Product Description
The subject of ocean turbulence is in a state of discovery and development with many intellectual challenges. This book describes the principal dynamic processes that control the distribution of turbulence, its dissipation of kinetic energy and its effects on the dispersion of properties such as heat, salinity, and dissolved or suspended matter in the deep ocean, the shallow coastal and the continental shelf seas. It focuses on the measurement of turbulence, and the consequences of turbulent motion in the oceanic boundary layers at the sea surface and near the seabed. Processes are illustrated by examples of laboratory experiments and field observations. The Turbulent Ocean provides an excellent resource for senior undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as an introduction and general overview for researchers. It will be of interest to all those involved in the study of fluid motion, in particular geophysical fluid mechanics, meteorology and the dynamics of lakes.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 1 review)

torn between a textbook and a research monograph?

From the preface, "... this book developed from the need for a text suitable in teaching a course on ocean physics to undergraduates and masters course students with some knowledge of physical processes, but not necessarily in fluids." But I was wrong to think that this is a pedagogically strong textbook. Yet, it is also inadequate as a research monograph or a reference.

Also from the preface, "... will be beyond the scope of many undergraduate and postgraduate courses, so that the text provides both an introduction and a review of present knowledge that may be of value to those beginning or already engaged in research". Here, in my opinion, are the clues that Thorpe couldn't decide if he should write a textbook or a review of modern research in small-scale oceanic processes.

I believe the contents have not been tested in courses or benefited by feedbacks from students (there is no mention of course notes that the book developed from and Thorpe retired around the time the book was published). It is not a book you can acquire sound understandings. The book gives you a lot of facts, and to explain these facts, more facts. It is well-known in physical sciences that students do not learn well by just having a collection of facts.

Why it is not a research monograph is that it is not advanced, detailed and rigourous enough about the methods and findings. You feel that the book wants to stay introductory but trying to breakthrough to research.

It is not unusual to find a textbook which is used extensively by researchers and cited in papers, it is also not unusual for a research monograph to be popularly adopted as text. But in most cases, the authors still set out with a clear aim to write one type of book. To try to target readers all the way from undergraduates to researchers is a tough, although not impossible, task.

Perhaps what a lecturer can do is to browse through this book, write out the titles of each lecture to be prepared. And then will have to use other sources to fill in the bulk. What a researcher may do is to use it as a coffee-table or a bed-time book. There are lot of interesting (some anecdotal and historical too) information and photographs in the book.

I also find the extensive use of footnotes fairly annoying.

The selection of topics in the book look very interesting and attractive, I really hope it can be better written and try to cheer it on as I read. But I am left with an unsatisfactory feeling.

May 17, 2006

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Fundamentals of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
by James C. McWilliams

Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics: Fundamentals and Large-scale Circulation
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The Equations of Oceanic Motions
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Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics, Volume 93: An Introductory Text (International Geophysics) (International Geophysics)
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A First Course in Turbulence
by H. Tennekes, J. L. Lumley