Title: Close to the wind
First published: 2007
Description: Explains how the Beaufort scale is used to measure the force of the wind especially at sea. In 1810, a British naval officer and surveyor named Francis Beaufort developed a scale to give sailors a common language for describing the wind. From 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane), stunning artwork and jaunty prose show what life at sea must have been like for a young boy serving as a midshipman in the 1800s. As William sails from Naples to the Caribbean, we learn intriguing historical information and nautical terminology, and witness how the wind affected day-to-day life on a ship. Detailed illustrations show the wind at work, and readers will be engrossed and fascinated as they watch the storm develop in magnificent full-color paintings.
Subjects: Beaufort scale, Juvenile literature, Physics, Physics, juvenile literature
LC classification: QC931.4 .M35 2007