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All of the Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a
single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine. Human history
has been dictated by the ocean: the location of cities, access to
resources and the gateways to new lands have all revolved around
water. We live inside the weather the ocean generates and breathe
in what it breathes out. Yet despite our dependence, our awareness
of its totality is minimal. In a book that will recalibrate our
view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen
Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean
engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live
in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. From the ancient
Polynesians who navigated the Pacific by reading the waves to
permanent residents of the deep such as the Greenland shark that
can live for hundreds of years, she explains the vast currents,
invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that all have their
place in the ocean's complex, interlinked system. Timely, elegant
and passionately argued, The Blue Machine is one of the biggest
stories ever told. The understanding it offers is crucial to our
future. Drawing on years of experience at the forefront of marine
science, Helen Czerski captures the magnitude and subtlety of this
complex force, showing us the thrilling extent to which we are at
the mercy of this great engine.
All of Earth’s oceans, from the equator to the poles, are a
single engine powered by sunlight, driving huge flows of energy,
water, life, and raw materials. In The Blue Machine, physicist and
oceanographer Helen Czerski illustrates the mechanisms behind this
defining feature of our planet, voyaging from the depths of the
ocean floor to tropical coral reefs, estuaries that feed into
shallow coastal seas, and Arctic ice floes. Through stories of
history, culture, and animals, she explains how water temperature,
salinity, gravity, and the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates
all interact in a complex dance, supporting life at the smallest
scale—plankton—and the largest—giant sea turtles, whales,
humankind. From the ancient Polynesians who navigated the Pacific
by reading the waves, to permanent residents of the deep such as
the Greenland shark that can live for hundreds of years, she
introduces the messengers, passengers, and voyagers that rely on
interlinked systems of vast currents, invisible ocean walls, and
underwater waterfalls. Most important, however, Czerski reveals
that while the ocean engine has sustained us for thousands of
years, today it is faced with urgent threats. By understanding how
the ocean works, and its essential role in our global system, we
can learn how to protect our blue machine. Timely, elegant, and
passionately argued, The Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective
on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet.
'A quite delightful book on the joys, and universality, of physics.
Czerski's enthusiasm is infectious because she brings our humdrum
everyday world to life, showing us that it is just as fascinating
as anything that can be seen by the Hubble Telescope or created at
the Large Hadron Collider.' - Jim Al-Khalili Our world is full of
patterns. If you pour milk into your tea and give it a stir, you'll
see a swirl, a spiral of two fluids, before the two liquids mix
completely. The same pattern is found elsewhere too. Look down on
the Earth from space, and you'll find similar swirls in the clouds,
made where warm air and cold air waltz. In Storm in a Teacup, Helen
Czerski links the little things we see every day with the big world
we live in. Each chapter begins with something small - popcorn,
coffee stains and refrigerator magnets - and uses it to explain
some of the most important science and technology of our time. This
is physics as the toolbox of science - a toolbox we need in order
to make sense of what is around us and arrive at decisions about
the future, from medical advances to solving our future energy
needs. It is also physics as the toy box of science: physics as
fun, as never before.
Part of the new Ladybird Expert series, Bubbles is a clear,
surprising and entertaining introduction to the science of bubbles.
Bubbles are beautiful, ephemeral, fun, fragile, jolly and slightly
unpredictable. We're all familiar with them, but we don't often ask
what they actually are. The great scientists of the Western world -
Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton, Lord Rayleigh and more - studied
bubbles seriously. They recognised that they had a lot to say about
the nature of the physical world, and they poked, prodded and
listened to find out what it was. In the years since, we've learned
that this bulbous arrangement of liquid and gas does things that
neither the gas or the liquid could do by itself. Written by the
celebrated physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski, Bubbles
explores how everything from the way drinks taste to the Earth's
temperature are influenced by bubbles. This book has a message:
never underestimate a bubble! Written by the leading lights and
most outstanding communicators in their fields, the Ladybird Expert
books provide clear, accessible and authoritative introductions to
subjects drawn from science, history and culture. For an adult
readership, the Ladybird Expert series is produced in the same
iconic small hardback format pioneered by the original Ladybirds.
Each beautifully illustrated book features the first new
illustrations produced in the original Ladybird style for nearly
forty years.
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