Exploring Weather and Climate - First Edition

Reviewed by Megan Walsh, Professor, Central Washington University on 2/9/26

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

There is a lot of good content in this textbook. While the table of contents is very similar to the current textbook I'm using, a few concepts have been omitted, like surface temperature patterns (this is a stand-alone chapter in my textbook). This textbook also combines the chapters on tornadoes and hurricanes, which seems a bit odd given that they are not caused by the same forces. I don't necessarily see anything that is missing from the book, but in some chapters, I think there could be a lot more detail. The quality of the chapters seems to taper off toward the end. In particular, Chapter 16 doesn't seem that useful.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The information in the textbook seems to be accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Because the textbook does not rely on current events or recent examples (for the most part) in the chapters, the information will likely stay relevant for quite a long time, although new information is being learned all the time about how our atmosphere and weather works. However, many graphs show data up through the late 20-teens and early 2020s, so the text will start to feel old to students in the next decade or so. The chapter that is likely to get out of date the quickest is chapter 14, but that is the nature of the information it conveys.

Clarity rating: 3

The author has written the textbook in very accessible prose. A lot of technical language is used, but that's the nature of the discipline. Context is given for almost every term used, and often a video or other source of explanation is linked in the chapter. In some places, though, I think students might want a more traditional definition of the terms. Often the definition is somewhat implied, but it is not clearly stated. They could just look it up on the internet, but I think it would be better to include a glossary, like most textbooks do.

Consistency rating: 5

The formatting is similar throughout, and the figures are generally similar in quality. The figures are numbered logically and are referred to in the text.

Modularity rating: 5

Yes, the text could easily be split up into different textbooks. The chapters for the most part cover topics from beginning to end and could easily be used as stand-alone readings.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Similar to my comment above, I think the organization is good, but not as good as it could be. I suggest splitting out the Tornadoes and Hurricanes chapter (I would also call them Tropical Cyclones). It doesn't make sense to me that midlatitude cyclones and local wind processes are in the same chapter. Local wind processes should be in the more basic wind chapter (Chapter 3). Fronts should be in a chapter with midlatitude cyclones.

Interface rating: 5

This is a single pdf with embedded links. It functions well. Nothing is distorted and the resolution is good for the images and figures.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

While there are very few technical errors, the writing is a bit paragraph-by-paragraph. There are not a lot of transitions between many of the paragraphs.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The textbook is not culturally insensitive. In fact, there is almost nothing culturally related, which is okay. It is a weather and climate textbook, and it really sticks to the science. There are probably only about 5 photos that show humans in them (take that for what it is worth) and in most you cannot see the person well enough to discern any cultural identifiers.

This is a pretty good attempt at a weather and climate textbook. There is good basic information, which is more appropriate for a 100- or 200-level course, which is what the author indicates. However, in most universities this topic is taught at a 300-level, so more in depth information in my opinion would be good. What seems to be most lacking in my opinion is geographical context for most topics. Much of what is discussed happens in real places on our planet. Like take for instance, acid rain. The history of where this has happened, how it was discovered, the impacts it had geographically are almost absent from the textbook. There is a figure that shows its severity in the United States, but there is nothing about impacts in Europe following industrialization post-WW II. Without geographical context for this topic and many others, the textbook feels a bit robotic. I don't think students would connect with what is being said on any real level. This would likely make a great reference or starting place, but I would never consider it as the only source of information for my students.