Readings - In Brief

Flashes of Brilliance: The Science and Wonder of Arizona Lightning 
by Ronald L. Holle and Daile Zhang (Springer)

This book discusses the role of lightning in the state of Arizona, which has been called the “Lightning Photography Capital of the U.S.” The authors cover how the public and Native Americans in Arizona have viewed lightning, and when and where lightning occurs and impacts people and resources in Arizona. It summarizes interviews with current and former University of Arizona staff who invented real-time lightning detection in the late 1970s and discusses how subsequent lightning research in Arizona has been globally significant.

Tornado Alert: Saving Lives in the Eye of the Storm:  How Technology Can Help Us Survive Tornadoes in 2023 
by Avery M. Silva (independent publisher)

This title provides the latest information and technology to help readers survive in the eye of the storm. The text includes a comprehensive guide to building a tornado shelter, in-depth tornado safety tips, lists of weather monitoring systems and tornado tracking apps, and essential information for homeowners, business owners, and emergency responders with the intent of preventing the loss of lives from tornadoes.

Immeasurable Weather: Meteorological Data and Settler Colonialism from 1820 to Hurricane Sandy 
by Sara J. Grossman (Duke University Press) 

In Immeasurable Weather, the author explores how environmental data collection has been central to the larger project of settler colonialism in the United States by drawing on an archive of historical and meteorological data spanning two centuries. Grossman outlines the relationship between climate data and state power in key moments in the history of American weather science, from the nineteenth-century public data-gathering practices of settler farmers and teachers and the automation of weather data during the Dust Bowl to the role of meteorological satellites in data science’s integration into the militarized state.
 

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