The fourth edition of ESSENTIALS OF OCEANOGRAPHY conveys Garrison's enthusiasm for oceanography to non-science students taking the introductory course. It is a streamlined version of his best-selling OCEANOGRAPHY text, but was created specifically to meet the needs of the shorter course. This text provides students with a basic understanding of the scientific questions, complexities, and uncertainties involved in ocean use and the role and importance of oceans in nurturing and sustaining life on the planet. Now fully updated to maximize student motivation and performance, the fourth edition features a fully integrated web-based student tutorial system, OceanographyNow?. Designed specifically to improve test-taking performance, OceanographyNow offers chapter-specific pre- and post-assessments as well as a personalized learning plan, focusing each student's study time on individual concept weaknesses. Updated to include the most current scientific information on topics such as upwelling, tsunamis, and the ocean-related environmental issues, ESSENTIALS OF OCEANOGRAPHY continues to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of marine science, stressing its connections with astronomy, physics, chemistry, meteorology, geology, biology, ecology, history, and economics. By stressing relevance and currency, Garrison brings focus and excitement to students' appreciation of the complex nature of the ocean and its interactions with other systems.
Named Outstanding Marine Educator by the National Marine Technology Society, Tom Garrison writes market-leading textbooks that enliven students' interest in the ocean, and he contributes a regular column on oceanography education for the journal "Oceanography." His knowledge, combined with a gift for engaging writing, has garnered Tom an Emmy Award for his work on the "Oceanus" television course and a prestigious Excellence in College Teaching Award from the Salgo-Noren Foundation. The success of the "Oceanus" television course has led to the recent development of a new telecourse, "The Endless Voyage" produced by Intelecom, with Garrison again serving as a writer and science advisor for that program. Tom's texts, born out of his desire to share his excitement about the ocean with others, are widely used at colleges and universities throughout North America, Asia, and Australia. His oceanography texts have allowed him to stimulate the minds and imaginations of hundreds of thousands of oceanography students over the last decade.
