Text Books for novices

[Baroclinic Zone]

I thought I'd get a discussion going on boks for people who are novices but want to learn more scientific material. My family got me a book called "Atmospheric Science, An Introductory Survey" 2nd Ed by John M Wallace and Peter V Hobbs.

Anyone know of this book and thoughts on it? Looks pretty good from what I see in the TOC.

[LocoAko]

We used that for my physical meteorology class. Pretty good book... covers everything, really. I think there's a fair amount of math in there but I don't think it focuses on the derivations very much.

I personally just got Gary Lackmann's New Book: http://www.amazon.com/Midlatitude-Synoptic-Meteorology-Dynamics-Forecasting/dp/1878220101/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324947007&sr=1-1

It is amazing. I don't know if I'd consider it for beginners... it doesn't focus too much on derivations but it does get a little meaty. I'm learning so much, even just from the first three chapters. It focuses moreso on forecasting applications of a lot of things.

As for other books for an advanced beginner I'd of course recommend Tim Vasquez's books. http://www.weathergraphics.com/

[baroclinic_instability]

I thought I'd get a discussion going on boks for people who are novices but want to learn more scientific material. My family got me a book called "Atmospheric Science, An Introductory Survey" 2nd Ed by John M Wallace and Peter V Hobbs.

Anyone know of this book and thoughts on it? Looks pretty good from what I see in the TOC.

Wallace and Hobbs is pretty famous in meteorology...almost every met will have used that book at some point. I think it is an ok book, but it is getting a little outdated, and it tries to cover everything in one rather small book, so it is going to be a bit broad. Overall though it is solid.

[wxjoe]

Our Intro to Meteorology course (200 level) uses Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers - I didn't use it when I took the course, but I have a copy and I think it's pretty well-written intro book with plenty of science. Our more general-level atmospheric course (eg. 100-level) uses Meteorology Today.

For radar, we used Radar for Meteorologists, which I enjoyed. It's a nice text because it doesn't just focus on radar tech but also on using it for different purposes as a meteorologist.

[baroclinic_instability]

Our Intro to Meteorology course (200 level) uses Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers - I didn't use it when I took the course, but I have a copy and I think it's pretty well-written intro book with plenty of science. Our more general-level atmospheric course (eg. 100-level) uses Meteorology Today.

For radar, we used Radar for Meteorologists, which I enjoyed. It's a nice text because it doesn't just focus on radar tech but also on using it for different purposes as a meteorologist.

That is a good book. A professor from Univ of North Dakota (my alma mater) wrote that. His resume is stacked and includes work at NCAR and MIT Lincoln Laboratories. He did a great job with the book.

[ohleary]

Ahrens Essentials of Meteorology is what we used in Intro to Met. Seemed like a good non-mathematical treatment of the basics.

[Hoar_Frost]

We used that for my physical meteorology class. Pretty good book... covers everything, really. I think there's a fair amount of math in there but I don't think it focuses on the derivations very much.

I personally just got Gary Lackmann's New Book: http://www.amazon.co...24947007&sr=1-1

It is amazing. I don't know if I'd consider it for beginners... it doesn't focus too much on derivations but it does get a little meaty. I'm learning so much, even just from the first three chapters. It focuses moreso on forecasting applications of a lot of things.

As for other books for an advanced beginner I'd of course recommend Tim Vasquez's books. http://www.weathergraphics.com/

I mostly agree with LocoAko's recommendations.

I used Wallace and Hobbs in my Intro. to Meteorology course, and it offers comprehensive coverage without getting too involved with the mathematics and derivations. However, Baro makes a good point in another previous post that it is becoming a little outdated. Nonetheless, the science within it is solid, and it is definitely suitable for the serious novice reader.

The Lackmann book is not really for novices. However, it is an excellent, recently released AMS-published textbook on synoptic-dynamic meteorology in the mid-latitudes. It is very suitable for upper-level meteorology undergraduates, and I fully expect that it will become a popular required textbook for synoptic meteorology courses. Overall, it seems to be a more concise, more application-driven alternative to the Bluestein Syn-Dyn series. Personally, I have found that it has brought together and elaborated on a plethora of topics to which I have often been briefly exposed hitherto in my undergraduate studies. It does have some mathematics and derivations, but it is well presented and developed.

For true novices who want some depth, I definitely recommend Tim Vasquez's series. There are several in his Weather Graphic series, but I particularly recommend (for the novice) these two (in this order): http://www.weathergr...s.com/fcstbook/ (and) http://www.weathergr...s.com/mapbook/. The first linked is more theory-oriented (but without mathematics and derivations), and the second is more application-oriented.

Perhaps a "step" below the two Vasquez titles is this book: http://www.amazon.co.../dp/0679408517. My father had this on his book shelf, and I just picked it one day around age seven or eight. I believe that reading it really cemented my interest in meteorology. There is no math, but it covers various concepts, particularly regarding climate, with sufficient depth to get a novice a little more scientific background. It also discusses some operational standards as concern the National Weather Service, but this book was written pre-modernization (ca. 1990); hence, it might be a bit outdated.

Overall, the Vasquez books are a good bet; they fill a niche for reading that is not too dumbed down yet is not so advanced so as to be suited for serious students.