Turbulence
The D-day landings—the fate of 2.5 million men, three thousand landing craft and the entire future of Europe depend on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single day. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it...
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The D-day landings—the fate of 2.5 million men, three thousand landing craft and the entire future of Europe depend on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single day. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it even possible to predict the weather so far ahead? And what is the relationship between predictability and turbulence, one of the last great mysteries of modern physics?Wallace Ryman has devised a system that comprehends all of this—but he is a reclusive pacifist who stubbornly refuses to divulge his secrets. Henry Meadows, a young math prodigy from the Met Office, is sent to Scotland to uncover Ryman’s system and apply it to the Normandy landings. But turbulence proves more elusive than anyone could have imagined. When Henry meets Gill, Ryman’s beautiful wife, events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control.From Giles Foden, prizewinning author of The Last King of Scotland, a gripping blend of fact and fiction in a novel about how human beings deal with uncertainty.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780307592774 (0307592774)
Publish date: August 17th 2010
Publisher: Knopf
Pages no: 336
Edition language: English
Wasn't too sure about this book when I started, as physics and meteorology are not my favorite subjects, but I loved it. This is a novel with a strong narrative, well paced and easy to read. The meteorology aspect of the novel is explained in layman's terms, and really adds to the detective element ...
Well written but often too technical and boring for me and the ending was pretty limp. I found it difficult to get too worked up about the story, however, as the date for D-Day is so well known as was the weather on the day!