
The Blue Machine
How the Ocean Works
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Helen Czerski
-
By:
-
Helen Czerski
About this listen
A Financial Times Best Science Book of 2023
A scientist’s exploration of the "ocean engine"—the physics behind the ocean’s systems—and why it matters.
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.
©2023 Helen Czerski (P)2023 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Storm in a Teacup
- The Physics of Everyday Life
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, and innovative medical testing.
-
-
Everyday Physics Thoroughly Explained
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-17
By: Helen Czerski
-
White Holes
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Harry Lloyd
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Let us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. We slip beyond its horizon and tumble down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we see geometry fold. Time and space pull and stretch. And finally, at the black hole’s core, space and time dissolve, and a white hole is born. Rovelli has dedicated his career to uniting the time-warping ideas of general relativity and the perplexing uncertainties of quantum mechanics. In White Holes, he reveals the mind of a scientist at work.
-
-
Absolutely Beyond Brilliant!
- By H. S. on 11-01-23
By: Carlo Rovelli
-
A City on Mars
- Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?
- By: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate change, no war, no Twitter—beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Critically acclaimed, bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements, but after years of research, they aren’t so sure it’s a good idea.
-
-
The first half is really good
- By James on 07-12-24
By: Kelly Weinersmith, and others
-
Knowing What We Know
- The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom?
-
-
Colorful anecdotes but tiring after a while.
- By Thumb Guy on 05-03-23
By: Simon Winchester
-
Crossings
- How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
- By: Ben Goldfarb
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill.
-
-
Great book, but narration doesn’t fit.
- By Anonymous User on 09-22-23
By: Ben Goldfarb
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Storm in a Teacup
- The Physics of Everyday Life
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, and innovative medical testing.
-
-
Everyday Physics Thoroughly Explained
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-17
By: Helen Czerski
-
White Holes
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Harry Lloyd
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Let us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. We slip beyond its horizon and tumble down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we see geometry fold. Time and space pull and stretch. And finally, at the black hole’s core, space and time dissolve, and a white hole is born. Rovelli has dedicated his career to uniting the time-warping ideas of general relativity and the perplexing uncertainties of quantum mechanics. In White Holes, he reveals the mind of a scientist at work.
-
-
Absolutely Beyond Brilliant!
- By H. S. on 11-01-23
By: Carlo Rovelli
-
A City on Mars
- Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?
- By: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate change, no war, no Twitter—beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Critically acclaimed, bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements, but after years of research, they aren’t so sure it’s a good idea.
-
-
The first half is really good
- By James on 07-12-24
By: Kelly Weinersmith, and others
-
Knowing What We Know
- The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom?
-
-
Colorful anecdotes but tiring after a while.
- By Thumb Guy on 05-03-23
By: Simon Winchester
-
Crossings
- How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
- By: Ben Goldfarb
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill.
-
-
Great book, but narration doesn’t fit.
- By Anonymous User on 09-22-23
By: Ben Goldfarb
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Material World
- The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization
- By: Ed Conway
- Narrated by: Ed Conway
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. These fundamental materials have created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and greed for thousands of years. Without them, our modern world would not exist, and the battle to control them will determine our future. In Material World, Ed Conway embarks on an epic journey across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates.
-
-
Insightful
- By Sam on 01-17-24
By: Ed Conway
-
Eve
- How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution
- By: Cat Bohannon
- Narrated by: Cat Bohannon
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do women live longer than men? Why do women have menopause? Why are women more likely to get Alzheimer’s? Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet? And does the female brain really exist? In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, she covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex.
-
-
Stronger on reproductive bio, flimsy on sexuality
- By curiouscolugo on 12-20-23
By: Cat Bohannon
-
Our Fragile Moment
- How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis
- By: Michael E. Mann
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The conditions that allowed humans to live on this earth are fragile, incredibly so. Climate variability has at times created new niches that humans or their ancestors could potentially exploit, and challenges that at times have spurred innovation. But there’s a relatively narrow envelope of climate variability within which human civilization remains viable. And our survival depends on conditions remaining within that range. In this book, renowned climate scientist Michael Mann will arm listeners with the knowledge necessary to appreciate the gravity of the unfolding climate crisis.
-
-
Outstanding
- By R.C. Olson on 12-30-24
By: Michael E. Mann
-
The Maniac
- By: Benjamin Labatut
- Narrated by: Gergo Danka, Eva Magyar
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Benjamín Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World electrified a global readership. A Booker Prize and National Book Award finalist, and one of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of the Year, it explored the life and thought of a clutch of mathematicians and physicists who took science to strange and sometimes dangerous new realms. In The MANIAC, Labatut has created a tour de force on an even grander scale.
-
-
Gergo Danka and Eva Magyar are excellent narrators
- By Barbara S on 11-04-23
By: Benjamin Labatut
-
What an Owl Knows
- The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.
-
-
The dedication and fierce commitment of the author
- By Michael G. T. Thompson on 12-17-24
-
How the Earth Works
- By: Michael E. Wysession, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael E. Wysession
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space. In 48 lectures, you will look at what went into making our planet - from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth.
-
-
Excellent course
- By Doug B. on 05-23-19
By: Michael E. Wysession, and others
-
Judgment at Tokyo
- World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
- By: Gary J. Bass
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 31 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, the world turned to the question of how to move on from years of carnage and destruction. For Harry Truman, Douglas MacArthur, Chiang Kai-shek, and their fellow victors, the question of justice seemed clear: Japan’s militaristic leaders needed to be tried and punished for the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor; shocking atrocities against civilians in China, the Philippines, and elsewhere; and rampant abuses of prisoners of war in notorious incidents such as the Bataan death march.
-
-
Biased revisionist history
- By Amazon Customer on 12-31-23
By: Gary J. Bass
-
Blight
- Fungi and the Coming Pandemic
- By: Emily Monosson
- Narrated by: Rosemary Benson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fungi are everywhere. Most are harmless, some are helpful. A few are killers. Collectively, infectious fungi are the most devastating agents of disease on Earth, and a fungus that can persist in the environment without its host is here for the long haul. In gripping, accessible prose, Emily Monosson documents how changing climate, trade, and travel are making us all more vulnerable to invasion.
-
-
Illuminating
- By Logan Jones on 02-27-24
By: Emily Monosson
-
The Underworld
- Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean
- By: Susan Casey
- Narrated by: Susan Casey
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susan Casey is our premiere chronicler of the aquatic world. For The Underworld she traversed the globe, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet, interviewing the marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers who are searching for knowledge in this vast unseen realm. She takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the myths and legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom.
-
-
narrator ruined it
- By Amazon Customer on 05-12-24
By: Susan Casey
-
The Deepest Map
- The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World’s Oceans
- By: Laura Trethewey
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Five oceans—the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Arctic, and the Southern—cover approximately 70 percent of the earth. Yet we know little about what lies beneath them. By the early 2020s, less than twenty-five percent of the ocean’s floor has been charted, most close to shorelines, and over three quarters of the ocean lies in in what is called the Deep Sea, depths below a thousand meters.
By: Laura Trethewey
-
The Brilliant Abyss
- Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It
- By: Helen Scales
- Narrated by: Helen Scales
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary, interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more—good or bad, depending on how it is exploited. Currently, the fantastic creatures that live in the deep—many of them incandescent in a world without light—and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere, and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines.
-
-
Amazing facts about the deep
- By Austin F. on 11-18-22
By: Helen Scales
-
Marine Biology
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Philip V. Mladenov
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, marine biologist Philip Mladenov provides an accessible and up-to-date overview of marine biology, offering a tour of marine life and marine processes that ranges from the unimaginably abundant microscopic organisms that drive the oceans' food web to the apex predators that we exploit for food; from polar ocean ecosystems to tropical coral reefs; and from the luxurious kelp beds of the coastal ocean to deep-ocean hydrothermal vents where life exists without the energy of the sun.
Critic reviews
Riveting.... The cultural history fascinates.... Wide-ranging and meticulously detailed, this captures the wonder, beauty, and intrigue of its subject.—Publishers Weekly, starred review
The Blue Machine is a point of departure, a map for further exploration. Not since reading The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson have I read a book as timely, salient, and informative.—Todd L. Capson, Science
[Czerski’s] profound, sparkling global ocean voyage mingles history and culture, natural history, geography, animals and people.—Andrew Robinson, Nature
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Storm in a Teacup
- The Physics of Everyday Life
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, and innovative medical testing.
-
-
Everyday Physics Thoroughly Explained
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-17
By: Helen Czerski
-
Becoming Earth
- How Our Planet Came to Life
- By: Ferris Jabr
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of humanity’s oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis—a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.
-
-
Fascinating and well researched
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-24
By: Ferris Jabr
-
Tides
- The Science and Spirit of the Ocean
- By: Jonathan White, Peter Matthiessen - Foreward
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes listeners 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 25-foot tidal bore that crashes 80 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.
-
-
1/3 Science and Spirit- 2/3 meaningless details
- By Buddy on 06-06-18
By: Jonathan White, and others
-
Other Minds
- The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
- By: Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared.
-
-
Mischief and Craft
- By Darwin8u on 08-10-17
-
The Wave
- In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean
- By: Susan Casey
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently scientists dismissed these stories - waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. But in the past few decades, as a startling number of ships vanished and new evidence has emerged, oceanographers realized something scary was brewing in the planet’s waters. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Sea - including several that approached 100 feet.
-
-
Do the Wave
- By Roy on 03-05-11
By: Susan Casey
-
Waves and Beaches
- The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast
- By: Willard Bascom, Kim McCoy
- Narrated by: Rich Miller
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic is an essential handbook for anyone who studies, surfs, protects, or is fascinated by the ocean, with a wealth of information based on theory and statistics, but also anecdotal observation and personal experience. It brought to the general public understanding of the awesome and complex power of the waves. This revision from Kim McCoy updates the book's relevance in the time of climate change. One of the most significant effects of global warming will be sea-level rise. What will this mean to waves and beaches, and what effects are we already seeing?
-
-
Interesting
- By Gilbert M. Stack on 01-29-25
By: Willard Bascom, and others
-
Storm in a Teacup
- The Physics of Everyday Life
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, and innovative medical testing.
-
-
Everyday Physics Thoroughly Explained
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-17
By: Helen Czerski
-
Becoming Earth
- How Our Planet Came to Life
- By: Ferris Jabr
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of humanity’s oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis—a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.
-
-
Fascinating and well researched
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-24
By: Ferris Jabr
-
Tides
- The Science and Spirit of the Ocean
- By: Jonathan White, Peter Matthiessen - Foreward
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes listeners 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 25-foot tidal bore that crashes 80 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.
-
-
1/3 Science and Spirit- 2/3 meaningless details
- By Buddy on 06-06-18
By: Jonathan White, and others
-
Other Minds
- The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
- By: Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared.
-
-
Mischief and Craft
- By Darwin8u on 08-10-17
-
The Wave
- In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean
- By: Susan Casey
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently scientists dismissed these stories - waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. But in the past few decades, as a startling number of ships vanished and new evidence has emerged, oceanographers realized something scary was brewing in the planet’s waters. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Sea - including several that approached 100 feet.
-
-
Do the Wave
- By Roy on 03-05-11
By: Susan Casey
-
Waves and Beaches
- The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast
- By: Willard Bascom, Kim McCoy
- Narrated by: Rich Miller
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic is an essential handbook for anyone who studies, surfs, protects, or is fascinated by the ocean, with a wealth of information based on theory and statistics, but also anecdotal observation and personal experience. It brought to the general public understanding of the awesome and complex power of the waves. This revision from Kim McCoy updates the book's relevance in the time of climate change. One of the most significant effects of global warming will be sea-level rise. What will this mean to waves and beaches, and what effects are we already seeing?
-
-
Interesting
- By Gilbert M. Stack on 01-29-25
By: Willard Bascom, and others
-
The Sea Around Us
- By: Rachel Carson
- Narrated by: Kaiulani Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published in 1951, The Sea Around Us is one of the most remarkably successful books ever written about the natural world. This classic work remains as fresh today as when it first appeared. Carson's writing teems with stunning, memorable images - the newly formed Earth cooling beneath an endlessly overcast sky, the centuries of nonstop rain that created the oceans, giant squids battling sperm whales hundreds of fathoms below the surface, and incredibly powerful tides moving 100 billion tons of water daily in the Bay of Fundy.
-
-
A Historiographical Gem
- By Reggie on 03-10-19
By: Rachel Carson
-
The Power of Trees
- How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them
- By: Peter Wohlleben, Jane Billinghurst
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting, and the exploitation of old growth forests. At the heart of The Power of Trees lies Wohlleben’s passionate plea: that our survival is dependent on trusting ancient forests, and allowing them to thrive.
-
-
Critical Urgency
- By Ya'at'eeh on 01-07-24
By: Peter Wohlleben, and others
-
Says Who?
- A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words
- By: Anne Curzan
- Narrated by: Anne Curzan
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our use of language naturally evolves and is a living breathing thing that reflects who we are. Says Who? offers clear, nuanced guidance that goes beyond “right” and “wrong” to empower us to make informed language choices. Never snooty or scoldy (yes, that’s a “real” word!), this book explains where the grammar rules we learned in school actually come from and reveals the forces that drive dictionary editors to label certain words as slang or unacceptable.
-
-
waste of time, do not buy
- By Andrew Lewis on 05-19-25
By: Anne Curzan
-
Scars of Independence
- America's Violent Birth
- By: Holger Hoock
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American Revolution is often portrayed as an orderly, restrained rebellion, with brave patriots defending their noble ideals against an oppressive empire. It's a stirring narrative, and one the founders did their best to encourage after the war. But as historian Holger Hoock shows in this deeply researched and elegantly written account of America’s founding, the Revolution was not only a high-minded battle over principles, but also a profoundly violent civil war—one that shaped the nation, and the British Empire, in ways we have only begun to understand.
-
-
very biased.
- By Andy T on 07-20-17
By: Holger Hoock
-
Revolusi
- Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: David Van Reybrouck
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after WWII.
-
-
Solid Historical Survey
- By DavidPrestonokwu on 06-05-24
-
Reading the Glass
- A Captain's View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships
- By: Elliot Rappaport
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What’s in a cloud? Did you know that water vapor is invisible and actually lighter than dry air? What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard? And what exactly is El Niño? Elliot Rappaport, a professional captain of traditional sailing ships, has spent three decades at sea, where understanding weather is crucial to the safety of vessels and their crews. In Reading the Glass, he offers a sailor’s-eye view of the moving parts of our atmosphere and unveils the larger patterns it holds: global winds, storms, air masses, jet streams, and the longer arc of our climate.
-
-
Weather and Sailing!
- By T. Adams on 01-20-24
By: Elliot Rappaport
-
How to Read Water
- By: Tristan Gooley
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A must-have audiobook for walkers, sailors, swimmers, anglers and everyone interested in the natural world, in How to Read Water, Natural Navigator Tristan Gooley shares knowledge, skills, tips and useful observations to help you enjoy the landscape around you. From wild swimming in Sussex to wayfinding off Oman, via the icy mysteries of the Arctic, Tristan Gooley draws on his own pioneering journeys to reveal the secrets of ponds, puddles, rivers, oceans and more to show us all the skills we need to read the water around us.
-
-
Reasonably Interesting, Perhaps Better in Print
- By Alex Angel on 12-05-22
By: Tristan Gooley
-
How to Read a Tree
- Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves
- By: Tristan Gooley
- Narrated by: Tristan Gooley
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tristan Gooley helps listeners reconnect with nature by finding direction and searching for hidden clues in stars, clouds, water and more. Now, he turns his attention to perhaps nature’s most beloved feature – the stately, majestic tree. Every single tree tells us an epic story – if we know how to read it! Here you’ll discover hundreds of astonishing secrets hiding in plain sight among the living network of branches, trunks, roots, bark, leaves, buds, flowers, stumps and more.
-
-
For nature lovers
- By Rochester, MN on 03-05-24
By: Tristan Gooley
-
The Brilliant Abyss
- Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It
- By: Helen Scales
- Narrated by: Helen Scales
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary, interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more—good or bad, depending on how it is exploited. Currently, the fantastic creatures that live in the deep—many of them incandescent in a world without light—and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere, and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines.
-
-
Amazing facts about the deep
- By Austin F. on 11-18-22
By: Helen Scales
-
Spying on Whales
- The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures
- By: Nick Pyenson
- Narrated by: Nick Pyenson
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Called “the best of science writing” (Edward O. Wilson) and named a best book by Popular Science, a dive into the secret lives of whales, from their four-legged past to their perilous present. Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-size creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years, and travel entire ocean basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and affection - yet there is still so much we don't know about them.
-
-
The title of this book should be Catfish
- By Max Farrar on 08-27-18
By: Nick Pyenson
-
National Geographic Ocean
- A Global Odyssey
- By: Sylvia A. Earle
- Narrated by: Sylvia A. Earle
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
National Geographic Ocean unveils the power and significance of our planet's watery essence: the fundamental importance of the ocean in shaping Earth's climate and chemistry, as well as its vital role in supporting a multitude of life-forms, including our own human race. World-renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle guides listeners with her lyrical style and inspiring wisdom, describing the evolution, beauty, and impact of our ocean; the challenges it faces, such as climate change, plastic, and overfishing; and the myriad ways we can help protect it.
By: Sylvia A. Earle
-
Blue Mind
- The Surprising Science That Shows How Being near, in, on, or under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do
- By: Wallace J. Nichols, Céline Cousteau - foreword
- Narrated by: Wallace J. Nichols
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Blue Mind, Wallace J. Nichols revolutionizes how we think about these questions, revealing the remarkable truth about the benefits of being in, on, under, or simply near water. Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with compelling personal stories from top athletes, leading scientists, military veterans, and gifted artists, he shows how proximity to water can improve performance, increase calm, diminish anxiety, and increase professional success.
-
-
This is why authors shouldn't read their own work.
- By D. A. Vail on 10-06-14
By: Wallace J. Nichols, and others
But I don’t appreciate the constant (humans suck) view of society being jammed down my throat in every facility possible.
The correlation of the earth retaining more heat due to human pollution is argumentative at best, especially when you have things in scale. At one point in she’s quoted some man who apparently whitenesses climate change. I assume the man was a few hundred years old and still running sail boats in Hawaii. Climate fluctuations are measured in hundreds of years, not 40 or so.
CO2 is one of the lowest heat retaining gasses on the planet that’s in abundance in our atmosphere. It’s important for plants, without it they die. Like we would without oxygen. The global warming number scale provides a relative number for warming characteristics of different gasses. Methane is a 34 GWP. Freon R22 was 1810 GWP. R404a has a GWP of 3920. Co2 (R744) has GWP of 1. Which means methane retains 34x more than CO2. The scale is based on CO2 because it’s next to zero. But in the book she kips over what the additional heat from Co2 increase of 100 parts per million over 30 years amounts are, or what percentage of the temp fluctuations we’ve seen over 70 years of weather the 100ppm increase is responsible for, given the seriously low heat retention and amount of increase.
These facts negate the last 2 chapters of the book. There’s more on that topic That’s not going to be written here.
The author narrated I believe, she was pleasant, I appreciate the ocean information and some of the stories. But I’m disappointed in the fact that she’s a scientist and misunderstood climate, heat, and gases. She also can’t delineate between climate and weather patterns.
This book was pleasant to listen too. But There are some things that are contrived on climate change.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The author’s passion definitely comes through and she interweaves stories about history, culture and biology into the science of oceans so well that it seeps in and you find yourself falling in love with the main character, the oceans.
So it came as heartbreak (although it should have been obvious) in last chapter, when she drew a line from the actions of our recent past through the inactions of the present to project into the perils of the future that threatens all life on this Blue Marble of ours.
Amazing writing and storytelling
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliant and needed
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very informative and transformational
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Phenomenal book, highly overlooked
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A mechanical universe?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
passion
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderful ocean explanation
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very Informative
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I think more use of footnotes in this book could greatly improve the spreading of this knowledge; as the knowledge is locked too deeply in the details for the average person to persevere through.
Wonderful knowledge locked into much detail
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.