Turbulence

by Giles Foden

The D-day landings—the fate of 2.5 million men, three thousand landing craft and the entire future of Europe depend on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single day. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it even possible to predict the weather so far ahead? And what is the relationship between predictability and turbulence, one of the last great mysteries of modern physics?

Wallace Ryman has devised a system that comprehends all of this—but he is a reclusive pacifist who stubbornly refuses to divulge his secrets. Henry Meadows, a young math prodigy from the Met Office, is sent to Scotland to uncover Ryman’s system and apply it to the Normandy landings. But turbulence proves more elusive than anyone could have imagined. When Henry meets Gill, Ryman’s beautiful wife, events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control.

From Giles Foden, prizewinning author of The Last King of Scotland, a gripping blend of fact and fiction in a novel about how human beings deal with uncertainty.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, War, World War II, Historical, Military Fiction, Literary Fiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2007

About the author

Giles Foden was born in Warwickshire in 1967. His family moved to Malawi in 1971 where he was brought up. He was educated at Yarlet Hall and Malvern College boarding schools, then at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he read English. He worked as a journalist for Media Week magazine, then became an assistant editor on the Times Literary Supplement. He was deputy literary editor of The Guardian between 1995 and 2006 and is currently Fellow in Creative and Performing Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and still contributes regularly to The Guardian and other journals.

Reviews

[John McDermott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turbulence was very good indeed and another one in a sequence of excellent novels from Giles Foden. Written as a memoir by the fictional Henry Meadows and based upon real events, Turbulence illuminates an aspect of WW II that we generally don't get to hear about. Namely, the importance of forecasting the weather for the day of the D-Day invasion. Even though this is essentially a work of fiction, it's clear that if the military men and politicians didn't pay heed to the scientists then the outcome of the whole war could have been vastly different. A point that seems quite apt when you consider the crisis that the whole world is experiencing at the moment. The book is quite science heavy and complex but Giles Foden is such a skilful writer that he makes it accessible. A classy book from a classy writer.

[Kate Gould · Rating 2 out of 5]

Foden’s novel opens with the fantastical vision of icebergs being towed from Antarctica to Saudi Arabia to water the Sheikh’s desert. Taking in sea lions trained to detect mines, frissons and debate, the horror and waste of war, and the fragility of genius, the tale of Allied scientists attempting to provide a weather forecast for the D-Day landings could have been an intriguing take on the historical period.

What lets it down is the fact that, having evidently carried out vast research, Foden has crammed all his findings into the book. The result is that, in large part, it reads more like a textbook on meteorology than a novel. If you happen to have a passion for meteorology, it will likely be an educational and interesting experience. If not, it’s 350 pages of talking about the weather, interspersed with glimpses of what might have been an engrossing read.

[warren Cassell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely even though I have scant knowledge of physics, advanced mathematics or meteorology. All of these specialties play a central role in this mesmerizing novel set in England during the latter part of the Second World War. The protagonist, Henry Meadows, is a callow, nebbish and brilliant mathematician working as a meteorologist with an international team to determine the exact (safest) date for the D-Day incursion to Normandy. Prior to this assignment Meadows had been posted to work with an esteemed British meteorologist who might have the right mathematical key to an equation which would provide the certainty needed for that particularly important date. Unfortunately for Meadows, his new colleague had become a conscientious objector and wanted nothing to do with the war effort. How Meadows goes about finding the right formula leads to a nail-biting finale determining the fate of hundreds of thousands soldiers, sailors and airmen on June 6, 1944. During the course of the book, Meadows develops from an inept and shallow individual haunted by a nightmarish youth spent growing up in Africa to a quite self-composed and likable hero.
Definitely a very satisfying read--perhaps not for everyone--- but of course, that could be said about any book.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't too sure about this book when I started, as physics and meteorology are not my favorite subjects, but I loved it. This is a novel with a strong narrative, well paced and easy to read. The meteorology aspect of the novel is explained in layman's terms, and really adds to the detective element of the story.

With a factual background, embellished with a detective story, this novel follows a young weatherman on his journey to accurately forecast the weather needs for the D-Day landings in northern France. The characters, true and fictional, are well fleshed out and creditable, especially those with the leading roles. Having read the story I now want to know more about what happened, especially what in the story is actual fact as opposed to fiction.

Don’t be put off by the subject matter; this is a really good story.

[David Kimber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel based on the impact of weather forecasting on wartime planning for D Day, the invasion of the British and American forces into Normandy in World War 2. Foden has undertaken research into the actual events and characters involved and creates a readable story of the types of people involved and the way they acted in the increasingly stressful times leading up to D Day. It is intriguing to follow up the people who he based the characters on, especially the conscientious objector mathematician Ryman in the novel - Lewis Fry Richardson in real life. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F...) and James Stagg the director of the Met office advising Eisenhower (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S...). His research into the event and the approach to weather forecasting provides the meat for what I found to be an intriguing read.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to read "the Last King of Scotland" years ago, and couldn't get through it. I hit the same snag with this novel. I wanted to like it. I was taken with the plot. I liked the setting, I liked the premise, I quite enjoyed the first sixty or so pages. But then....I don't know. I put it down and never picked it back up. Somehow it failed to engage me. Maybe it was because the prose became as dull and grey as the Scottish setting of the book and the characters failed to come to life, but overall it must have been the plotting. I can forgive most things in a novel if I'm interested in how it all works out, but clearly in this instance, I wasn't. After two attempts, I doubt I'll be giving this author another chance.

[Julie Plummer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - 2.75 stars. Hard to grade this book. Lots of interesting ideas, well-drawn characters, finely-honed prose, great feeling for period and place. The end is genuinely compelling. But there’s an emotional coldness at its heart. Meadows isn’t exactly unlikeable, but he is often exasperating. And the turning-point event in the middle doesn’t seem quite plausible. It jars.
This has the same strengths and weaknesses as The Last King of Scotland. Probably won’t read another Foden, despite the strengths.

[Jeanne Phi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it.
Obviously, I can say nothing of the technical shortcomings concerning meteorology, other reviewers have pointed them out. It doesn’t surprise me though - most novelists fall short when it comes to background knowledge they don’t actually have and try to acquire for the sake of writing a story.
The cover praise pointed out deep psychological insight that I haven’t actually found.
However, and here we come to why I loved it, the feeling is transported exceptionally well. You know how things turned out, you know that D-Day didn’t fail, you even know that the narrator survived - how else would he be telling his story decades later? But still you find yourself worrying about and rooting for the characters in the story. You feel the annoyance, the fear, the guilt. Maybe that’s what’s meant by psychological insight, but I wouldn’t count it as that. Insight is conscious. Feeling isn’t.

[David Gagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superbly written book despite so many scientific, meteorological ideas. Add half a star. A connection is made between the ability to predict weather features (in this case aimed at the Normandy invasion) out of the apparent randomness of data, and the way we have to navigate life with all its unpredictability.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should have been a four star, but the incredible amount of information could only be deciphered by an expert in this field. Interesting story, reasonably well told, bogged down with a desire to show off the authors ability to absorb the meteorological data garnered whilst researching this book.

[Adam Pearson · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOOOOOO!! Dense thickets of (I suspect) specially-learned meteorology, Pulease!

[LindyLouMac · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister gave me this just before I went on my road trip to France and Belgium in September. Very appropriate given the places we were due to visit and and interesting and informative read.

[Aljan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[MW · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this one, I tried.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shallow main character, weather forecasting, mathematics, D-Day, pykrete, walruses and a whole lot of other topics in one book. Flits from idea to idea. The story didn't hold me but I finished it

[Dave Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://electrichalibut.blogspot.co.uk...

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using weather as a metaphor can be tricky business. One of the worst sentences I've read in years invoked a "restless silver sky." F. Scott Fitzgerald on the other hand used it to noted effect in The Great Gatsby. The risk for a writer may be even greater when weather is the central allegory.

Giles Foden takes that chance with Turbulence , a novel built around the difficulties of accurately forecasting the weather for D-Day. Although at times too obvious, Foden avoids flogging the reader with the dual meaning of the title, in part because he displays and expresses how some individuals are awed and enthralled by science.

Set largely in January through June 1944, the core plot is relatively simple. The narrator, Henry Meadows, is Cambridge educated in math and physics but ends up working for Britain's Meteorological Office during World War II. He is assigned to a unit that is tasked with providing an accurate weather forecast for a five-day period for 50 miles of the French coast to plan and launch the D-Day invasion. Although not in its infancy, at the time weather forecasts beyond two or three days were frequently highly inaccurate. Meadows is sent to set up a weather station in Scotland but his real task is to attempt to get the reclusive Wallace Ryman to reveal and explain a concept he derived that can measure the turbulence of weather systems. Ryman lives nearby and now devotes his life to "peace studies."

Meadows, who specialized in fluid dynamics, is so intrigued by turbulence that he sees it -- and shows it to the reader -- in everyday settings. He sees it in rowing a boat, milk being poured into a stream and windblown snow. In explaining and exploring this fascination, Meadows also reveals his love for and infatuation with science. Yet while Turbulence examines and explains the impact of turbulence, Foden takes the term beyond the scientific meaning. Turbulence also occurs in our lives. As in the physical world, are the events of our lives random and unplanned? How does one event affect conditions that lead to another event? At what level do actions produce a result -- or turbulence? As Meadows pursues his assignment, his actions produce extraordinary consequences for himself, Dyer and Dyer's wife.

This is Foden's first novel not set in Africa, where he grew up. Still, Turbulence does a good job of giving the feel of wartime Britain. And although well written overall, Foden occasionally seems to want to make sure the reader understands the allegory. At one point, Meadows refers to eating, drinking and sex as activities to "ease the turbulence of the flesh, allowing us, briefly, apparent escape from the burden of the soul." Likewise, Meadows describes feeling "as if my very soul were being diluted by the surrounding fluid of life." Written as if it were Meadows' memoir, Foden also has a tendency for Meadows to foreshadow events. Setting up the book as a memoir also produces some rather odd, albeit interesting, bookends that frame the main story.

As with his multiple award winning novel The Last King of Scotland , Foden blends fiction and fact in Turbulence. Ryman is based on British physicist Lewis Fry Richardson, who Foden calls "one of the unsung heroes of British science." Just as Ryman developed the "Ryman number" in the book, there is actually a "Richardson number," which can be used to predict the occurrence of fluid turbulence. A variety of actual historic figures appear in the novel, such as Britain's James Stagg, America's Irving P. Kirk and Norway's Sverre Petterssen, all deeply involved in the D-Day weather forecasting. The story also involves Geoffrey Pike, a British inventor and his Project Habakkuk, an effort to build a large ship out of wood pulp and ice.

First published in Britain in 2009, Turbulence presents and explores an interesting allegory that may not have succeeded in the hands of other writers. That makes it an enjoyable read, although perhaps not highly memorable.

(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie)

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have found Turbulence boring because most of the characters are scientists - meteorologists, to be precise - and a lot of the dialogue is scientific concerning the theory of weather forecasting and mathematical forecasting in particular. Maths is not my strong subject and a lot of this was beyond me. There was just too much detailed information. Yet, strangely this book gripped me and once I d got through the first chapter, which was very technical and odd, about making a ship out of ice to transport water to Saudia Arabia, it was compelling reading.[return][return]The main action takes place during 1944 in the run up to D-Day. The narrator is Henry Meadows a young meteorologist working for the Met Office. He is sent up to Scotland to find out about the Ryman number from Wallace Ryman, a pacifist and former meteorologist who devised the formula that will make forecasting the weather over a longer period more accurate. This is just what the Allies need to know in preparing for the invasion of Normandy. Ryman is based on Lewis Fry Richardson, who devised the Richardson number, which enables the turbulence of different weather systems to be measured (hence the title of the book). I don t have a clear picture from the novel of what this actually is or how it works, but it was his work in forecasting a break in the bad weather conditions in the Channel that fixed the date of D-Day as 6 June 1944.[return][return]Ryman is the most interesting character in the book. He is opposed to war, now pursuing peace studies and is known as a difficult, stubborn character. Henry finds him awkward, uncooperative and reluctant to talk about his work at first. The book began to come to life for me in this section when Henry and Ryman and his wife Gill start to get to know each other, made more interesting by the tensions in the Rymans marriage. At this stage Henry s own fragility becomes obvious from passages where he recalls his childhood in Africa and the death of his parents.[return][return]The action moved back to London and began to drag a little, but picked up as Henry became more involved in the disagreements between the meteorologists from different countries, brought together over the phone to pool their resources about methods and interpretation. Henry is assigned to go with the invasion forces as Met liaison between the British and Americans. This provides a dramatic ending to the book as he is injured on landing in France.[return][return]Turbulence is a combination of theoretical and scientific information, philosophical musings (which were more meaningful to me), and a portrayal of complex and emotional characters. In the end I thought it was well worth the effort of reading it.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story centred around the role the meteorologists played in the planning for D-Day. A little uneven and missed its mark a little - but an enjoyable interesting read.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel starts with strong echoes of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Henry Meadows on board an 'ice ship' in the Antarctic in 1980 is writing his memoires and reflecting on the science of turbulence and other 1940 scientific developments. Meadows, a bright young meteorologist, was sent to a remote area in Scotland to set up a new weather station near the home of Wallace Ryman. The objective was to get information from Ryman, whose theory about turbulence and its application to weather forecasting could have an important application in deciding the timing of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy. But Ryman is a Quaker, a pacifist, who had abandoned meteorology and Cambridge Academia to follow his own interests, peace studies and horticulture and will not help with promotion of war interests. The character of Ryman is based on Lewis Fry Richardson, a distinguished British weather forecaster.

The story is based on fact and gives a good insight into the problems of weather forecasting with four different teams involved - the Met Office (UK), shipping, Norwegian meteorologists and the Americans - each with their own different approach. The pre-invasion tensions were extreme and the different demands from the navy, air force and ground troops set impossible parameters. But history confirms the importance of seizing that short corridor of relatively good weather in the centre of a major storm on July 5 1944.

Despite its slow pace Foden manages to inject both dry humour and real tension into the narrative. Meadows comes across as a convincing somewhat awkward young man, socially inadequate despite his great intellect. The over-emphasis on the science and philosophy of turbulence made me skip some sections. This book will not appeal to everyone.

[Toni Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Turbulence' is an ambitious and original topic that fictionalises the debates between weather forecasters and strategists that preceded the D-Day Invasion.

The slow moving plot starts in the 1980's on an ice ship destined for the Middle East. The melancholic Henry Meadows reminisces and recounts his time spent during the war effort.

The story is narrated in the first person by Henry, a young Cambridge academic who was entrusted to develop a method that would allow the military commanders to choose the ultimate timing for the invasion. Sent to Scotland to establish an observation station, his first mission was to befriend and extract information from Wallace Ryman the author of a mathematical formula for calculating turbulence and eventually determine the best dates for the D-day landings. Meadow soon learned that instability and unpredictability are not limited to weather events.......

This novel is cleverly written, full of tension, emotions and melancholy throughout. The scientific and mathematical areas are handled with brilliance, it is not an easy feat keeping fiction readers captivated and interested on a subject that is profoundly science based. The degree of accuracy is irrelevant after all it is a fiction. This is also a character driven-plot where friction between intriguing and strong personalities plays an important part and is very well narrated. The story ends with a panorama of the D-Day landings and Henry in the middle of the action....surely an unexpected development for a civilian mathematician...

I enjoyed reading this different perspective of a very important time in history

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book a very satisfying read: a novel based on real events at the end of the second World War. The main character, Henry Meadows is a young Cambridge don who is recruited into the Met Office and given a special assignment to see out another scientist who may hold the key to more accurate weather forecasting. When this scientist dies, he joins his old boss in a special unit who are trying to give an accurate forecast on which the D.Day landings will occur. This part of the book is especially interesting as different groups of meteorologists argue about whose forecast is more reliable. Even though we all know that the D Day landings took place on June 6th, 1944, the author builds the suspense as Eisenhower tries to decide which forecast to believe. There is quite a lot of scientific information in the book which adds to the story...I often found I had to look words up in the dictionary. While June 6th was not the perfect weather they had looked for, the Germans were not expecting the invasion because they believed that the Allies would wait for better weather. In hindsight, had the Allies waited for the next opportunity of low tides, there would have been worse weather and this could have changed the outcome of the war dramatically.

[Joshua Finnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library Journal Review:

The latest novel by Foden (The Last King of Scotland) is a piece of historical fiction centered on forecasting the weather for the D-day landings of World War II. The story is narrated through the diary of Henry Meadows, a brilliant young scientist assigned the difficult task of finding the reclusive Wallace Ryman, the originator of numerical weather forecasting. A crucial formula for forecasting the weather on the day of the invasion, the Ryman number defines the amount of turbulence in any given situation. With the clock ticking, Meadows must not only find Ryman but also understand his theory to ensure Allied success. A genuinely engaging character, Ryman is based on British scientist Lewis Fry Richardson, an ardent pacifist who applied mathematics to the systematic investigation of the causes of war. VERDICT This work is lively, engaging, and readable, though readers unfamiliar with the principles of physics may find the detailed, scientific language distracting to the pace of the novel. Fans of Foden's historical fiction will not be disappointed.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd really give this 3.5 if I could, because my goodness, it is slow-moving. Everything happens in the last few chapters. It's an historical novel about the meteorologists who advised Eisenhower about when to invade for D-Day, given a host of parameters (e.g., wind speed, moon, cloud cover) from the Army and Air Force. Even though it's pre-computer, so they have to run equations by hand, each one has his own way of forecasting based on the thousand or so weather stations that are set up from Iceland down to Africa. They're confident that they can forecast two days out, but Eisenhower needs four-five days to mobilize everyone. That part is nail-biting.

I also enjoyed the pieces about turbulence theory itself, which seems to be a little like my minimal understanding of chaos theory (?). Kind of an unpredictable predictability.

The first part of the book is pretty dull, and there is a wacky ending where it's not clear at all what happened to the narrator.

I'll be following up with nonfiction about the weather forecasting -- Foden provides a nice resource list in the back.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book recounts the story of Henry Meadows. He is a young meteorologist sent to meet with the great Wallace Ryman in Scotland. Ryman is a thinly disguised version of Lewis Fry Richardson, a pacifist and visionary in the field of weather and forecasting. The story takes place during WWII, when Meadows is trying to get insight into forecasting in order to facilitate the timing of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

In the second half of the book, Meadows is in London and at the allied headquarters in southern England. The book takes in some of the drama of the run-up to D-Day. Needless to say, weather forecasting was a primitive science back then and it was a miracle that they got the forecast close to right. A lot was riding on it.

There is a fair amount of science in the book, especially a lot about the Ryman (Richardson) number. There is even an equation where it is defined. And the metaphor of turbulence and fluid flow permeates the book.

[Allyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea behind this book as well as the writing promised more than I found it delivered. A little too lofty and theoretical for my taste. Also the main character was a complete disaster and I disliked the way he presented his story. If this was based on true events, I would accept it otherwise it was too contrived, annoying, and morose.
Disappointing as I had put off reading it for awhile, and now wish I had not. At least it was a fast read as his chapters were exceedingly short and many pages ended with only 1/8 taken up. Strange breaks for chapters, events and overall I found it irritating . It seemed it could have been so much more and his writing is very sophisticated, but not to my liking.
I won't be reading any of his other books either.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't really recommend this book to anyone. I had such high hopes. It is historical fiction about the forecasting that accompanied the D-Day invasion. It was interesting to learn the extent to which both the Allies and the Nazis had assembled teams of weather forecasters to help them plan the war. However, that is all I have to say that is positive about this book. The main character was strange, the writing disjointed, and the subplots really do go nowhere. At least he could provide a summary at the end of the book so that I know where the historical ended and the fiction began, but the brief acknowledgements do not go that far.

[Arlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

The critical elements were there: an historical setting, a real WWII event, an impending need for an accurate prediction based on complicated scientific analyses, and a cast of interesting and sometimes eccentric characters ... yet something was misssing from this story. I can't put my finger on it. I'll admit I was glued to the last fifty pages (the unfolding of the prediction), but that was not enough to make this book deserve anything above two point five stars.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Last King of Scotland. It has the same rambling and interesting style, and the same kind of introspective and not-particularly-likeable narrator. But, the plot itself drags, especially the first part of the book. Really picks up when it gets more directly into the war effort. I don't think the author did a good job explaining the more esoteric science--I found myself skipping parts.