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AN INTRODUCTION TO DYNAMIC METEOROLOGY (FOURTH EDITION) James R. Holton, 2004, 535 pp., $59.95, hardbound, Elsevier/Academic Press, ISBN 0-12-354015-1
The late Professor James Holton's highly respected textbook, An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, first appeared more than 35 years ago. Since then, three editions have been published and used as textbooks and references for countless students and scientists in meteorology and related fields. Although the most recent edition, published in 2004, has the same chapters as the previous edition, it contains significant pedagogical improvements as well as updated discussions of such topics as El Niño, potential vorticity inversion, and annular modes. Perhaps the most apparent change in the new edition is the inclusion of a CD-ROM containing numerous MATLAB exercises for each chapter.
The book is designed for a two-semester sequence in dynamic meteorology and tailored to seniors and first-year graduate students who have a firm background in classical physics and elementary calculus. A rudimentary knowledge of vector calculus is also assumed. Following previous editions, "physical principles are emphasized over mathematical elegance," a point noted in the preface.
The equations governing the fluid dynamics of Earth's atmosphere are covered in the first five chapters. Chapter 1 lays a broad foundation for the succeeding chapters by introducing the continuum hypothesis, scaling analysis, forces in inertial and noninertial reference frames, hydrostatic balance, the hypsometric equation, and generalized vertical coordinates, The most notable change in the first chapter is the section on noninertial reference frames, wherein the discussion of the Coriolis force has been reworked. Although the discussion of the Coriolis force still pivots on the conservation of angular momentum, the presentation has been expanded and made clearer, owing to improved figures and the addition of a new figure that anchors the discussion around a simple but physically relevant example. The reworked section on the Coriolis force is indeed a welcome change to the new edition, one which will aid both instructor and student alike.
The basic conservation equations are derived in chapter 2, and some elementary applications of the equations are given in chapter 3. Circulation and vorticity are...