Huler's book is much more than a biography of Francis Beaufort and a tale of his work. It describes a beautiful coexistence of observational science and artistic documentation and interpretation that science is and should be.

The characterization of scientific inquiry that is predominant in popular culture and in education is an artificial divorce of the empirical and the expressive. Huler cuts through that division in this book, explaining clearly the necessity of qualitative observations, quantitative measurements, and practical meanings in scientific endeavors. He also clearly conveys that science is an endeavor of great effort undertaken by individuals who are inspired by need or curiosity, brushing away the lightning strikes of genius that again predominate explanations of science in popular culture and schools everywhere. Also made clear is the central role that communication plays in science - for one person to know a thing is not enough.

As a science educator, I cannot recall ever being more inspired by a book. I could not sit while reading it. It completely changed the way I teach and the way I view science communication - as well as the wind.

Delightful and thought-provoking. Glad to have read it.

This book should be required reading.

True statement: the scale itself contains more prettily put together sentances than the whole rest of the book.

Still, interesting, informative, and something I still think about this many years later.

Huler was fascinated when he encountered the Beaufort Scale in his dictionary, finding the terminology poetic and wanting to learn more. (The book cover is actually an image of that dictionary page.) So he went searching for Beaufort, wanting to know more about the man behind the scale and what inspired him.
But he also looked into the wind directly, travelling on a sailing ship, visiting a wind tunnel, and looking into meteorological history. He found out a lot about Beaufort and his influence on both wind measurement and modern nautical procedures. Since Beaufort kept extensive diaries, there is a lot of personal as well as professional information known about the man. He also shows us the development of wind measurement, with discussion on all the different measurements before and after the Beaufort Scale, discovering that the Scale itself has changed over time.
The chapter that I enjoyed the most was Chapter 8 A Picture of the Wind: Poetry, the Shipping Forecast, and the Search for the North Shields Observer. I think I enjoyed this one because of its literary and cultural focus and its taking the reader back to what drew Huler to do this research in the first place, the language used in the dictionary version of the Scale. He introduces us here to more interpretations of the Scale, through picture books, art, and music that add to its draw. He also completes the search for the man who wrote the words used, the North Shields Observer.
Well worth reading, this book both educated and entertained, and now I'm waiting for my music CD containing the Beaufort Scale to arrive!