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TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 26 ● Number 3, 2001 Reviews An introduction to Atmospheric Physics by David G. Andrews Cambridge University Press, 2000, £17.95 (paperback), £50 (hardback). ISBN 0-521-62051-1. This book, as stated in the preface, is intended as an introductory text for third or fourth year undergraduates studying atmospheric physics, for graduate students studying atmospheric physics for the first time and for students of applied mathematics, physical chemistry and engineering who have an interest in the atmosphere. As such it assumes a basic knowledge of thermodynamics, electromagnetic radiation and quantum physics, together with some vector calculus. Its emphasis throughout is on the basic physical principles and their expression in an atmospheric context, rather than on a range of applications. Thus, it covers the three fundamental pillars of atmospheric physics – thermodynamics, radiation and fluid mechanics – with additional chapters on stratospheric chemistry, remote sensing and atmospheric modelling. The style of the book follows that of an earlier successful atmospheric physics text from an Oxford University author – Physics of Atmospheres by J. T. Houghton – in that an extensive list of problems follows each chapter which both illustrate the fundamental principles and introduce important applications. The problems will be indispensable to a serious student seeking to learn from this book and represent a valuable resource for teaching atmospheric science within physics courses. Solutions to each problem (and hints on how to obtain some of them) are provided at the end of the book. As expected from the target readership, the text concentrates on developing the basic equations of atmospheric physics from the first principles, explaining the many approximations and shortcuts that can make this branch of classical physics so confusing for undergraduates. Its remit is the Earth’s neutral atmosphere, from the ground to around 100 km altitude, which contains the weather and climate and the ozone layer as well as less familiar phenomena such as noctilucent clouds; it does not cover the ionosphere and magnetosphere. A short initial chapter introduces some essential terminology, presents the mean temperature and wind fields of the atmosphere and introduces some of the key phenomena (such as Rossby waves and the greenhouse effect) treated in detail in later chapters. This leads on to the second chapter, on atmospheric thermodynamics. The treatment here follows Houghton in introducing the tephigram – an invaluable graphical tool for representing the thermodynamic state of the troposphere, much used by meteorologists but often omitted from the basic text books. The introduction to cloud physics at the end of this chapter is rather short, and a reader interested in this subject will need to consult more specialised texts (one of which is given here as a reference). The strength of this book is the way it develops the fundamental ideas of atmospheric physics without introducing too much extraneous detail. The third chapter, on radiation, first derives basic equations of radiative transfer and spectroscopy before going on to describe the interaction of ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation with the atmosphere. This leads on to a more detailed discussion of the greenhouse effect and atmospheric scattering. The mathematical development in this chapter is measured and carefully builds on basic principles; a careful balance must be struck between detail and clarity in this subject and Andrews is more successful than most authors in presenting this material in introductory texts. The two chapters on fluid mechanics are the best of the eight chapters in the book. They begin by deriving from first principles the basic equations of fluid dynamics, since this topic is often omitted from undergraduate physics courses. By building up carefully to quasi-geostrophic theory, gravity waves and Rossby waves the text emphasises the common principles underlying these concepts as well as opening up a broad field of atmospheric flows to quantitative study. This allows baroclimic and barotropic instability – topics often guarded by a palisade of differential equations in other texts – to be explained in a straightforward and logical way at the end of the chapter. An introduction to Ekman flow in the boundary layer is also included. The book concludes with three shorter chapters, on stratospheric chemistry, remote sounding and modelling. That on chemistry covers the basic concepts of atmospheric chemistry and provides an introduction to the Antarctic ozone hole. The remote sounding chapter has an impressive breadth for a book of this type, covering both passive and active (radar, lidar) ground-based methods as well as the more conventional space observations. The short final chapter gives a brief introduction to atmospheric modelling. The strength of this book is the way it develops the fundamental ideas of atmospheric physics without introducing too much extraneous detail. Its level is very well suited to its target readership and it is considerably more affordable than some of its competitors. Thus, I expect this book to become a standard text for many atmospheric physics courses in future years. Geraint Vaughan Department of Physics University of Wales Aberystwyth www.esta-uk.org 116
TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 26 ● Number 3, 2001 Reviews Science for GCSE: Double Award, 2nd edition by Graham Hill Hodder and Stoughton. August 2001, £15.99, 328pp. ISBN 0-340-80044-5. Ifirst encountered this title, in the Spring, in its first edition, when asked to review it for the current ESTA exercise of evaluating the Earth science content in all the available school Science textbooks. This review relates to the Earth science content, with only passing reference to the other aspects of science. My first reaction, on hearing of the appearance of a second edition, was one of annoyance – in order to be fair to the publisher, I would have to look at it all over again! On second thoughts, perhaps the many errors in the first edition would have been corrected, so I turned to the task with expectancy. I soon realised that the wording and diagrams had been “tweaked” in many places, but that very few misunderstandings had been altered; new errors had been introduced, and various topics, such as transport and erosion had been deleted altogether. So, what is it like now? At first sight, the book is beautifully produced, and well laid out. It allows more space than the dreaded double page spread approach, and is full of good photographs, which must surely attract the average Y10 and 11 student: indeed, it is aimed at those who are likely to be in the A* to C grade category at GCSE. It is divided into the traditional categories of Life processes and living things; Materials and their properties and Physical processes. The Earth Science content is distributed throughout the three sections, with most of it, of course, being in the Materials bit. Of the book’s 322 pages (excluding index), Earth Science in the widest sense occupies about 10%, which is par for the course, in comparison with other books surveyed. However, it also ranks too highly in the list for the number of errors per page, which is around 2, depending on how many times you count things like “liquid mantle” on the same page! So, why am I so disappointed with this book? I have to say that it gives the appearance that the Earth science has been grudgingly squeezed in, to satisfy the National Curriculum, and not because the author derives any pleasure from the subject. I assume that he is thoroughly familiar with his own specialism, but it is very obvious that he has not studied Earth science. To their shame, the publishers do not seem to have supported their author by asking a competent Earth scientist to check the manuscript before publication. In general, the approach does not fulfil the spirit of the National Curriculum, which is to get students to evaluate the evidence – as found in the rocks; for or against evolution; plate tectonics etc. Instead, there are brief statements of facts (or near-facts!) which students are expected to digest, with minimal effort at working things out for themselves. A classic example of the author’s own lack of application of the evidence is found in the perennial problem of the nature of the mantle. Throughout most of the book (e.g. pp 199 and 200), the mantle is stated as being liquid, yet on page 301 it is implied, in the briefest treatment of seismic waves that I have seen, that S waves do not penetrate the core, because it is liquid, yet they are able to pass through the mantle. It is all too easy to pick out the errors in any book and to share a giggle over coffee, but there are so many serious ones here, that I think another approach is needed. Examples include the statement that limestone is a good example of a mineral (p192); there is confusion between weathering and erosion (p 194), and no coverage of transport and erosion, per se at all; reference to plates as being “crustal”, and no mention of the lithosphere (although this is named in the National Curriculum). An appropriate photograph of a beautiful fossil fern (albeit referred to as being preserved in slate) appeared in the first edition. In the second edition however, it has been replaced with a superb fossil fish, with the caption, “This fossil of a prehistoric fish was left when the rest of it became crude oil”. The most inaccurate item in the whole book is the diagram on page 196, purporting to show “the formation of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks”. Among several interesting phenomena, it depicts “igneous rock next to mantle, e.g. quartz, granite”, and it really must be redrawn before too many students see it. Overall, it is not even the gross errors, such as those identified above, so much as an almost indefinable air about the book, that one cannot always put a finger on, yet which confirms the impression that the author is uncomfortable when writing outside his own field. So what can ESTA members and other readers do to be helpful? I suggest that readers might like to consult whichever colleague is responsible for buying books for the school, and offer to look at any inspection copy which might be ordered, to see if you could help correct the main problems before any purchase is confirmed. Alternatively, if the school is already equipped with the first edition, at least students will hear of erosion and transportation! Perhaps you could then prepare an erratum page, to be inserted into each copy. With a group which has already learned its stuff, the book could be issued for the students to spot the errors themselves – an instructive exercise, when used with the right group! In common with other firms, the publishers have expressed their willingness to take part in the overall ESTA review exercise, and we believe that they have done so, partly so that they can attend to any errors and omissions before further editions appear. This independently solicited review will appear before the major project is completed, and may appear more embarrassing to the publisher, but I do hope that it will prompt them into taking the appropriate action in time for the next edition. Peter Kennett Sheffield 117 www.esta-uk.org
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