Under The Microscope

NATURAL HAZARDS, by Edward A Bryant; Cambridge University Press 1991, 294 pp; $65.00

Reviewed by Peter Kingsbury

If you want to get a feel for a wide range of climatic and geological hazards then this book is the place to start. And you don't have to be an earth science student to understand it. Natural Hazards is a rare example of a very readable earth science textbook -- where was this book when I was a student ?

Writing an informative, interesting and entertaining textbook must be a challenge, something that this author has achieved and with distinction. In a chapter on response to droughts, Bob Geldof (yes, the musician) and his successful disaster relief efforts makes for absorbing reading. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Geldof succeeded where large international aid organisations failed miserably.

Highlights of this book are the "further reading" lists at the end of each chapter, definitions (as a glossary) that you can understand without having to refer to a dictionary, a comprehensive index and, in each chapter, a map of the world with places referred to in the accompanying text. New Zealand and its natural hazards even get a mention, but not always fairly. Unintentional scaremongering I am sure, but I take issue with the comment "a major earthquake could destroy most of the city [Wellington]". Extensive damage, yes, but not total destruction, I trust.

No book ever has enough photographs, maps, diagrams and graphs for me and this one, although better than many, is no exception. Classical in design and concept, many of the graphics could be improved to better communicate the information they show. Innovative analytical and synthesis maps and diagrams would do this -- inventory type maps are dull and uninspiring. A useful adjunct to the technical detail is an all-too-short chapter on social impacts and, more specifically, personal and group response to natural hazards. Yes, I agree that it is "sense of place" or "home" that overrides all common sense about the threat of a hazard. But, more importantly what can I, as a hazard mitigation practitioner, do about this type of behaviour ? I look forward to a sequel.

Peter Kingsbury is a hazard analyst with the Canterbury Regional Council