THE WEATHER

In this tie-in to the Learning Channel's four-part series this fall, BBC science editor Lynch divides this book on atmospheric changes into five parts: Wind, Wet, Hot, Cold, and their dynamic, Change. For most people, real weather happens near the ground, but Lynch shows the engines of weather at 6,000 feet. His graphics—from the geophysical to molecular levels—provide perspective by using paired illustrations of the same weather formation at different scales and heights. Lynch's accessible, enlightening text, occasionally too simple, nicely accompanies these spectacular graphics. The same audience of junior scientists and curious adults that Lynch lured with Walking with the Dinosaurs will lap up his explanations of climatology, cloud formation, tornadoes as well as the social history of meteorology and, above all, a sense of weather systems as the most natural form of globalization. The extremes of weather images—desertification and hurricanes—are probably going to be a draw for the TV series, but weather buffs can indulge their fascination with wind, waves and clouds in this appealingly simple presentation of complex daily natural forces. (Nov.)