm....* at least once, it seems, every page. There are a few typographical errors that the publisher ought to fix, but this is a minor complaint. Anyone with a curious mind will finish this book wishing it were longer. I hope the author writes a sequel!

"Perils" is a lucid and riveting exegesis on natural disasters. I especially enjoyed the analyses of historical events in light of modern theories and technologies and was particularly impressed by the fact that Zebrowski could make chaos theory so darned accessible! If his teaching style is as absorbing as his writing his students should count themselves fortunate. You should read this.

Zebrowski's book is a passionate wish for the general public to understand natural disasters and their widespread web of destructive influence on the global community. The strength of this book is in Zebrowski's writing, he writes clearly and with an artistic flourish. For a reader coming from a non-science background the book is easy to understand and informative. In many sections Zebrowski goes on a scientific tangent to explain a natural disaster.The book chronicles earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanoes, asteroid impacts, human epidemics, tornados and hurricanes.This book is not for the researcher, professor or upper level course student of geography, as it would be too elementary, however historians or researchers in other humanities and social sciences would find this an approachable take on natural causes behind these events which have greatly affected human history.

The details of the book have been covered in prior reviews so I'll be brief: Mr. Zebrowski has woven together a large chunk of credible natural science with a good dose of human & historical 'leavening' to create a fascinating tale. This book will be devoured non-stop by those with a bent for science & natural disasters, but is also engrossing for those with little knowledge or background in either. He manages to throw a very broad net, ranging from the origins of the scientific method to modern events, their societal impact and the science behind them without getting mired down in the depths of any area or field. The elemental subject is 'natural disasters' but it really covers much more than that. It is refreshing to read a book like this.

I've recommended this book to friends and family who have also enjoyed it. A great read!

I've long been interested in climate, weather, and geological sciences that have very little to do with the science of the body or biology that I usually teach or that I read for. I didn't get much of this science in school, and I find it fascinating, though of course, it makes me extremely uneasy to read information like this after we have had several very large natural disasters that led to major suffering on the part of human beings partly through our own fault, and partly as a natural condition of being part of an eco-system that is very much impacted by what we humans do.

This book is not just the usual listing of catastrophic happenings, but rather a few major events are listed with significant information about what either led up to the event, or how the event happened, or how and why it impacted civilization. A lot of this stuff was a mix of several different ways of looking at disasters, including epidemiology and population statistics, things that are not usually looked at until way after the event, and even then, are dismissed. But we dismiss this type of study at our own peril. After Katrina, people should understand more that if you put a city near an immense body of water, with no protection for that city, whether natural or otherwise, there will be consequences of that action. Whether that consequence occurs during the lifetime of the people who build that city without thinking on the edge of a precipice, or whether it occurs during their children's lifetime, has little or no bearing on the deliverance of those consequences.

This book is a must read for urban engineers and urban planning. Whether dealing with environmental impact of building unsafely, or the population statistcs of whether an area can adequately support an exponentially growing population without leading to problems such as that seen on Easter Island where a small environment could not support a large population adequately, is up for grabs. I would hope that those who come after us would do better at taking such concerns to heart when planning communities.

Karen L. Sadler

This is an approachable but not dumbed down introduction to the science and history of natural disasters: picking it up in the early post-Thailand/Indonesia/India etc tsunami it explained the whyfores and wherefores as well as the nature and extent of the damage clearly and concisely.
Highly recommended as an either an introduction to more technical treatments, or as an excellent 'popular science' outline of the subject.

If you're the type of person who likes reading about disasters, but who wants more than tales of woe, then buy this book! Zebrowski gives thoughtful descriptions of various natural catastrophes that were exacerbated by human foibles and design shortcomings. His narrative offers enough detail to satisfy the engineer, but explains complex concepts in a manner that makes the material accessible and enjoyable to the layman.

Ernest Zebrowski, Jr. is both a teacher and a story-teller in "Perils of a Restless Planet." I picked the book up to review it and found myself reading it from cover to cover all over again.

Stylistically, the author will begin with the story of, say, the San Francisco earthquake (1906). He then compares it to the Messina earthquake (1908), and asks why there were so many more casualties in the Messina quake (only a 33% - 45% survival rate as compared to San Francisco's 99.8% survival rate). This question leads to a discussion of the strengths of materials---how well they perform when deformed by tension, compression, shear, and torsion. In San Francisco, the houses were built of wood, which will bend and twist and allow its occupants time to escape during a quake. The houses in Messina were built of stone. "It is this plastic behavior of wood (versus stone) that explains the dramatic difference in survival rates in the San Francisco and Messina earthquakes of 1906 and 1908."

There's lots of physics (and some biology, archeology, and sociology) in 'Perils' but it is all very clear and palatable. In fact, this book would make a good overview of science for high school students. It's got stories of volcanoes, plagues, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, asteroids, and poisonous lakes to hold the students' interest. The clear physical explanations of, for example, why some boats will float during a tsunami and others will turn turtle, are an excellent foundation for further explorations into the worlds of science. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how we've managed to survive and even thrive on the surface of such a restless planet. It is an excellent summary of the science necessary to understand many of the Earth's natural catastrophes.