Really enjoyed this. Title is a bot misleading, as only the last chapter deals with actual storm chasers, but the narrative read like fiction , holding my interest while sneakily educating me. My kind of book. ( )

Storm Kings: The Untold History of America’s First Tornado Chaser by Lee Sandlin

★★★★

I can’t help it. I have always been fascinated with natural disasters and the history surrounding them. It sounds morbid perhaps but I always find myself pulled to the hows and the whys of it all. This book did not disappoint on feeding my curiosity on tornadoes and the history of those who have “chased” them to give us the information we know today. I thought the whole book was interesting, some more so than others. Sometimes I felt that while back information was needed that the author went a tad bit more off topic than necessary sometimes but it always came back around to where it needed to so I commend him for that (I’ve read so many history books where the author gets of topic and never seems to actually get back into it, leaving one hanging.) Lee Sandin did quite a bit of research and delved into many books and first-hand accounts to get the details and it was quite educational from beginning to end. Only the epilog delves into the chasers that we know today (those crazy people who drive around in search of destructive tornadoes, putting themselves into grave danger in the name of science) but there is so much history and people that made the knowledge of tornadoes known and no doubt there is much more to learn on the natural phenomenon. A fairly short (260ish pages) and fun read if one enjoys history and science.
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3.5 stars

This book starts back in the 17th Century with Puritan Increase Mather's record-keeping of storms. Next, it forwards to Benjamin Franklin and his studies as a “natural philosopher” and what he learned about storms and the weather. The book continues forward in time, focusing on various people who had a particular interest in studying storms and the weather, up until the storm chasers of today.

It was good, interesting. I love storms, so I have to admit that the descriptions of the various storms were more interesting than the science (though I am sometimes ok with the science, as well). It was definitely interesting to read about what people thought a few hundred years ago. I thought the whole “natural philosophy” was interesting. ( )

Very interesting -- no Europeans had ever seen a tornado. The learning curve was steep. For years people were convinced that not only could they predict tornadoes, they could prevent them. Sandin has an astonishing description of a fire tornado that decimated a town in Illinois (or Kansas). I can't remember the state, but I'll never forget the storm. ( )

I enjoyed the fascinating history of meteorology. It's always interesting to learn about people's thoughts and theories about things that now seem so simple. For example the long debate on whether a tornado is a spinning mass, made with water, or an electric storm. I wish there was more detail about some of the specific storms that changed the theories of meteorologist, but overall it was an enjoyable read. ( )