27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Comparative Decompression Anatomy 101, April 7, 2002
This review is from: Technical Diving in Depth (Hardcover)
This book is mandatory for a library of serious practitioners and students of diving. However, it falls short of 5 stars for 3 reasons: its reuse of previous material, unnecessary terseness, and a good fraction of topics discussed are whimsically related to diving.
An authoritative decompression diving treatise is a rare find, and one describing various models in the smallest detail, speaking authoritatively and comparatively, is a rare specie.
Dr. Wienke's new textbook could easily be a classic in the field, joining the rank of A.A. Buhlmann as one of few textbooks detailing decompression diving. Buhlmann's text extended concepts developed by Workman, and Wienke describes his Reduced Gradient Bubble Model in relation to bubble models, but no recent texts I recall, compare most decompression models in one book [other than Wienke in prior paperback books.]
A discourse on decompression is but one component, albeit a core component, of this book. "Technical Diving in Depth", TDD, is an amalgam of assorted topics related to technical diving in general, with elements of oceanography, geology, astronomy-cosmology and physics _but_ whose price of admission is high: a terse writing style and unavoidable college level mathematics. The textbook is also a peek into a renaissance man who speaks expertly on many topics beyond the scope of his doctoral degree in particle physics. Coupled with Wienke's colorful author profile, this reader can easily explain the indulgence in a curious combination of topics, some discussions than veer off tangent, and the reuse, from prior books, of chapters or paragraphs. The attention to detail in the text is remarkable; with ne'er any errors in the mathematics provided, and typographical errors are exceedingly minor.
The depth Wienke dives into the topics may be considered an encyclopedic reference. The book could better be described as " A Reference Book _for_ Technical Diving." Thus, its critical to have a quick method to locate items discussed. While the book can, and should, be read cover to cover, thereafter it can be a chore to locate a topic one needs without an index or a table of contents. Encyclopedic information has its own character; it explains concisely and often just guides readers to more comprehensive sources, so readers are warned that it may sometime lack sufficient detail to be of practical value. The material Wienke provides is unique, and few items are duplicated in other vital references such as the NOAA or USN Diving Manual.
From the sheer volume of reused material, TDD maybe called an updated or 'second edition' of the 1995 text, "Basic Diving Physics and Applications," BDPA. A case can be made for presenting TDD as new work considering the updated text, some new material, reorganization of prior material, more relevant and extended referencing, subtle changes to equations, better layout and binding, sample problems with solutions, and an excellent index. Formatted thus, the new book appears as a better venue for material detailed in the older text.
If you own BDPA, TDD is an update built to last. Without an index, one had to remember acutely the location of a piece of information. The pages of my "Basic Diving" are falling apart. I estimate about 20% of "Technical Diving" has new material in decompression modeling [a bulk of which is a Wienke monograph circulating freely on the Internet]. The release of TDD is quite opportune. In 2002, we saw more decompression models report validation data, lay articles on decompression models, new software for divers to test models in real dives, and decompression software for palmtop computers to take to the field.
Comparing books again, subtle variations in some equation hint that other complex equations could be simplified. For example, Wienke chose to drop fC02 and fH20 in equation 10.7, p.202 compared to TDD p.76; in p.72 equation 4.15 Wienke drops water's specific density compared to TDD p.122. The resulting changes are, to knowledgeable readers, insignificant, but in reviewing other equations, one wonders what further simplification may be possible. A transcendent notion one gets for models is that precisions of formulas are inconsequential if they do not translate in physical effects in real dives. Such a notion is key to remaining skeptical about models, and their subsequent complex equations. Its ideal for writers of decompression models to speak from the point of diving such decompression models themselves, such as Wienke does, to 'fill the gaps' between what is surmised and what occurs.
Readers can successfully bypass derivations and, when available, go straight to working equations, most of which are algebraic. For those not so mathematically inclined, take confidence that much of the text is useful after ignoring its math. However, should Wienke choose to write a future edition, there is opportunity to expound topics substantially to widen this book's audience: referencing sources for charts, tables and graphs, further explain concepts, visual describe the math [Mo Value graphs from BDPA were eliminated in TDD, for example.] It would help for readers to read the appendix first, to get further grounding in basic concepts before starting from Chapter One.
So who is this book for? Of paramount value, anyone who wants to know the comparative anatomy of decompression models. By studying its calculations and assumptions, the reader, particular a technical diver, will understand the limits of the tables generated by programs and adjust their dives accordingly. If divers are equally intrigued by the escape velocity of the earth, the ecliptic plane, supercomputer history and a brief Einstein E=mc2 link [relatively speaking], yes, Virginia, its here too.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
what is this book about?, February 21, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Technical Diving in Depth (Hardcover)
I am supposed to be one of the people this book is written for - a PhD chemist. I bought the book to learn about technical diving. However, if one was to take out all the extraneous material there would be maybe 150 pages left. I did not buy a book to read about cosmology, or gravitation, or Hubbles constant and that is what a whole lot of the book is like -unrelated material. Now, granted I think that a technical diver should be educated but these subjects are treated with such brevity that if you do not already know the material - forget it. Most people will NOT find partial differential equations to be "simple mathematical statements". I loved the Epochal Panoramas on page 236. You are told to look at Figures 12-14 and told the interplay, diversity, timescale, and complexity are boundless - period. Then follows the phosphate, carbon, nitogen , and sulfur cycles in the ocean depicted as diagrams -that's it!!
Page 103-104 (Table one) lists the densities of the elements one through 94 ...huh? Knowing Z, A, and delta for the lanthanides and actinides may enrich your life but it will not do anything for you knowledge on Technical Diving (by the way what happened to the rest of the elements???). By the way, my view that most physicists know little to no chemistry is futher substantiated by the erroneous equations on page 77. CO3 should be CO3(2-) and Na2 and K2 should be 2Na(+) and 2K(+). I will let you figure out what charge if any should be on O - an oxygen ATOM.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A comprehensive reference and study tool., April 24, 2002
This review is from: Technical Diving in Depth (Hardcover)
A long-awaited and much-needed book, the most complete and comprehensive reference work published to date on technical diving. It covers all aspects of the technical side of shallow diving to deep diving. Wienke brings into perspective the details of the mechanics from the fundamentals to the advanced materials. Whether you want a history of biophysical models of gas absorption, the importance of both free and dissolved phase transfer in gas absorption and elmination, a presentation-with tables and formulae-on critical tensions, M-values, and phase volumes, or a discussion of bubbles, nucleation, and biosystems, you will find each topic in detail in several chapters on aspects of decompression.
Wienke's strong knowledge of physics is apparent as he discusses mixed gases and decompression or oxygen dose. His depth of understanding is equally notable in his presentation of other related topics, such as pressure, buoyancy, ocean currents, atmospheric gases, waves and tides, or pressure and depth gauges. He even includes a chapter on diving maladies, especially as related to technical diving. Each chapter of the book is followed by a set of review exercises and examples as well as an extensive list of additional reading.
Overall, a very useful book and reference tool. Tables and figures throughout provide visual reinforcement of the topics.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
