Elementary Climate Physics , F. W. Taylor , Oxford U. Press, New York, 2005. $94.50, $47.50 paper (212 pp.). ISBN 0-19-856733-2, ISBN 0-19-856734-0 paper
Fredric Taylor’s Elementary Climate Physics is an easy-to-read and useful introduction for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in this increasingly important area of physics. The science involves the interaction of many components, and Taylor, a professor of physics in the department of atmospheric, oceanic, and planetary physics at the University of Oxford, discusses them in broad, elementary terms.
The book has only 212 pages, yet it covers a wide range of topics, as evidenced by its chapter titles: “The Climate System,” “Solar Radiation and the Energy Budget of the Earth,” “Atmosphere and Climate,” “Clouds and Aerosols,” “Ocean and Climate,” “Radiative Transfer,” “Earth’s Energy Budget: The ‘Greenhouse’ Effect,” “The Ozone Layer,” “Climate Observations by Remote Sensing,” “Climate Sensitivity and Change,” “Climate Models and Predictions,” and “Climate on Other Planets.” The author’s discussions of other planet’s climates are particularly novel.
A distinguishing feature of Elementary Climate Physics is that instead of focusing on geophysical fluid dynamics the book covers the thermodynamics, the radiative-energy balance, and the basic principles of how the climate system is observed and modeled. This approach is useful because many texts on climate thermodynamics and radiative-energy balance tend to be aimed at more advanced readers. Even though the text is an introduction to the field, the author provides references to more detailed sources for readers who wish to delve deeper into the subject. Currently, overview texts like Taylor’s are rare. Most books on climate physics tend to cover a narrow area of the field and are for a specialized audience. Perhaps it would be useful if the publisher’s website featuring the book provided additional resources such as PowerPoint presentations and links to the many online sites that explore the various aspects of climate physics discussed in the book.
Because many of the insights gained in climate physics over the past two decades have been through observation and modeling, it is useful that discussions on climate observations by remote sensing and on models and predictions each have their own chapters. Taylor also covers current Earth-observing systems.
Overall, Elementary Climate Physics fills a gap in the literature and is self-contained. Taylor defines and explains relevant terms and units, and he does not assume readers have prior knowledge of climate physics. The book expounds on the basic mechanisms controlling climate and will be particularly helpful to newcomers to the field.
