Fire

Plot

Product Description Discusses the causes of various types of fires, how they spread, and some of the major fire disasters From School Library Journal Grade 5-8-- In addition to explaining the scientific causes and emergency procedures followed when disasters occur, Knapp also discusses how people's needs, actions, and ignorance have often disrupted the balance of nature. Using noted disasters as examples, the books show the effects on people and the environment, both beneficial and harmful, in clear, forthright language. High-quality, full-color diagrams, charts, and photographs supplement the texts, which are in large, comfortable print. However, the books are flawed. Storm states that the troposphere is 25 miles above the earth on one page, and 10 miles on another. Words in the text in bold-face type are in the glossary, but "groyne" in Storms and "barren land" in Volcano can be found in the glossaries but not in the texts. Some oversimplification in Flood implies that the damming of rivers has no drawbacks, and in Fire, global warming from carbon dioxide is treated as fact rather than theory. The eruption of Mount Toba in Volcano is dated at 6000 b.c. on one page and 600,000 years ago on the next. Neither date is compatible with the statement, "This may have triggered the last ice age." Book about volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, and fires abound, not only as separate titles, but as chapters in "disaster" literature. Finding material specifically about droughts and floods is more difficult, so two of these books may fill a need. --Meryl Silverstein, formerly at Meyer Levin Junior High School, BrooklynCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.