author : Robert G. Fovell

This is the course guidebook that accompanies the 24 lecture “Great Course” of the same name. It is essentially an abbreviated transcript of each 30 minute lecture, a few pictures, some suggested reading, and a few questions to think about. (I watched the lectures, which is what I am reviewing here, and am using the book simply as an aide-memoire.)

This is a great overview of a multitude of weather phenomena -- clouds, rain, wind, storms -- and the physical and topographical reasons behind them. It starts off simple, with pressure and temperature gradients, and gets steadily more complicated, as the effects of different heights in the atmosphere, different latitudes, the earth's sphericity and spin, and mountain ranges and seas, all get taken into consideration.

It is somewhat US-centric in its examples, but there is enough range of content for that not to matter too much. The lectures go at a fair clip, but concentration reaps rewards.