Customer Reviews

Essentials of Oceanography

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Whether you are a serious student of oceanography or, like me, a curious inquirer, you are going to love this book. In fact, once I began reading, it was difficult to close the cover! This book could easily be subtitled "Adventure in the High Seas." Rarely have I read a textbook that combines an engaging style with a scholarly approach that leaves me feeling both truly informed and amazed. I discovered all kinds of interesting facts and theories (deepest part of the world's oceans - the Challenger Deep, part of the Mariana Trench, at 36,163 feet), geological history (the ocean is 4 billion years old yet the oldest ocean floor is only 180 million years old), and astronomical physics (the moon has over two times the tide-generating effect as the sun though it is much smaller).

From helpful hints on serious subjects such as how to escape rip currents to funny stories about plastic bathtub toys (ducks, turtles and frogs) that were lost overboard from a container ship and provided valuable scientific data on ocean currents, I found it all fascinating. The book includes generous amounts of color graphics showing beautiful underwater scenery and marine life as well as colorful maps and aerial photos (for instance, the image depicting wave effects on the shoreline). Each chapter ends with exercises, extensive references, suggested additional reading and recommended web sites to visit. Though the glossary is extensive, I particularly liked the use of the short word derivations that appear frequently throughout the text such as Bathyscaphe (bathos=depth, scaphe=a small ship), thus saving numerous trips to the dictionary.

The book is written as a college-level text for first year oceanography students. Instructors will find an impressive instructional package available from the publisher that includes such things as slides, transparencies, a companion web site reference and an instructor's manual. Read this book and you will agree that it is clearly a five star work.