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The Resource Isaac's storm : A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history., Erik Larson, (electronic resource)

Isaac's storm : A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history., Erik Larson, (electronic resource)

Creator
Contributor
Summary
At the dawn of the twentieth century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf. That August, a strange, prolonged heat wave gripped the nation and killed scores of people in New York and Chicago. Odd things seemed to happen everywhere: A plague of crickets engulfed Waco. The Bering Glacier began to shrink. Rain fell on Galveston with greater intensity than anyone could remember. Far away, in Africa, immense thunderstorms blossomed over the city of Dakar, and great currents of wind converged. A wave of atmospheric turbulence slipped from the coast of western Africa. Most such waves faded quickly. This one did not. In Cuba, America's overconfidence was made all too obvious by the Weather Bureau's obsession with controlling hurricane forecasts, even though Cuba's indigenous weathermen had pioneered hurricane science. As the bureau's forecasters assured the nation that all was calm in the Caribbean, Cuba's own weathermen fretted about ominous signs in the sky. A curious stillness gripped Antigua. Only a few unlucky sea captains discovered that the storm had achieved an intensity no man alive had ever experienced. In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky, until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. In Galveston alone at least 6,000 people, possibly as many as 10,000, would lose their lives, a number far greater than the combined death toll of the Johnstown Flood and 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. And Isaac Cline would experience his own unbearable loss. Meticulously researched and vividly written, Isaac's Storm is based on Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Isaac's storm : A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history.
Title
Isaac's storm
Title remainder
A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history.
Statement of responsibility
Erik Larson
Creator
Contributor
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
At the dawn of the twentieth century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf. That August, a strange, prolonged heat wave gripped the nation and killed scores of people in New York and Chicago. Odd things seemed to happen everywhere: A plague of crickets engulfed Waco. The Bering Glacier began to shrink. Rain fell on Galveston with greater intensity than anyone could remember. Far away, in Africa, immense thunderstorms blossomed over the city of Dakar, and great currents of wind converged. A wave of atmospheric turbulence slipped from the coast of western Africa. Most such waves faded quickly. This one did not. In Cuba, America's overconfidence was made all too obvious by the Weather Bureau's obsession with controlling hurricane forecasts, even though Cuba's indigenous weathermen had pioneered hurricane science. As the bureau's forecasters assured the nation that all was calm in the Caribbean, Cuba's own weathermen fretted about ominous signs in the sky. A curious stillness gripped Antigua. Only a few unlucky sea captains discovered that the storm had achieved an intensity no man alive had ever experienced. In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky, until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. In Galveston alone at least 6,000 people, possibly as many as 10,000, would lose their lives, a number far greater than the combined death toll of the Johnstown Flood and 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. And Isaac Cline would experience his own unbearable loss. Meticulously researched and vividly written, Isaac's Storm is based on Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time
Accompanying matter
technical information on music
Cataloging source
TEFOD
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Larson, Erik
Intended audience
  • Text Difficulty 6 - Text Difficulty 8
  • 1020
Intended audience source
Lexile
PerformerNote
Narrator: Richard Davidson
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
Davidson, Richard
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Nonfiction
  • History
  • Science
Label
Isaac's storm : A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history., Erik Larson, (electronic resource)
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Note
Unabridged
Capture and storage technique
digital storage
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Configuration of playback channels
stereophonic
Content category
spoken word
Content type code
  • spw
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
ODN0004857350
Dimensions
unknown
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (8 audio files)
Form of item
electronic
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
Isbn
9780593163559
Isbn Type
(sound recording)
Media category
  • audio
  • computer
Media MARC source
  • rdamedia
  • rdamedia
Media type code
  • s
  • c
Other physical details
digital
Sound
sound
Special playback characteristics
digital recording
Specific material designation
  • remote
  • other
Speed
unknown
Stock number
9158CCEC-09EB-4FFB-8586-87A7431429C5
System details
Requires OverDrive Listen (file size: N/A KB) or OverDrive app (file size: 246804 KB)
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable
Label
Isaac's storm : A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history., Erik Larson, (electronic resource)
Link
Publication
Note
Unabridged
Capture and storage technique
digital storage
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Configuration of playback channels
stereophonic
Content category
spoken word
Content type code
  • spw
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
ODN0004857350
Dimensions
unknown
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (8 audio files)
Form of item
electronic
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
Isbn
9780593163559
Isbn Type
(sound recording)
Media category
  • audio
  • computer
Media MARC source
  • rdamedia
  • rdamedia
Media type code
  • s
  • c
Other physical details
digital
Sound
sound
Special playback characteristics
digital recording
Specific material designation
  • remote
  • other
Speed
unknown
Stock number
9158CCEC-09EB-4FFB-8586-87A7431429C5
System details
Requires OverDrive Listen (file size: N/A KB) or OverDrive app (file size: 246804 KB)
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable

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