I'm a geek. Yes, I admit it. And not just a geek in the reads-comics-and-plays-D&D way; I love science books. I started reading astronomy books that were grades above my supposed reading level when I was eight years old. I loved books on paleontology after Jurassic Park came out, and archaeology has always been a deep and abiding love of mine thanks to Indiana Jones. I spent about five years wanting to be a volcanologist.There's a special place in my heart for meteorology books. I grew up in Tornado Alley, even had a tornado jump over my family's house when I was a wee little girl. I've always watched hurricane reports with horrified fascination, and so it was a natural progression for me to start picking up books on meteorology.This is my favorite hurricane book. It gives a detailed, extremely readable history of hurricane forecasting as well as explaining in understandable terms some of the scientific developments in understanding hurricanes themselves. The history ranges from the earliest records of hurricanes in the Western world, by Christopher Columbus, all the way up to Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida in 1992. It's written by a former head of the national hurricane forecasting unit and a long-time weather correspondent, so it's easy to tell that it's written from experience, not just hearsay.It's a great book if you want an interesting overview of hurricanes through our history. ( )

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this book, published in 2001, can seem horribly out of date because of its focus on Hurricane Andrew. This book, which details the history of hurricane forecasting, and co-authored by a former director of the National Hurricane Center, offers a delicate balance in its consideration of the powerful 1992 hurricane: it reminds Americans of the power of these storms and it suggests that hurricane forecasting and preparation techniques have been very successful. The former is necessary because the United States has seen statistically fewer powerful hurricanes over the last 40 years than it should; the latter, based on the argument that the death toll was very low in Hurricane Andrew and that new building codes made some buildings stronger than they would otherwise have been, and thus decreased property damage, seems only partially true in the wake of Katrina.

Still, this detailed history offers some perspective on the challenges of forecasting hurricanes, given their location, the difficulty in getting exact meteorological readings in the middle of hurricanes while they are at sea, and the general lack of international cooperation throughout the centuries. Starting with the earliest recorded storms (by Columbus) and going through Hurricane Andrew, the book offers a fascinating account of how a few people with a sixth sense about hurricanes helped to develop modern assumptions and forecasting.

At points, this book is overly detailed. For example, I consider myself very interesting in meteorology, but even I was unable to keep track of the multiple overlapping hurricane forecasting theories and computer programs that the National Hurricane Center has employed in the last 20 years. The several forecasting models, with similar names, are detailed at some length, but they all blurred together in my mind.

But aside from this occasionally numbing detail, the book is recommended for its narrative detailing the challenges of forecasting that hurricanes present. Further, it reminds how far forecasting has come (in terms of the ability to prepare for such storms and prevent overwhelming loss of life), even as imperfect as it remains. ( )