Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed

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!

This book not only has beautiful photography but a wealth of information. Ocean is a beautiful encyclopedia.

This is one of the most beautiful boks I've purchased in a long time. I was a little skeptical, so many of these big "coffee table" books end up collecting dust or eventually taking the long ride in the trunk to the thrift store drop. You'll have to pry this book out of my cold, dead hands. The photographs are beautiful and amazing. I've been diving and this captures that same "Wow!" factor that you wish you could take back with you when you resurface. I got this book because my daughter was studying ocean life for school. I could hardly put the thing down. It sucks you in with tales from the deep and the amazing lives of the creatures who live there. Mch of the text is very informative but also well written. My daugher and I have enjoyed pouring over it, sometimes reading, sometimes just looking at all the amazing photographs. Yes, it's big enough that it could actually just replace your coffee table altogether. Still, it's just that many more wonderful images and fascinating tidbits about the ocean. I'd definately say this book is worth the space it will take up on your coffee table or bookshelf.

By National Research Council Ocean Studies Board This huge book is divided into four major sections: Introduction -- covering such things as the properties of water that make the ocean what it is, the geology, circulation, climate, tides and waves. These are properties that apply to all oceans. Ocean Environments -- broken down by areas such as depth, temperature, the sea floor. Ocean Life -- subdivided into two sections that cover first the ecology of marine life, followed by a breakdown of the plant and animal life in considerable detail. Atlas of the oceans -- includes maps of all the oceans as well as additional maps showing things like current flow, depths, undersea features, the seas around the oceans, basically everything there is to know. This is a beautifully illustrated huge book. Over 500 pages, 10 x 12 inches. It's a great book to read with a youngster on your lap just looking at the pictures of weird life.

"Huge" means coffee table size, and roughly 500 pages. That's almost six pounds of enjoyable reading - if you decide to read it, rather than just letting the magnificent imagery wash over you. That's how the book starts, by the way. Page after page of full-page, full-color photos, including some two-page spreads, before you even get to the introduction. It gets off to a slightly slow start, with a quick review of just what seawater is, chemically, and why that matters. Geology and meterology come next, the rocky basin that holds the sea and the air above it. In both cases, land and sky, the ocean shapes them as much as they shape the ocean. This discussion includes things as important as El Niño and hurricane Katrina. Although wide-ranging and informative, vivid illustrations and photos keep it lively and personal. The first 200 pages or so continue the discussion of the polar icecaps, shores, underwater geography, and the rest of the ocean itself. Then the discussion turns to oceanic life. Historical life start it off, from the age of dinosaurs. The authors then move into the plankton, clearly distinguishing the bacteria from archaea, and both from the eukaryotic protists and diatoms. Next comes plant life in and near the ocean, including aquatic algae and shoreline plants, lichens, and fungi. These sections set the pattern, clearly identifying several levels of taxa to which specimen belongs, its worldwide distribution, gorgeous pictures, and a paragraph or two. Discussion varies, sometimes highlighting distinctive parts of an organism's life cyle, special relationships, or the scientists who've done most to uncover and spread this wonderful knowledge. It's the section on animals that young readers will be most drawn to. It starts with the sedentary corals, bryozoans, and other beautiful and colorful critters of simple habits. The authors work their way up to bottom-dwelling benthos and the free-swimming nekton. That includes fish, sharks, porpoises and whales, turtles, and other wonderful beings. Next come birds, lizards, seals, and other lives spent on or only partly in the sea. But you won't take it in order - you won't be let to if you have a kid in your lap when you read it. So much of this book is so exciting, even parts you might not have guessed, that you're sure to skip around, finding new surprises nearly every time you flip to a new page. It's huge fun, good science, and a great way to stir any child's (or adult's) fascination with the majority of the world's surface and the lives in it. //wiredweird