The Barometer Handbook – A Modern Look at Barometers and Applications of Barometric Pressure
By David Burch
Starpath Publications, Seattle, WA
2009
238 pages
David Burch’s latest, The Barometer Handbook, is a comprehensive study of this familiar and crucial piece of weather forecasting equipment. A founding director of the Starpath School of Navigation in Seattle, Wash., Burch has been teaching weather for the past 20 years.
The Barometer Handbook begins with a history of the instrument, its care and calibration, and quickly moves into the important role barometers play in forecasting weather, at sea and ashore. He also discusses the other roles that atmospheric pressure plays in tidal prediction, human health, sports, and science. The book offers practical advice for choosing the right barometer for the job and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each in great detail. It closes with a discussion of worldwide monthly mean pressures and show how they can be used to evaluate the likelihood of any observed pressure. For additional reading Burch has included an excellent bibliography.
The Barometer Handbook is an easy read and is filled with practical applications for an instrument that is commonly found aboard, but rarely used to its full potential. It belongs in any shipboard library and is a must have companion for Burch’s Modern Marine Weather published in 2008.
