Warnings: The True Story of how Science Tamed the Weather by Mike Smith is an educational piece describing the stories of meteorologists and their struggle with weather predictions. Published in 2010, Smith incorporates his own encounters with weather disasters along with America’s history with Mother Nature, especially tornadoes, in this nonfiction book. The story starts off with a phantom accident. A scenario is played where The Vermonter, a train, starts off on its daily route. It encounters a washout ahead and tries to stop, but it was too late. The train plummets into the water and forty-seven people become deceased. This never happened. Smith goes onto explain how accidents like these are avoided thanks to meteorologists. Many fields…show more content… I used to think of it as the job where “you can be wrong everyday” and nothing would happen. I never knew how many lives meteorology has saved. The book has taught me about many deadly storms that have impacted the U.S. that I was never aware of. I had not heard of the Ruskin Heights Tornado or Hurricane Andrew because of how old they are. I also got an inside look on the meteorologist’s perspective. I learned how they read radars, the importance their role had in warning people, and the panic they had during major storms. When I first picked up the book, I thought it would be a very boring read; just information. But the way Smith incorporated his own stories, it really grabbed my attention. At first I wondered if Mike Smith was a good, credible source, but as I progressed through the book, I realized he was an expert meteorologist who had a tremendous amount of knowledge on the history of weather. I even looked him up on Google and his business that he talks about in the book, (WeatherData), is still a functioning thing! Every fact that Smith stated in the book is something I can believe because of his past experiences. This book will definitely leave an impression on me. I will always remember how difficult a meteorologist’s job is. Not only that, but the book has also gotten me to think about the weather some more. Last week when there was a thunderstorm, my brain immediately thought of all the storms described by Smith. I would most likely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in weather. It is very informational, but entertaining at the same time. It can truly open up one’s mind to the world of
