Perils of a Restless Planet: Scientific Perspectives on Natural Disasters

The Johnstown flood of 1889, the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the pan-European bubonic plague epidemic of 1347-51--all of these events left deep impressions on contemporary history and are remembered even today. We have yet to gauge the effects of more modern disasters--for instance, the Kobe earthquake of 1995, which killed 5,000 Japanese--but we recognize their significance. Many scientists are now engaged in developing means to forecast natural disasters more accurately and to put in place more effective safety measures. Ernest Zebrowski tracks their work through history, noting that even the most current of ideas about, say, the dangers of wind shear will almost certainly be proven obsolete in the years to come. Students of technological history, geology, and climatology will find his work stimulating, and general readers will find it highly accessible.