A Field Guide to the Atmosphere (Peterson Field Guide) (Paperback)

by Jay Pasachoff (Author), Vincent J. Schaefer (Author), Roger Tory Peterson (Editor), Christy E. Day (Illustrator) "The global atmosphere covering the earth has been likened to the skin of an apple..." (more)
Key Phrases: swelling cumulus, ice embryos, jet stream clouds, Yellowstone Park, Field Guide, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
More than 400 photographs and line drawings illustrate every kind of atmospheric phenomenon: clouds of every type; storms, from cloudbursts to hurricanes; and sky colors.

About the Author
Christy E. Day is a contributor for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt titles including: Peterson Field Guides: Atmosphere

John A. Day has been involved with the atmosphere for more than four decades as a weather forecaster, a professor of physics and meteorology, a researcher studying cloud physics, and the author of the college text Climate and Weather and the popular Water: The Mirror of Science. Of particular interest to him has been the history of cloud classification. He is professor emeritus at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon.

Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world"s greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation, as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars, and the Peterson Field Guides® are credited with helping to set the stage for the environmental movement.

Vincent J. Schaefer, the inventor of cloud seeding in 1946, received many honors for his lifelong work in atmospheric studies, including the American Meteorological Society's award for outstanding contributions to applied meteorology. He was director emeritus of the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the State University of New York and an industrial research consultant in Schenectady, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395976316
• ISBN-13: 978-0395976319
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #383,053 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile for the "Everyday" cloud-watcher, April 21, 2003

By	"vortex87" (Picnic Point, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This is a useful weather field guide because it spends most time illustrating regular weather phenomena. By that, I mean it spends most time on the various types of clouds, "garden-variety" thunderstorms, and ordinary optical phenomena like rainbows, irridescence, halo(e)s, and the like - the kind of stuff you're most likely to see if you glance out your bedroom window of a morning, or . . . whatever. (It's hard not to sound corny there!)Also, the text goes into how such phenomena comes about, which is useful.

There are also useful appendices like the Beaufort scale, and tornado safety rules in the back.

The only drawbacks are, the fact that this isn't a full-color guide: the color plates have been segregated to an insert around the middle of the book, which makes up perhaps an eighth of the book - if that (all other photos - the majority of the book - are in much less detailed and descriptive black and white); also, the illustration of severe weather is rather limited. We don't see features of a severe thunderstorm, or satellite images of a hurricane at its various stages of intensity (or an illustrated discussion of satellite pictures in general - this guide may be from 1981, but satellites existed then!), or the forms a tornado can take, or where one can form - we only have photos of distant, non-severe looking cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds, a view of clouds around a hurricane taken from a plane (which isn't the perspective either a satellite or someone on the groud is going to have), and one photo of a tornado chosen for its historical merit only (it being the "first photo taken of a tornado," near Howard, SD on 8/28/1884 - an older photo, taken near either Garnett or Westphalia, KS on 4/26/1884, has since been found). [Regarding the thunderstorm/tornado images, I realize this isn't supposed to be a NOAA spotter's guide, therefore gospel, but a variety of images helps.]

But if a lack of color doesn't bother you, and you know your severe storms (or they don't bother you, either), this is a good field guide to have.

5.0 out of 5 stars identifying cloud formations over the Blue Ridge Mtns, June 7, 2009

By	John R. Rowe - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

we get many interesting clouds over the nearby mountains and needed a book to help us identify them and learn how they are formed. this book helped greatly and we are still working on it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Weather & Smart, too!, January 7, 2009

By	H. Moro (Mount Kisco, NY) - See all my reviews

This book should not be confused with other "cloud spotting" books. It isn't about "garden-variety" storms either. Rather, it is a palatable introduction to the atmospheric sciences aimed at naturalists and educators. While the authors occasionally struggle with maintaining the flow and organization of the book in delivering some very complex topics, they manage to keep the material interesting and enjoyable to read. Someone completely uninitiated with the atmosphere will come away from this book with a greater appreciation of everyday weather through an understanding of the localized chemical processes that produce it. A Neat Book!