North American Discovery
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Discovery Channel has broadcast the first of its newest nature blockbusters. North America highlights 110 different North American species with startling HD photography. Three years in preparation, its venues range from mountains to plains, from the Arctic to the Tropics, from sky to land to sea, from punishing heat to chilling…
Read MoreHeat Balances
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Some people may suspect our post title, Heat Balances, suggests a discussion of heavier science than they prefer. The scientific dimension of the earth’s heat balances may not seem interesting in ordinary conversation with our friends. Instead, we may speak about how cool or warm we keep our homes, or cold…
Read MoreWeather Math
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Each morning brings gifts from God in many facets. Our ability to become a non-professional atmospheric scientist while expending minimal time in formal preparation is one of those gifts. Expressed another way, everyone can be an armchair weather observer. Weather statistics are often part of our observations. One of the first…
Read MoreWeather-Caused Humility
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Personal preparation for this post included searching for written quotations concerning weather. One eye-catcher affirmed my belief that light conversational banter about weather often exceeds actual understanding of the topic: “Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while,” humorist…
Read MoreGod’s Climate System
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 When we credit God with creating all things or with designing our intricate climate system, we express a sense of worship or devotion. Our general understanding of the power of the Creator or our tacit appreciation of our many global systems, however, are insufficiently weak unless we work to understand the…
Read MoreRags to Riches Weather
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Readers across America may identify with several recent weather events in our region of the Midwest–northwest Illinois. For example, in the last two weeks my personal rain gauge has collected over ten inches of liquid water. As I write many areas are experiencing record river levels. This statistic is in sharp…
Read MoreIntelligent and Creative
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Our recent coffee table book discussions proposed intelligent design as a requirement for the books’ subject matter. The personal appeal of the volumes displayed on our sun room coffee table or the tables in our doctor’s waiting room often depends on our ability to identify a mind speaking through the book’s…
Read MoreID at the Coffee Table
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 What sort of book could be considered a “Coffee Table” volume? Some books so designated may be considered superficial in content and geared more to the entertainment value they provide. Others are volumes with snippets of general reader interest. Still others blend skilled photography with appealing narrative. Coffee table volumes often…
Read MoreDesigner Chronicle
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 In the past few weeks I have rediscovered a thick coffee table volume entitled Chronicle of the American Automobile—Over 100 years of Auto History by James M. Flammer. I occasionally encounter this book and revel in pictures of automobiles in the post-World War II era. My interest in automobile designs was…
Read MoreLiteral Days of Genesis
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Among the three theistic views of origins, the belief that the six days of the Genesis creation account are literal and recent is the majority view in the United States. If the definition of creationism is accorded to other views, the percentage of believers in creation vaults upward substantially. For this…
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