Editorial Review:
A vivid, up-to-date tour of the Earth's last frontier, a remote and mysterious realm that nonetheless lies close to the heart of even the most land-locked reader. The sea covers seven-tenths of the Earth, but we have mapped only a small percentage of it. The sea contains millions of species of animals and plants, but we have identified only a few thousand of them. The sea controls our planet's climate, but we do not really understand how. The sea is still the frontier, and yet it seems so familiar that we sometimes forget how little we know about it. Just as we are poised on the verge of exploiting the sea on an unprecedented scale-mining it, fertilizing it, fishing it out-this book reminds us of how much we have yet to learn. More than that, it chronicles the knowledge explosion that has transformed our view of the sea in just the past few decades, and made it a far more interesting and accessible place. From the Big Bang to that far-off future time, two billion years from now, when our planet will be a waterless rock; from the lush crowds of life at seafloor hot springs to the invisible, jewel-like plants that float at the sea surface; from the restless shifting of the tectonic plates to the majestic sweep of the ocean currents, Kunzig's clear and lyrical prose transports us to the ends of the Earth. 8 pages of color, 20 black-and-white illustrations. Originally published in hardcover as The Restless Sea.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Explorando lo desconocido 2007-08-24
Llegué a este libro debido a que era ganado del presitigioso Aventis Prize, lo que significa un sello de garantía.
De no haber tenido el premio no lo hubiese comprado, pues el fondo del mar no está dentro de mis intereses.
Lo que hubiese sido un gran error...
Este libro muestra la fascinante aventura del descubrimiento del fondo del mar, así como que tan poco sabemos al respecto. Sabemos más de la superficie de Venus que de nuestro propio fondo marino!
Pero Robert Kunzig narra, como si fuera una novela, la historia del conocimiento del fondo marino de una manera que hace que den ganas de volverse oceonógrafo.
Absolutamente recomendable para quien quiera leer algo novedoso.
One of the best books I've ever read 2007-04-09
This is a fascinating read for any one interested in ocean science and its history. I'm on my second copy because the first one was the book I carried with me everywhere I went and it wore out and started falling apart. Every time I read this book I get something out of it.
milestones of a growing science 2007-02-10
Kunzig is a decent writer who devotes a chapter each to thirteen of the most pivotal discoveries in oceanography. These range from geological (plate tectonics, seafloor spreading) to biological (creatures living off sulfur at high-temp deep sea thermal vents, phytoplankton) to physical (ocean currents) to chemical (carbon and its role in seawater ecology). Anecdotes involving the personalities of the scientists involved lend a human touch to the stories.
There are some moments of confusion, most of which occur when Kunzig doesn't properly introduce the background of certain scientists (like Henry Stommel), or when he seems to stretch certain hypotheses to their breaking point in order to make things a little more interesting. However, taken as a package, the book is a rare gem in a field ripe for public interest. And not totally depressing, either, if you skip the last couple of chapters (climate change and the thermohaline circulation).
Ocean Science for the Casual Oceanographer 2002-02-24
A wonderful and easy to read book about the history of Oceanography. When I first received the book as a Christamas gift from my wife, one of my first thoughts was "I hope it's not to dull." What a delightful surprise, Mr. Kunzig has woven a story of the ocean that is very entertaining and easily held my attention. His book includes chapters on the early explorers, their theories, their findings and their misunderstandings and their conflicts. He discusses the role that microscopic organism of the oceans play in the climate of our earth and our connection to them. I highly recommend this book.
Exploring the oceans 2001-09-04
Exploration is sexier than understanding. That's probably why we say Newton discovered the laws of motion, rather than understood the relationship between mass, force and velocity. Amongst the many disciplines of science, perhaps none is so dominated by exploration as oceanography.In this book, Robert Kunzig takes us on a tour of the exploratory deeds of ocean scientists that has lead us to our present knowledge of ocean science. From young scientists camped on coral cays, to biologists in deep-sea submersibles, and geologists climbing South American mountains, this is an exciting and fascinating read. I would recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn about oceanography in an easy to read format. But really, this book is for people who want to get excited about oceanography. Perhaps you are considering a career in oceanography, or you are a professional oceanography, or just like science? No matter. I think you will come away feeling inspired by the deeds of marine scientists, and the ocean itself. If I felt one dissappointment, it was that the issue of global climate change, and the role of ocean scientists in this critical science, was not given their due. I think we understand more about the climate than Kunzig gave us credit for. But this is a book about exploration, and climate change, sadly, is for the future.
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