Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage [Hardcover]

Deborah Cramer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

In the course of an ocean voyage, Deborah Cramer documents the history and science of the Atlantic illuminating our multifaceted reliance on the sea, our betrayal of that bond, the changing landscape of the ocean floor and the threatened life of its inhabitants. Bringing together the research of physical oceanographers, geologists, biologists and chemists from both sides of the Atlantic, Cramer presents a report of the damage inflicted on these waters. From the decks of her boat she describes the intricate and fragile web of marine life, the disappearance of schools of fish plundered by the fishing industry and the changing rhythms of the Atlantic from the rough, chilly Gulf of Maine to the calm, weedy currents of the Sargasso Sea to the intense blue of the Gulf Stream.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Plumbing the depth of one of the world's two great oceans on a scientific voyage from Woods Hole, Mass., to Barbados, Cramer moves from the subatomic structure of water molecules and the organic chemistry of microbiology to the remnants of immense geological epochs, highlighting the critical interdependence of all life on earth with the sea. In addition to illuminating the connection between ocean currents and continental climate, Cramer capably explains the sometimes perplexing effect of the ocean on geology, including the Atlantic Ocean's tidal influence on atmospheric dehydration and hence, Saharan Africa's continual desiccation. We also learn about some of the lesser-known aquatic creatures that dwell at the surface of the sea as well as in its abysmal depths. Cramer is at her best combining the esoteric data of hydrology with her personal musings on the mysteries of life, achieving originality and poetic grace in her reflections on the oceans and heavens during shipboard night watches. However, she too frequently lapses into pop-culture cliches regarding human depredation on the planet, and is weakest when she descends to overwrought New Age platitudes on Western culture's disdain for nature. Fortunately, her oceanic subject is vast enough to weather these petty shoals of ecology banalities. Illus., maps.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This may be the first fullscale biography of an ocean. The author, a Massachusetts science writer, shows us the Atlantic Ocean in a way we've never seen it before: as an inhabitant of planet Earth, as a living entity that will, perhaps sooner than we expect, grow old and die. Atlantic (not "the Atlantic," since Cramer refers to the ocean as though it were a person) isn't merely a lot of water with stuff in it; it's an ecosystem, a fragile entity that depends on us as much as we depend on it. Humanity's shipping lanes flow right through whale feeding grounds; we feed ourselves at the expense of Atlantic's own residents. This book vividly illustrates the nature of "the giveandtake between land and sea" and reminds us just how brutal we can sometimes be to this ocean we often take too much for granted. Fans of the writings of Rachel Carson, Peter Matthiessen, and Farley Mowat--all of whom speak passionately about humanity's role in the world's ecosystems--will certainly want to read this provocative work of popular science. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393020193
• ISBN-13: 978-0393020199
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Elegant Update of the "Sea Around Us" and More, December 15, 2003

By 

David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage (Paperback)

In "Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage" Deborah Cramer not only takes the reader along on an ocean trip from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Barbados, she explains the ecology and history of the Atlantic in the process. In doing so, she brings Rachael Carson's classic "The Sea Around Us" up to date and gives the reader a solid grounding in ocean biology and physical oceanography. After reading "The Empty Ocean" I was delighted to find this book, one that takes a broader look at a smaller area- Atlantic, as Cramer likes to characterize the great ocean.

Unfortunately both recent books give the same, often bleak, picture of what is happening to the oceans as humans over-fish the once huge fisheries and dump more garbage, human and animal waste, toxic chemicals and remains of machines into what is becoming a global "land fill." We have also refused to take serious steps to reduce global warming at the same time evidence for our complicity in carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere is mounting. Unfortunately for us Atlantic and the others oceans of the planet are starting to return the favor both in lower fish catches and altering ocean circulation that may well cost us way beyond the value of the fish we extracted.

Yet there is some glimmer of hope. Humans may yet wake up, if a bit late, to the damage they are doing. There are still nearly pristine beaches and walking alone along a beach with sea birds crying is still possible over much of the planet. I hope it always remains possible. Read this book, if you are not already convinced of our lack of foresight, you will be!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent and provocative, July 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage (Hardcover)

Why should we care about the oceans of the earth? This meticulously researched book poses a convincing argument: the physical and chemical cycles and life webs of the sea are under siege from humans, with consequences to reefs, plankton and whales, as well as to our weather, health and livelihood. The threat goes way beyond global warming. Cramer effectively illuminates the problems and consequences while showing how we are all accountable for protecting the great waters -- whether we live in coastal communities or in cities far inland that dump pollutants into waterways that eventually enter the sea.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Science, May 6, 2002

By 

Bruce A. Noll (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage (Hardcover)

Ms. Cramer has achomplished the incredible here--a historic, scientific and poetic tribute to one of our great masses of water.
This book, while inspiring and "novelesque" in scope, also presents
the alarming ecological state of our planet's seas . . . yet not without springs of hope. I love what Cramer has done for all of us.
Good for anyone who gets excited about the sea and/or science!