A visual and informational feast! | Ocean | Robert Dinwiddie, Louise Thomas

Wonderful graphics! | Ocean | Robert Dinwiddie, Louise Thomas

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	• Ocean Robert Dinwiddie, Louise Thomas DK ADULT, 2006 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A great, captivating book

I had been looking for a comprehensive ocean book for a while, and more or less found it here. A complete overview of the ocean: physical features, marine life, fishing, exploration - this book covers it all. Great photography and short pieces of information on hundreds of the ocean's species will immerse even the most casual terrestrial browser.

The species featured in this book are well distributed - representing all classes of animals and plants, and all zones and ocean communities, from the coastal to deep sea ecosystem. Their mini synopsis of species is proceeded by a helpful overview of the general category that covers them (such as mollusks: their basic anatomy, movement mechanics, feeding and life cycles for the entire group) before telling you about, let's say, the octopus. The bulk of the book is on ocean biota, with a smaller sections on ocean environments and an atlas of the oceans.

Perhaps the biggest gap I see in the book is that it covers fisheries and other human impacts (trash, pollution, warming, acidification) only minimally and sporadically. The human impacts are highlighted for only a few key species, instead of treating it as an separate issue in its own right that affects, directly or indirectly, all forms of marine life. Indeed, the subtitle for the book, "the world's last wilderness revealed," is misleading and biased. It's akin a travel brochure selling an overrun tourist destination like Waikiki as exotic and pristine ("come and watch the natives surf!" I read once somewhere) - given our massive interference with most of the ocean, the term "wilderness" simply does not apply, except perhaps for the Antarctic region, for now.

But what the book does cover, it covers it well, being both engaging and informative. Over 500 pages serve as a good introduction to our waterworld.

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A visual and informational feast!

This is a huge book packed with information and gorgeous photography. There is plenty of science contained in these glossy pages from how the planets in our solar system formed, to the breakup and movement of our land masses to their current day positions, ocean currents, weather, ecology, glacial periods, and so much more. Most of the first half of the book is devoted to these subjects. The second half of the book gets into ocean life, from the smallest to the largest, how they live, feed, defend themselves. The pictures are breathtaking. This is a great educational book for all family members. Trust me, this one won't just sit around on your coffee table.

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Wonderful graphics!

I recently sent this book to my younger sister who has inspirations of becoming an oceanographer. The book is so colorful and educational I think I want to become an oceanographer now!

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Wonderful science book on the Ocean

This book is not a typical "coffee table" book. Although full of beautiful photographs, there is equal emphasis on educational text. Instead of being a book containing only full-page photos of ocean life, each page is a collage of wonderful photos and short articles that you will want to read. The publisher of this book (DK), offers a variety of books in this format (travel, etc), and the layout of this book is similar. That is not to knock the photos at all - they are great and some are full-page, but this book isn't page after page of full-page photos as some others are.

That said, this is an excellent educational text with so much interesting information to offer. (It made me want to read the book cover-to-cover, which would probably keep me busy for at least a few days!)

The four main sections of the book include:

Introduction
Ocean Environments
Ocean Life
Atlas of the Oceans

The Introduction section takes a scientific look at the earth. A sampling of the topics of this section include "The Evolution of the Oceans", "Tectonics and the Ocean Floor", "Hurricanes", and "El Nino and La Nina". Mixed in with the photos are a number of color drawings and graphs to help the reader understand the concepts.

The section on Ocean Environments includes articles on specific places like San Francisco Bay and Hardanger Fjord as well as general information on habitats such as Salt Marshes, Mangrove Swamps and Rocky Sea Beds. The pages are full of photos of the areas as well as typical species found there.

The largest section is on Ocean Life and focuses on the variety of creatures found in the sea. Exhibited within these pages are a number of amazing photos of plants and animals that I had not seen before (though I'm not an expert on this subject) including creatures such as the Glass Squid, the Blue-Ringed Octopus and the Goblin Shark. I thoroughly enjoyed the short paragraph articles describing unique aspects of the species shown as well as the longer texts on topics like "Echinoderms" that includes anatomy, reproduction, feeding and defense sub-articles.

The last section is Atlas of the Oceans and includes maps of the different oceans and text describing them.

Again, the focus of this book is learning, not just amazing photography, and it does an excellent job of offering a smorgasbord of articles on different topics. If you really want to learn about the ocean and its inhabitants while paging through fantastic photographs, you will thoroughly enjoy this book!

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As the site where life first formed on Earth, a key element of the climate, and a continuing but fragile resource, oceans are of vital importance to our planet. From the geological and physical processes that affect the ocean floor to the key habitat zones, flora, and fauna, this is the definitive reference to the world's oceans for the entire family. Includes an introduction by Fabien Cousteau. Includes the latest developments in ocean exploration and photography. Catalogs the rich diversity of ocean features and marine life. Highlights important people, unique habitats, human impact studies, and extreme facts. Published in association with the American Museum of Natural History.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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