Tides : the science and spirit of the ocean Cover Image

Book

Tides : the science and spirit of the ocean / Jonathan White ; foreword by Peter Matthiessen.

White, Jonathan, 1956- (author.). Matthiessen, Peter, (writer of foreword.).

Summary:

"In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes readers across the globe to discover the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the Silver Dragon, a twenty-five-foot tidal bore that crashes eighty miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power generation; and in Panama and Venice, he delves into how the threat of sea level rise is changing human culture-the very old and very new. Tides combines lyrical prose, colorful adventure travel, and provocative scientific inquiry into the elemental, mysterious paradox that keeps our planet's waters in constant motion. Photographs, scientific figures, line drawings, and sixteen color photos dramatically illustrate this engaging, expert tour of the tides"-- Provided by publisher.

"Combines lyrical prose, colorful adventure travel, and provocative scientific inquiry into tides--that elemental, mysterious paradox that keeps our planet's waters in constant motion. Photographs, scientific figures, line drawings, and color photos dramatically illustrate this engaging, expert tour of the tides."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9781595348050
ISBN: 1595348050
ISBN: 1595348514
ISBN: 9781595348517
Physical Description: xvi, 335 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm
Publisher: San Antonio, Texas : Trinity University Press, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-326) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Foreword / by Peter Matthiessen -- In deep : an introduction -- The perfect dance : birds and big tides in the Bay of Fundy -- Star of our life : a meditation on tide history at Mont Saint-Michel -- Silver dragon : China's Qiantang River tidal bore -- The last magician : Sir Isaac Newton and the scientific revolution -- Big waves : surfing mavericks and nineteenth-century tide theories -- Fast water : how tidal currents slow the Earth and bend time -- Big tides and resonance : Fundy and Ungava -- Turning the tide : grinding wheat, powering homes -- Higher tides : sea level rise from Kuna Yala to Venice.