Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere

by C. Donald Ahrens

This total learning package for the introductory meteorology course includes much more than a text--the book is packaged with the exciting Blue Skies(TM) CD-ROM and four months' free access to InfoTrac. College Edition, an online university library. At the core of this learning package is Ahrens' respected text, which presents the fundamental concepts of meteorology in the context of everyday weather observations. Fun and easy to understand and relate to, the book and its cumulative organization enables students to build on each concept and gain greater understanding into the dynamic nature of the atmosphere.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Reference, Textbooks, School, Geography, Ecology

464 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 1962

Reviews

[Mike Parkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written first-year university textbook on weather and climate, which is a pretty fascinating subject. Non-mathematical and a good reference for the layperson, as well as the student. There is a heavy (though not exclusive) focus on weather systems affecting the continental U.S./Canada, so I’d pick a different book if you live elsewhere. Any edition of this book (or the author’s other text “Meteorology Today”) should have pretty similar content. I also skimmed another intro text: “The Atmosphere” by Lutgens and Tarbuck, and found it to be essentially identical in terms of the topics it covered.

[Ivan Savić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good introductory book on meteorology. Has excellent photographs and diagrams to illustrate weather behavior.

[Waqas Ali]

good

[Moetasm El-Taweel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very essential, specific, educational and elementary book for every meteorologist.

[Kyra]

mine didn't even come with cdrom >:[

[Mike Renz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great choice if youre a college grad with a background in basic science.

[Tso William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meteorology is a narrow study. Earth's weather and climate are so unique in the whole universe that any meteorological knowledge of Earth will unlikely apply anywhere outside the earthly boundary or to have any significance in the cosmos. However, just as Keynes said that in the long run, we are all dead, anything compared with this cosmological scale will fall into oblivion. Earth is, as far as the current technology permits, the only planet we can inhabit and there is good reasons to know more about her weather and climate.

It seems, however, that people grow so used to the vicissitudes of weather that they become oblivious to them. They are vaguely aware that some laws of nature govern their process but are too content to rely on the weather girls to report to them the daily temperature and humidity. The ancient skill of our ancestors to forecast weather by looking at the sky seems to be lost altogether.

Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere is a serviceable introduction. Like most textbooks, there is comprehensive coverage and science is explained with plenty of diagrams and pictures. The greatest drawback is that it appears to be written solely for the American audiences. Examples are drawn exclusively from the US. There is also greater need of editorship as, for example, Celsius and Fahrenheit are used inconsistently (and annoying, sometime only Fahrenheit is used - yet another indication that the book is written solely for the Americans).

Nevertheless, I did learn a lot from this textbook and look forward to apply the newly learnt knowledge to forecast weathers.

[Gary Godefroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a introductory college text on weather and climate. A layperson with basic science understanding should have no trouble reading it. It is well organized with copious diagrams and pictures. It may require a special interest in weather and climate for someone to read its entirety but my interest never flagged.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent textbook that provides enough depth for its purpose. Unlike other textbooks, the author at attempts to not bog down readers with excessive jargon.

[Sabit · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book for education in meteorology.