Waves

Our reading list for World Oceans Day

A selection of MIT Press books that discuss the World Ocean connecting us all

In honor of World Oceans Day, part of a global movement that celebrates the role of our blue planet in everyday life, we specially selected a handful of our books that discuss the World Ocean connecting us all. Learn from experts from the laboratory and field about dolphin communication in Dolphin Communication and Cognition. Discover essays, research, and art projects about our most threatened ecosystem, the ocean, in Tidalectics, and understand ocean waves traces and their evolution from wind-wave generation to coastal effects in Waves.

Bridging the Seas 

By Larrie D. Ferreiro

How the introduction of steam, iron, and steel required new rules and new ways of thinking for the design and building of ships.

“Bridging the Seas is a brilliant, exceptionally well-researched and written account of how the science of building ships transformed not only the maritime world but also human society first connected globally by those ships.” —James P. DelgadoPhD, archaeologist, undersea explorer, and author

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Energy at the End of the World

By Laura Watts

Making local energy futures, from marine energy to hydrogen fuel, at the edge of the world.

“Innovation and perseverance are two of the most important qualities that Dr. Laura Watts identifies as the driving forces behind the renewable energy revolution taking place in the Orkney Islands. The Scottish archipelago is on the leading edge of the world’s energy future and as Dr. Watts explores in her recent book, Energy At The End Of The World, the projects taking place in Orkney are at the cutting-edge of technology.” —Forbes

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Prospecting Ocean

By Stefanie Hessler

Investigating the entanglement of industry, politics, culture, and economics at the frontier of ocean excavations through an innovative union of art and science.

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Convergent Evolution on Earth

By George R McGhee Jr.

An analysis of patterns of convergent evolution on Earth that suggests where we might look for similar convergent forms on other planets.

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Tidalectics 

Edited by Stefanie Hessler

Essays, research, and art projects that formulate a Tidalectic worldview, addressing our most threatened ecosystem: the oceans.

“This transformative research between sciences and art is vital for rethinking where knowledge of the sensible can be attuned with a radical new imaginary of the oceans.” —Tomás Saraceno

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Waves

By Fredric Raichlen

A guide to ocean waves traces their evolution from wind-wave generation to coastal effects.

“Whether you are fascinated by maritime disaster or have a placid curiosity about waves, Mr. Raichlen’s book offers a rich variety of information in brief. To his credit, he has decided to go into the science carefully and seriously. He does so in clear, straightforward prose that addresses the complexity of waves in the real world, not just the idealizations of textbooks. Mr. Raichlen admirably avoids the razzle-dazzle that too often pervades the prose of popular science books; his tone is uninflated and plain-spoken.” —The Wall Street Journal

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Dolphin Communication and Cognition 

Edited by Denise L. Herzing and Christine M. Johnson

Experts survey the latest research on dolphin communication and cognition, offering a comprehensive reference to findings in the laboratory and from the field.

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Solution 295-304

By Ingo Niermann

Solution 295–304: Mare Amoris proposes new practical, technological, and metaphysical scenarios of how to fall in love with the sea, and, eventually, have the sea fall in love with us.

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