Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen - Book Report/Review Example

But this city alone accounted for deaths of over 8,000 people on September 9. Science of meteorology, though in its infancy, did not work on guesswork, instead possessed modern weather instruments. But knowing about the conditions that were going to be generate a storm and predicting its course, were two separate scientific issues. Eric Larson writes, “The nation in 1900 was swollen with pride and technological confidence."(Larson, 2000, 5)When the storm would attack the landfall from the ocean, where would it do so?

No one was in a position to answer this question precisely. In his submission before the authorities and putting blame on the Washington authorities, about Isaac’s argument the author writes, "'The system, he told Congress, helped explain why Weather Bureau employees had to be committed to insane asylums more often than employees of any other federal agency. He said this with pride."(Larson, 2000, 73) But the port-mortem of the issue was necessary for the future benefit of the country to deal with such calamities.

Identify the Author’s Thesis and Perspective (historiographical school) Identifying a precise thesis by Eric Larson about this book is as difficult as it is for the weather authorities to predict the arrival of the storm. Yet the author has discussed the perspective and works on his thesis with considerable skill and application. Firstly, this is a book about a natural disaster, where research has its limitations. The year 1900 is not a science-dominated year as for weather predictions, and people relate divinity with nature’s wrath.

The author has done a systematic research on a subject as per precise calculations and predictions. Firstly, he has researched the events leading to the storm and by giving the description about the hurricane itself. He has relied on first-hand accounts and his imaginings as the author and takes the reader to the center of experience by the enormous suffering caused to the victims of the storm. When a man tries to write the history on the natural disaster of an unprecedented scale, and if he tries to play the role of the complainant, witness, lawyer and the judge who is delivering the judgment, the reader is put in a difficult position to get at the true merits and truth of the case.

Similar is the predicament of Isaac Cline in this context. Historians will continue to interpret his role and the final question, whether he is to be pitied or condemned, is impossible to answer. One hundred and thirteen years have elapsed since the disaster strikes Galveston. No one is alive from the side of the rescuing team and the near and dear ones of those who perishes on that day. The author asserts that Isaac and his superiors try to protect people and magnify their achievements in saving them.

He argues that Isaac deeply regrets his failings to do more, the sad memories haunt throughout his life for this major historical lapse which is difficult to condone. Great challenges cannot be accepted through normal procedures and if he has taken the warnings and input about the storm that comes from Cuba seriously, the picture would have been entirely different as for the number of losses of human lives. The author writes about the personality of Isaac ".the portrait suggests vanity, that Isaac saw himself as something bigger than a mere recorder of rainfall and temperature. He