In 1837 a comprehensive discussion of lightning appeared in the Annual of the French Bureau des Longitudes with a section on ball lightning which provided for the first time a readily available source in the scientific literature of the basic properties of this curious natural phenomenon. The author, Francois Arago, was the dominant influence in the French Academy of Sciences in the nineteenth century, having become a member of that august body at the age of twenty-three. His attention alone doubtless served at that time to establish the validity of scientific interest in the problem. In addition his discussion covered some of the major questions associated with ball lightning in a nota bly clear-sighted, effective style. Later reconsideration of the same questions often provided no significant improvement over Arago's discussion. There followed a dauntless band of varying but always small number who attempted to account for an apparently simple natural occurrence, a ball of fire usually seen in thunderstorms, with the best knowledge that advancing science could provide. All attempts to deal with this phenomenon were in variably frustrated. The characteristics of ball lightning could be readily cataloged, but they firmly resisted both experimental reproduction and theo retical explanation. One may say that to this day there is no explanation accepted by a large number of scientists. Several investigators of great ability and considerable accomplishment in different fields of science, including Faraday, Kelvin, and Arrhenius, took note of the problem.

This is the first proceedings held on scientific research on the ball lightning (fire ball). Eyewitness accounts of bars lightnings were presented and analysed by experts from USA, Germany, USSR, Hungary and Japan. The theoretical model on the ball lightning, and experimental research from various instruments were discussed.

Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail, Or prone-descending rain. Wide-rent, the clouds Pour a whole flood, and yet, its flame unquenched, Th’unconquerable lightning struggles through. Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls, And fires the mountains with redoubled rage. Black from the stroke, above, the smould’ring pine Stands a sad shattered trunk; and, stretched below, A lifeless group the blasted cattle lie. James Thompson, “The Seasons” (1727) have been investigating ball lightning for more than two decades. I published a ball lightning report in Nature in 1976 that received worldwide publicity and I consequently many people wrote to me with accounts of their own experiences. Within a very short time, I had accumulated about 200 firsthand accounts, and the file has continued to grow steadily since then. Several things impressed me. Few of those who wrote to me had any detailed foreknowledge of ball lightning at the time of their observation. Nonetheless, once reports of other phenomena such as St. Elmo’s fire had been eliminated, the remaining descriptions were remarkably consistent. Furthermore, nearly all who contacted me were keen to have an explanation of what they had seen and seemed entirely sincere.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Three-Body Trilogy, Cixin Liu's Ball Lightning is the story of what happens when the beauty of scientific inquiry runs up against the drive to harness new discoveries with no consideration of their possible consequences. When Chen’s parents are incinerated before his eyes by a blast of ball lightning, he devotes his life to cracking the secret of this mysterious natural phenomenon. His search takes him to stormy mountaintops, an experimental military weapons lab, and an old Soviet science station. The more he learns, the more he comes to realize that ball lightning is just the tip of an entirely new frontier. While Chen’s quest for answers gives purpose to his lonely life, it also pits him against soldiers and scientists with motives of their own: a beautiful army major with an obsession with dangerous weaponry, and a physicist who has no place for ethical considerations in his single-minded pursuit of knowledge. "Wildly imaginative."—Barack Obama on The Three-Body Problem trilogy Tor books by Cixin Liu The Three-Body Problem Series #1 The Three-Body Problem #2 The Dark Forest #3 Death's End At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The book describes the discovery of a scientific theory for fireball objects seen in the sky including ball lightning and a type of UFO. For centuries these lights have been seen without a satisfactory explanation. Ball lightning is part of that mystery but easily explained by Coleman's vortex fireball theory which hypothesizes the existence of aerial burners in the sky. The theory suggests vortices can combust a fuel within the confines of vortex breakdown of a vortex. This idea was published by the author in scientific sources and has been demonstrated experimentally at a University facility. This could be the definitive solution. Observations are cited from the literature that show that such a previously unrecognised scientific phenomenon does exist. This unified theory clarifies other puzzles such as the Tunguska "meteor" and gives a coherent explanation of ball lightning as a small fiery vortex.

An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum, setting off alarms in clandestine organizations around the world. And now the search for answers is leading Lady Kara Kensington; her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery’s brilliant and beautiful curator; and their guide, the international adventurer Omaha Dunn, into a world they never dreamed existed: a lost city buried beneath the Arabian desert. But others are being drawn there as well, some with dark and sinister purposes. And the many perils of a death-defying trek deep into the savage heart of the Arabian Peninsula pale before the nightmare waiting to be unearthed at journey’s end: an ageless and awesome power that could create a utopia…or destroy everything humankind has built over countless millennia.

A fresh and compelling look at wild and awesome examples of weather in this revised and updated book in the Wonders of Creation series! Did you know the hottest temperature ever recorded was 134° F (56.7° C) on July 10, 1913 in Death Valley, California? The highest recorded surface wind speed was in the May 3, 1999, Oklahoma tornado, measured at 302 mph (486 kph)! The most snow to fall in a one-year period is 102 feet (3,150 cm) at Mount Rainier, Washington, from February 19, 1971 to February 18, 1972! From the practical to the pretty amazing, this book gives essential details into understanding what weather is, how it works, and how other forces that impact on it. Learn why storm chasers and hurricane hunters do what they do and how they are helping to solve storm connected mysteries. Discover what makes winter storms both beautiful and deadly, as well as what is behind weather phenomena like St. Elmo’s Fire. Find important information on climate history and answers to the modern questions of supposed climate change. Get safety tips for preventing dangerous weather related injuries like those from lightning strikes, uncover why thunderstorms form, as well as what we know about the mechanics of a tornado and other extreme weather examples like flash floods, hurricanes and more. A fresh and compelling look at wild and awesome examples of weather in this revised and updated book in the Wonders of Creation series!

Absorbing monograph by expert sets forth most of known properties of lightning: cloud and lightning charges, stepped leader, return stroke, dart leader, lightning on other planets, thunder, more. 144 illustrations.

'This book is an important contribution, and I hope it will open many minds. What is particularly important in it are the discussions of David Bohm, of bioplasma, biophotons, and bioelectronics.' - PROFESSOR ZBIGNIEW WOLKOWSKI, Sorbonne University, Paris "Answers so many questions, scientific and esoteric, about the true nature of our reality... A seminal work... Will revolutionise how we frame reality and the thinking of everyone on this planet. Kudos to Professor Temple for striking the first match to light the fire." - NEW DAWN The story of the science of plasma and its revolutionary implications for the way we understand the universe and our place in it. Histories of science in the 20th century have focused on relativity and quantum mechanics. But, quietly in the background, there has been a third area of exploration which has equally important implications for our understanding of the universe. It is unknown to the general public despite the fact that many Nobel prize winners, senior academics and major research centres around the world have been devoted to it - it is the study of plasma Plasma is the fourth state of matter and the other three - gas, liquid and solids - emerge out of plasma. This book will reveal how over 99% of the universe is made of plasma and how there are two gigantic clouds of plasma, called the Kordylewski Clouds, hovering between the Earth and the Moon, only recently discovered by astronomers in Hungary. Other revelations not previously known outside narrow academic disciplines include the evidence that in certain circumstances plasma exhibits features that suggest they may be in some sense alive: clouds of plasma have evolved double helixes, banks of cells and crystals, filaments and junctions which could control the flow of electric currents, thus generating an intelligence similar to machine intelligence. We may, in fact, have been looking for signs of extra-terrestrial life in the wrong place. Bestselling author Robert Temple has been following the study of plasma for decades and was personally acquainted with several of the senior scientists - including Nobel laureates - at its forefront, including Paul Dirac, David Bohm, Peter Mitchell and Chandra Wickramasinghe (who has co-written an academic paper with Temple).