Jack’s Books
Field Guide to the Water’s Edge
Jack’s latest book, the Field Guide to the Water’s Edge, was published on May 1, 2012. Jack is co-author with Stephen Leatherman, who is widely known as Dr. Beach for his annual 10 Best Beaches lists.
Stephen’s day job is is the director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University in Miami. He’s been issuing his America’s Best Beaches list each Memorial Day weekend since 1991. He and Jack started work on the Field Guide in the spring of 2011.
The book’s 288 pages have 450 color photographs as well as numerous maps and explanatory diagrams. It’s a guide to exploring water’s edges throughout North America including Canada and Alaska. The main sections cover the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific coastlines; estuaries and wetlands; lakes, including the Great Lakes; and rivers, from the Mississippi and Columbia rivers to backyard streams.
In addition to guides to animals and plants found in the water and on land, it includes a beachcombing guide that helps readers identify objects they find on beaches including, shells, beach glass, and “sea beans.”
An introductory section provides a thorough overview of the basic science of shorelines: how water interacts with land to form beaches; how various kinds of shorelines formed; why large waves are needed to form beaches; how floods and fast-moving water alter river shorelines; how the gravitational pull of the moon and sun cause the tides; why the oceans have tides but the Great Lakes don’t; how tides affect rivers far inland; the effects of latitude and climate on the formation of shorelines, including variations in plants and animals. This opening sets up all the science necessary to understand and use the rest of the book.
The AMS Weather Book
[amazon-product image="http://www.weatherjackwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/amswxbk.jpg" type="image"]0226898989[/amazon-product][amazon-product text="The AMS Weather Book: The Ultimate Guide to America's Weather" type="text"]0226898989[/amazon-product], was published by the American Meteorological Society and the University of Chicago Press on June 1, 2009. This is not only the largest, but also the best of Jack’s books. He makes more extensive use of story telling than in his previous books. The stories, both about contemporary people and events, and historical figures and their discoveries help bring the science to life. A wealth of information is in The AMS Weather Book. Nonetheless, the pages of the book could not contain all the topics and data that author Jack Williams and the American Meteorological Society wanted to convey. Supplementary texts are available on the University of Chicago Press Web site for those who would like to explore the book’s topics in more depth.
A Brief Look at Hurricanes
[amazon-product image="http://www.weatherjackwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/hurricanes-150x139.jpg" type="image"]0760329923[/amazon-product][amazon-product text="Hurricanes: Causes, Effects, and the Future" type="text"]0760329923[/amazon-product], by Stephen Leatherman and Jack Williams, published in 2008 by Voyageur Press. The Southampton Press: Hurricane book warns of dangers to Long Ialand A review by Keith Heidorn on his Weather Doctor Web site
A More Detailed Hurricane Book
[amazon-product image="http://www.weatherjackwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/hurricanewatch-97x150.jpg" type="image"]037570390X[/amazon-product][amazon-product text="Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth" type="text"]037570390X[/amazon-product], co-author with Dr. Bob Sheets, retired director of the National Hurricane Center. Published in 2001 by the Vintage Books Division of Random House. Winner of the AMS 2004 Louis J. Battan Author’s Award. A review by Keith Heidorn on his Weather Doctor Web site.
A Guide to Everything Polar
[amazon-product image="http://www.weatherjackwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/idiotsarcticantarctic-119x150.jpg" type="image"]1592570739[/amazon-product][amazon-product text="The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Arctic and Antarctic" type="text"]1592570739[/amazon-product], published in 2003 by Alpha, a member of the Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Jack’s First Book (in two editions)
[amazon-product image="http://www.weatherjackwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/theweatherbook-116x150.gif" type="image"]0679736697[/amazon-product][amazon-product text="The USA Today Weather Book: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to the USA's Weather" type="text"]0679736697[/amazon-product], published by the Vintage Books Division of Random House, first edition 1992, second edition 1996. Winner of the American Meteorological Society’s 1994 Louis J. Battan Author’s Award.
The Reference Book Jack Wanted
[amazon-product image="http://www.weatherjackwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/weatheralmanac-99x150.jpg" type="image"]0679755470[/amazon-product][amazon-product text="The USA Today Weather Almanac" type="text"]0679755470[/amazon-product], published by the Vintage Books Division of Random House, 1994.