In Volcanoes, Robert Decker and Barbara Decker provide a brief introduction to volcanology, the study of volcanoes, with the drama due such awesome phenomena. Dynamic prose and photographs and drawings enliven their discussion of the science behind the natural disaster.

For the new edition, the authors have rigorously updated their material, adding new findings, a listing of Web sites carrying breaking news of volcanic activity around the world, and 50 new images. The third edition also contains descriptions of the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo Volcano, the eruptions near the city of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea in 1994, and an account of the devastating 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia written by the captain of a passing ship.