Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage

by Deborah Cramer

Book Overview

In the course of an ocean voyage, Cramer offers a remarkable meditation on and spiritual exploration of one of our least appreciated natural resources: the Atlantic Ocean. 20 line drawings.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393020193
• ISBN13: 9780393020199
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 442 Pages
• Weight: 1.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.9" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

An Elegant Update of the "Sea Around Us" and More

In "Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage" Deborah Cramer not only takes the reader along on an ocean trip from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Barbados, she explains the ecology and history of the Atlantic in the process. In doing so, she brings Rachael Carson's classic "The Sea Around Us" up to date and gives the reader a solid grounding in ocean biology and physical oceanography. After reading "The Empty Ocean" I was delighted to find this book, one that takes a broader look at a smaller area- Atlantic, as Cramer likes to characterize the great ocean.Unfortunately both recent books give the same, often bleak, picture of what is happening to the oceans as humans over-fish the once huge fisheries and dump more garbage, human and animal waste, toxic chemicals and remains of machines into what is becoming a global "land fill." We have also refused to take serious steps to reduce global warming at the same time evidence for our complicity in carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere is mounting. Unfortunately for us Atlantic and the others oceans of the planet are starting to return the favor both in lower fish catches and altering ocean circulation that may well cost us way beyond the value of the fish we extracted.Yet there is some glimmer of hope. Humans may yet wake up, if a bit late, to the damage they are doing. There are still nearly pristine beaches and walking alone along a beach with sea birds crying is still possible over much of the planet. I hope it always remains possible. Read this book, if you are not already convinced of our lack of foresight, you will be!

Eloquent and provocative

Why should we care about the oceans of the earth? This meticulously researched book poses a convincing argument: the physical and chemical cycles and life webs of the sea are under siege from humans, with consequences to reefs, plankton and whales, as well as to our weather, health and livelihood. The threat goes way beyond global warming. Cramer effectively illuminates the problems and consequences while showing how we are all accountable for protecting the great waters -- whether we live in coastal communities or in cities far inland that dump pollutants into waterways that eventually enter the sea.

Poetic Science

Ms. Cramer has achomplished the incredible here--a historic, scientific and poetic tribute to one of our great masses of water.This book, while inspiring and "novelesque" in scope, also presentsthe alarming ecological state of our planet's seas . . . yet not without springs of hope. I love what Cramer has done for all of us.Good for anyone who gets excited about the sea and/or science!

The Ocean Revealed!

This is an incredible book! It manages to take the last 30 years of ocean science and craft it into a compelling, readable, and eloquent story of the Atlantic and our dependence on it. The science is first rate and up to date; there have been few examples of natural history and environment writing so well done....

A Great Book!!

This is a wonderful book. A great read with incredible facts and a lyrical view. Deborah Cramer brings real journalism to the story of the Atlantic.