Lightning

This book has some updates to the 1969 copy. Although it is out-of-date compared to today's information on the subject it is still a gem. It has a minimun amount of mathematics, therefore it can be understood by the layman to the undergraduate level. Anyone who has a fascination for this subject will find that this book is of value. It is a classic in my eyes. This book includes and introduction to lightning on subjects such as thunderclouds, the steeped leader, the return stroke, the dart leader, discharges and other lightning forms. There are some photographs as well. These range from early studies, the Boy Camera, and photographs from countries such as South Africa, the U.S., and some more recent photo's from Switzerland. You will also learn about electric and magnetic field measurements, which includes field changes due to cloud to ground lightning, discharge lowering charge to earth. There is some history in this book on theories; experimental techniques and the lightning spectroscopy; thunder and the discharge processes.

First published in 1969 and thus out of date due to the extensive research in lightning since then, this book can nevertheless serve as an introduction to the knowledge that was known at the time of publication. My interest in the book stemmed from a sideline interest in ball lightning, a phenomenon which I have never observed, but the accounts of it have some peculiarities from a physics standpoint that are very interesting. Unfortunately, the author only discusses ball lightning in one of the Appendices, and the discussion is very short. The author does discuss in this context the St. Elmo's fire phenomenon. Even though the book is out of date, it could still serve as a source for homework problems for an instructor teaching a course in electromagnetic theory, whether in physics or engineering. In addition, the author has more recent books on lightning that could be consulted in addition to this one. Lightning is a great example of an electromagnetic phenomenon that everyone is familiar with, and that has lots of interesting physics, some of the understanding of which is still a hot topic of research. For someone like me who is just just curious about the physics of lightning, this book and other ones by the author are of great help, and motivate further reading on the subject.