1 comments about Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Production of Entropy: Life, Earth, and Beyond (Understanding Complex Systems).

1. I saw this book reviewed in Nature magazine. It had a rave review there, so I bought a copy. I wasn't dissapointed, this is a reprint of all the seminal papers on the subject of MEP (Maximum Entropy Production). It is a modern version of Schroedinger's famous book - "What is Life".
   
   My only wish is that the book could be a little MORE mathematically complete.

2 comments about Why the Sky Is Blue: Discovering the Color of Life.

1. This book could as easily have been titled "Is the Sky Blue?" And the answer to that is yes and no.
   Gotz Hoeppe, a German science journalist, points out that the sky near the horizon, if clear, is whitish not blue.
   So when a child asks her father, "Daddy, why is the sky blue?" one answer could be: Take a closer look.
   A longer, yet still incomplete, answer would be: Light from the sun hits viruses and molecules of gas in the atmosphere and is reflected as blue light. The sky itself -- mostly nitrogen and oxygen -- is colorless.
   Figuring this out took a long time. The Greeks about 2,500 years ago were the first to become dissatisfied with mythical answers, but although they put a lot of effort into proposing reasons, they did not know how to test them.
   Hoeppe traces the thinking of prescientific physicists through 2,000 years before getting to the period when real answers started to be found.
   "Why is the sky blue?" is a childish question but answering it was not child's play. The first clues began to be teased out 400 years ago, and the big breakthrough came with Isaac Newton's experiments showing that white light is composed of colors, including, of course, sky blue. Newton published "Opticks" in 1704.
   Some of his ideas were wrong, which began to be recognized about 50 years later. It took another hundred years to straighten most things out, but another 50 after that for Albert Einstein (and others) to explain the weird qualities of light.
   One of the interesting things about "Why the Sky is Blue" is that as a German, Hoeppe spreads credit for the development of physics farther east than most popular scientific histories in English do.
   He also presents a number of phenomena that readers can try out in their backyards.
   For example, the "blue hour." When the sun goes down, the sky stays blue for a while. The hue is almost, but not quite, the same in the blue hour as during bright daylight, but the mechanism for producing it is entirely unrelated.
   A careful look at the sky, with Hoeppe's guidance, will reveal a number of other curiosities that we tend to overlook.
   Unfortunately, Hoeppe's guidance goes awry in his summation, when he raises the alarm about what increased carbon dioxide is likely to mean for the blue sky.
   The answer, very likely, is nothing, thanks to clouds and other buffering effects, but -- astonishingly -- Hoeppe manages to write about greenhouse gases for two chapters without mentioning the most important one -- water vapor.
   It wouldn't hurt to skip Chapter 10.



2. If you have any penchant for physics and enjoy the human adventure that goes with it, then you will enjoy this book, perhaps as much as I have. The author takes us back in time, and places us in the minds of those early Greeks who could only speculate as to the cause behind the beautiful blue in the sky. It is remarkable just how far and to what great heights, literally, mankind has tried to tackle this topic. Hoeppe carries the reader along this marvelous adventure, and does so with a cogent style that makes even the more complicated points easy to grasp.
   
   Many other related subjects are addressed throughout the book that are handled in-depth and give us a view we are unlikely to find elsewhere. John W. Strutt's, Lord Rayleigh, original mechanical treatment for scattering is nicely explained, followed by a close look at his modern electromagnetic modification to it once Maxwell revealed light is an electromagnetic wave.
   
   I especially enjoyed learning of the Chappuis Effect - it might explain the purple color of our Moon during a lunar eclipse when volcanic activity has altered our atmosphere.
   
   With over 250 exoplanets discovered, and thousands more to come, this book will help us understand what we may someday behold when we actually obtain visible images of them. It already helps us understand what we see for the atmospheres of our neighboring planets. For instance, why the Martian sky is not blue and why the cloudless regions on Saturn are a rich sky blue color.

3 comments about Introduction to Micrometeorology, Second Edition (International Geophysics).

1. This book was used as the textbook for a class on hydrometeorology. The explanations and sequence of the text was good for an entry level class on the subject. The book does not cover precipitation and clouds, an important part of micrometeorology, but overall I would recommend the text. More detailed descriptions of some of the physical processes are given in other texts. Extensive reference section to lead interested readers to relevant research papers.



2. Good overall review and introduction to micrometeorology. Easy to read and understand with examples.



3. Since it's a recommendation from my teacher on micrometeorology course (undergraduate atmospheric sciences at my UNI) I assume it is a good source of what I'll be using on this year, from what I've looked over it had good explaning of the phisics involved, some examples and pictures that help understanding the text and is more atualized and complete than the previous edition...

No comments about Seismic Attributes for Prospect ID and Reservoir Char (Seg Geophysical Developments).

No comments about Subsea Pipelines and Risers (Ocean Engineering).

1 comments about Furnace of Creation, Cradle of Destruction: A Journey to the Birthplace of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis.

1. The author clearly explains the history of earth science as it relates to the realization of plate tectonics. This is fascinating and eye-opening for a layperson like me! I found myself up late several nights reading this book.
   
   The author also makes the material relevant by using the natural disasters across time to illustrate many points. There are over a dozen "Panels" that explain some of the most incredible natural disasters such as the New Madrid earthquake of 1811-12, the Pakistan earthquake of 2005, and of course the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia. There are also many charts and diagrams explaining plate tectonics, ocean floor spreading, fault lines, "hot zones", etc. Add to that the many charts (such as the most devastating earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis of recorded history) - these all make the book an easy read.
   
   If you were horrified yet fascinated with the 2004 Tsunami and the science surrounding our understanding of the events, then this book will definitely keep your attention.
   
   The only minor criticism I have is that the author mentions the "shackles of religion" holding back modern science and seems to think that modern science has made religion and/or faith redundant. I would strongly disagree with this. But, that is a VERY minor criticism.
   
   Highly recommended.

No comments about Natural Gas Engineering Handbook.

5 comments about Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change.

1. Neither too little or too much, Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change is the best volume I have ever read on Volcanology. Written for the intelligent layperson, the book never talks down to its reader or loses them in mult-semicolon sentances of unintelligble jargon as so many other books by scientists do. If you want the latest theories on volcanoes, this is th book for you. I was especially surprised by how many dormant/active volcanoes there are in the lower 48. And as one who has flown from the U.S. to Japan, the chapter on planes and volcanoes was both fascinating and scary.



2. I found that this book has some positives and negatives: Positives: 1. the authors have compiled a wealth of information about volcanoes all over the world: Mt. St. Helens catastrophe, planes flying over eruption clouds, eruption accounts from Krakatua, etc, etc. 2. For a geologist like me, when we study about volcanoes, we tend to forget the human factor, not only hazards, but also how it affects agriculture, tourism, etc. Which I think this book pinpoints very well. Negatives: 1. The book doesn't flow: lots of information, but in my opinion disorganized. Except for the chapter about Mt. St. Helens, I didn't understand the point that the authors were trying to make (or probably there was no point, and it was just a plain description). 2. Any time you touch a scientific subject, you are immersed in having to use scientific terms. Since this book is trying to reach a general audience (I think), it will benefit a lot by having a glossary. 3. Some chapters are really weak, like the one that talks about plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is the driving force of volcanoes (mostly) and should have more emphasis on the book, and be explained in more simple terms. 4. The decimal metric system is used throughout the book. This is good when you are writing a paper to publish on a specialized journal, but not for a book aimed at general audiences. The equivalence in the English system should probably go in parentheses.



3. I found that this book has some positives and negatives: Positives: 1. the authors have compiled a wealth of information about volcanoes all over the world: Mt. St. Helens catastrophe, planes flying over eruption clouds, eruption accounts from Krakatua, etc, etc. 2. For a geologist like me, when we study about volcanoes, we tend to forget the human factor, not only hazards, but also how it affects agriculture, tourism, etc. Which I think this book pinpoints very well. Negatives: 1. The book doesn't flow: lots of information, but in my opinion disorganized. Except for the chapter about Mt. St. Helens, I didn't understand the point that the authors were trying to make (or probably there was no point, and it was just a plain description). 2. Any time you touch a scientific subject, you are immersed in having to use scientific terms. Since this book is trying to reach a general audience (I think), it will benefit a lot by having a glossary. 3. Some chapters are really weak, like the one that talks about plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is the driving force of volcanoes (mostly) and should have more emphasis on the book, and be explained in more simple terms. 4. The decimal metric system is used throughout the book. This is good when you are writing a paper to publish on a specialized journal, but not for a book aimed at general audiences. The equivalence in the English system should probably go in parentheses.



4. I recommend this book most highly. It is well-organized, easily read by anyone with a high school education and a limited scientific background, and all-encompassing on the subject of volcanoes. The latest developments in volcanic petrology, pyroclastic flow study, caldera formation, supervolcanic eruptions and their horrific consequences, and the like are superbly covered. Additionally, the book contains excellent narratives of nearly all significant late 20th Century eruptions, such as Pinatubo, El Chichon, St. Helens, and Paricutin. The research is copious, and the results highly accurate.

   The book has been well-proofed, with the pleasurable consequence that distortive prose, inaccurate figures, and like blips are virtually non-existent. A fellow reviewer has stated that plate tectonics is not well-covered, but this writer's view is that the scope of the book lies beyond such basics. Anyone unfamiliar with basic volcanological concepts should first read "Teach Yourself Volcanoes", and then move into this book.

   Again, I enjoyed this book to the hilt, and would prize it above most other books on the subject. I strongly believe it is the best non-technical book on the subject.




5. _Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change_ by Richard V. Fisher, Grant Heiken, and Jeffrey B. Hulen is a fascinating and very well-written look at volcanoes, including their formation, structure, dangers, benefits, and how they have affected human history. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, maps, and fascinating diagrams explaining volcanic processes.
   
   Part one consisted of four chapters that looked at the geology of volcanoes. Important to understanding volcanoes is knowing where they form; they can appear over subduction zones (where one tectonic plate is pushed under another; the subduction of the Pacific plate under the American plate produces the volcanoes of the Cascade Mountains), extensional boundaries (where plates move apart, mainly between plates on the seafloor), and over hot spots (thermal plumes rising through the mantle than can be well away from either subduction zones or extensional boundaries).
   
   Also important to understanding volcanoes is knowledge of the composition of the magma that forms them. Magma containing less than 55% silica is called basaltic and is very fluid and has low-viscosity. It can easily form large lava flows and gas can rapidly escape from it, forming huge fountains (the authors compared it to the ease with which steam escapes from rapidly boiling water). Rhyolite lava on the other hand is comprised of over 70% silica, is very viscous, and gas does not readily escape from it unless the pressure is big enough (think of how hot oatmeal spatters explosively). Basalt lava generally forms beneath or within oceanic plates, rhyolite lava beneath or within a continental plate, and a third type, andesite lava (between 55% and 70% silica), where the two types of plate overlap.
   
   Volcanoes may take a variety of forms. Composite volcanoes or stratovolcanoes, such as Mount St. Helens and Mount Fuji, are graceful, solitary, often quite high and covered in snow or ice and are comprised of innumerable layers of rubble and debris from previous eruptions. Lava domes are protrusions of lava on the outside slope of many composite volcanoes or within their craters, built by the slow extrusion of viscous silica-rich magma. Calderas (from Spanish for "cauldron") are very large craters formed when the ground surface collapsed as the result of the extrusion of very large amounts of ash, pumice, and rock and can be quite large. Cinder cones or scoria cones are relatively small volcanoes, high mounds with small craters at the top, comprised of basaltic fragments called cinders or scoria, rocks that contain an abundance of bubble-like chambers. They often occur in clusters and on the slopes of other types of volcanoes. Maars are small volcanoes with wide craters that formed from the sudden explosion that occurred when rising magma came into contact with groundwater or surface water. Shield volcanoes are broad and have low slopes and are constructed of solidified basaltic lava that was originally in a highly fluid state. Littoral cones are formed when lava flows into water, explodes, and forms a pile of debris into a volcano-like shape; not actually volcanoes, they have no underground source.
   
   Eruption types can vary as well. Gas eruptions can be quite silent but lethal, such as the Lake Nyos eruption of deadly carbon dioxide on August 21, 1986 in Cameroon, which killed 1,700 people. Hawaiian eruptions include gusher-like lava flows and lava rivers and produce congealed globs of lava that fly through the air (called lapilli if 2 to 64 millimeters, bombs if larger). Strombolian eruptions produce high-arching, incandescent "rooster-tails" and ejecta that can form cinder cones. Plinian eruptions produce ash columns as high as 50 kilometers into the sky, which thanks to high winds can spread ash hundreds or thousands of square kilometers (the name derives from Pliny the Elder, the Roman nobleman who died in the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius).
   
   Volcanoes as noted form underwater and in fact most may be located deep in the sea; one estimate put the number at one million volcanoes with 75,000 rising to over 1 kilometer from the seafloor. Explosive eruptions rarely occur, as 1 kilometer or more below the surface of the sea water pressure is generally greater than any explosive pressure. Some volcanic systems produce black smokers, hydrothermal systems that release black, turbulent clouds of suspended metal-sulfide materials, often creating oases of life in the deep sea.
   
   Part two looked at the many hazards of volcanoes. Pyroclastic flows (or volcanic hurricanes) are searing, kiln-hot winds that move faster than ordinary hurricanes and can kill people and animals due to high heat, ash particles that can clog throats and lungs, and by hurtling tons of cobble and boulder sized particles. A pyroclastic surge is a diffuse, gas-rich pyroclastic flow that can move farther and over ridges and water. Debris avalanches can also be a danger, especially if they enter water and produce tsunamis. Volcanic flows or lahars (from an Indonesian word) are masses of mud, sand, gravel, and boulders mixed with water and having the consistency of freshly made cement. Lahars often dam rives and can produce derivative floods for years to come. Also posing a danger are lava flows and ash clouds (the latter can bring down jet aircraft).
   
   Part three looked at the many benefits of volcanoes. In addition to producing every atmospheric gas aside from oxygen, volcanoes have given us therapeutic hot springs, clean and safe geothermal energy, igneous rock that can be cut into blocks and used as building stones, fine-grained ash that can be used as a polishing compound (like in toothpaste), concrete (the Romans mined ash they called pozzuolana and made concrete from it to produce their roads, viaducts, and monumental buildings), pumice (long used as an exfoliant scrub and as an abrasive cleaner), obsidian (once highly valued for arrowheads and knives), bentonite (a clay made from volcanic ash, used in everything from the drilling industry to ceramics to adhesives to kitty litter), gemstones (diamonds were brought from deep within the Earth's surface by volcanoes), rich agricultural soil, and the preservation of fascinating fossils and artifacts (such as at Pompeii).

1 comments about Paleomagnetism: Continents and Oceans (International Geophysics).

1. There was a desparate need for a book pitched at the general audience -- until now.

   The 1st edition of McElhinny's book was heralded as a "classic and definitive text". It thoroughly discussed the theory of geomagnetism, the geologic reversals of the Earth's magnetic field, and the shifting of magnetic poles. In the 26 years since the highly successful first edition of Palaeomagnetism and Plate Tectonics (Cambridge, 1973) the many advances in the concepts, methodology, and insights into paleomagnetism warrant this new treatment. This completely updated and revised edition will be a welcome resource for a broad audience of earth scientists as well as laypeople curious about magnetism, paleogeography, geology, and plate tectonics.

   I particularly enjoyed the set of Chris Scotese's color paleogeographic maps covering the past 250 million years.

No comments about Fundamentals of Hydrology (Routledge Fundamentals of Physicalgeography).