Word of Warning. As is often the case, the Amazon site for this book mixes together reviews of different editions and formats of the same book. I got the hardcover, 512 page, 10.4 x 1.4 x 12.2, revised and updated 2014 edition, which is probably the only version that does true justice to the book's photos, maps, and illustrations. For the interested reader this book is practically a complete Ocean Intro 101 course all by itself.
This is not a picture book of fishies and weird ocean denizens. (Well, it is a little, toward the end.) This book addresses the ocean as a major planetary feature, and undertakes to survey it from every possible angle. So, we start with something obvious, but often overlooked - sea water chemistry, including properties, temperature, salinity, sound transmission and the like. From there we move on to the basics of ocean geology, including tectonics. We follow up with circulation and climate, and then waves and tides.
Once we have the basics established, (that's about the first 70 pages), the book works through ocean environments. We start with coasts and seashore and then proceed to shallow seas, open ocean and polar oceans. With that we are at the halfway point. We then switch gears and look at ocean life. This section is divided by kingdoms, and then families and genera.
One of my favorite parts comes in at the end. There are 60 pages of ocean maps, showing as much data and as many different views and drawing styles as you could possibly want. There are close up featured large maps of all of the major, and minor, seas and ocean regions, so if you really want to know what Fiji looks like with the water removed, this is where to start.
The pages are loaded with text, side bars, factoids, and chatty historical bits. In the usual DK nonfiction style you can read the book by following the thread of the text from page to page, or you can leave through admiring photos and drawings and graphs, or you could page through stopping at interesting sidebars and mini-items. However you choose to proceed this is a book that offers almost endless opportunities for wonder and insight, and is a fabulous find for anyone curious to learn a bit more about the ocean.
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Top reviews from other countries
Megan
5 stars
Reviewed in Canada on November 25, 2020
Megan
Reviewed in Canada on November 25, 2020
This book is huge and heavy I was worried it’d be smaller then I imagined. I hope my nephew likes it he wants to be a marine biologist.
The top is a little crumpled which sucks but not a huge deal
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Samuel Romilly
The wonders of the deep
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2016
