Dancers of Bali

This is the review I wrote in 1988 of the first edition of "Tsunami!" The second edition is about twice as long, reflecting additional research: For a good, simple, workable idea, tsunami prediction has had a tough career. First, the idea was scoffed at. Thomas Jaggar, the founder of the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, had the idea that seismographic indications of big earthquakes could give hours of warning that a destructive... Read Full Review

Tsunami! (Second Edition) is written from a Hawaiian Islands perspective, but includes tsunamis from around the world. A large portion of the book is devoted to recounting the experiences of individuals who witnessed a tsunami firsthand. Many of the stories survivors shared have been intertwined by the authors, providing a panoramic view of the cataclysmic events. In addition to the collection of personal experiences, the... Read Full Review

The recent cataclysm in Southeast Asia points up a problem about which Pacific Ocean residents have long known; tsunamis or "tidal waves". This book is written by Dr. Walter Dudley, one of the chief experts on tsunamis, and on how to detect them, and protect against them. The book is well-organized, highly readable for professional and lay persons alike, and is a valuable contribution to literature on this most important... Read Full Review

Now that there has been a huge disaster, with a tsunami off the coast of Sumatra in 2004, we may be interested in looking at a book about tsunamis, written in 1998. This book boasts about the early warning system in Hawaii. And it tells about proposals to install real-time tsunami detectors to protect Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and much of the rest of the Pacific Ocean shores. Dudley and Lee begin with a description... Read Full Review

This fascinating book is told from the perspectives of victims, observers and researchers. It gives vivid descriptions (Mrs. Ito floating out of her house on a screen) that are terse and exciting without being overblown. Some of the pictures, such as people running from the 1960 tsunami which struck Hilo, HI are simply amazing. Interspersed in the text, the authors also give a clear and concise summary, with charts,... Read Full Review