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Home Waters: Discovering the submerged science of Britain’s coast
A fascinating and original look at how the sea has defined Britain - and decided the course of its history - for thousands of years.
Being an island nation is a core part of the British identity. An estimated two thirds of the world's population have never seen the sea, but in the UK that drops to under 10 per cent. Yet most people don't appreciate the impact our position on the edge of a continental shelf has had on our history, going back thousands of years.
Our coast neither starts nor ends at the beach, and this eye-opening book takes a look beneath the surface to explore the forces of nature that have made Britain what it is. We experience some of the highest tides on the planet and we are battered with waves that have travelled halfway around the globe before they get here, but most of what we understand about our unique waters has only been discovered in living memory.
In this fascinating guided tour of the fantastically varied British coastline, Professor David Bowers combines oceanography with maritime history, explaining tides, currents and waves in an accessible way whilst revealing how they have been responsible for both salvation (the Channel alone checked the Nazi advance in 1940) and disaster (such as the catastrophic 1953 flooding that led to the ingenious development of the Thames tidal barrier). He covers everything from how ocean swell waves were first recorded here in preparation for the D-Day landings, to how the first underwater light measurements paved the way to modern ocean satellite observation.
This is a story 8,000 years in the making, ever since the country broke away from mainland Europe in the Mesolithic era, and in his insightful and irreverent telling of it Professor Bowers shows that the British Isles are defined by the sea, regardless of whether you look at them from land or water. With exclusive photos and specially commissioned illustrations, the book encourages you to visit all the places it explores, but when you stand on the beach or clifftop you will never think of Britain in quite the same way again.
Being an island nation is a core part of the British identity. An estimated two thirds of the world's population have never seen the sea, but in the UK that drops to under 10 per cent. Yet most people don't appreciate the impact our position on the edge of a continental shelf has had on our history, going back thousands of years.
Our coast neither starts nor ends at the beach, and this eye-opening book takes a look beneath the surface to explore the forces of nature that have made Britain what it is. We experience some of the highest tides on the planet and we are battered with waves that have travelled halfway around the globe before they get here, but most of what we understand about our unique waters has only been discovered in living memory.
In this fascinating guided tour of the fantastically varied British coastline, Professor David Bowers combines oceanography with maritime history, explaining tides, currents and waves in an accessible way whilst revealing how they have been responsible for both salvation (the Channel alone checked the Nazi advance in 1940) and disaster (such as the catastrophic 1953 flooding that led to the ingenious development of the Thames tidal barrier). He covers everything from how ocean swell waves were first recorded here in preparation for the D-Day landings, to how the first underwater light measurements paved the way to modern ocean satellite observation.
This is a story 8,000 years in the making, ever since the country broke away from mainland Europe in the Mesolithic era, and in his insightful and irreverent telling of it Professor Bowers shows that the British Isles are defined by the sea, regardless of whether you look at them from land or water. With exclusive photos and specially commissioned illustrations, the book encourages you to visit all the places it explores, but when you stand on the beach or clifftop you will never think of Britain in quite the same way again.
288 pages, Paperback
Published May 9, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 15, 2023
I really did enjoy this book, however I do have a couple of comments that resulted in it gaining only 4 stars and not 5.
1) I really loved how to book started. As a marine biologist/chemist with no background whatsoever in oceanography, I was really excited to learn more about this realm of marine science. The book began well, and at the start of the book, Bowers certainly made the explanations and descriptions suitable for a layperson (which as far as I’m aware was his initial ambition for the book). However, as the book progressed, Bowers started to fall into the trap of assuming too much initial knowledge of the reader. There were times when certain mathematical and physical theories etc. that he was trying to explain, we’re just far beyond the general understanding. I did struggle on some occasions to understand what he was trying to say. It began with good, easily digestible descriptions, but slowly but surely, the scientific communication lapsed.
2) I loved the use of graphics to help aid some of the explanations and to further assist the reader in understanding. However, on one or two occasions, graphs didn’t have any axis which I found quite annoying.
3) I think the order of chapters was a bit non-chronological. There were a couple of occasions when two chapters linked really well together, so should have gone after one another so the related concepts were still fresh, but this wasn’t the case all the time.
1) I really loved how to book started. As a marine biologist/chemist with no background whatsoever in oceanography, I was really excited to learn more about this realm of marine science. The book began well, and at the start of the book, Bowers certainly made the explanations and descriptions suitable for a layperson (which as far as I’m aware was his initial ambition for the book). However, as the book progressed, Bowers started to fall into the trap of assuming too much initial knowledge of the reader. There were times when certain mathematical and physical theories etc. that he was trying to explain, we’re just far beyond the general understanding. I did struggle on some occasions to understand what he was trying to say. It began with good, easily digestible descriptions, but slowly but surely, the scientific communication lapsed.
2) I loved the use of graphics to help aid some of the explanations and to further assist the reader in understanding. However, on one or two occasions, graphs didn’t have any axis which I found quite annoying.
3) I think the order of chapters was a bit non-chronological. There were a couple of occasions when two chapters linked really well together, so should have gone after one another so the related concepts were still fresh, but this wasn’t the case all the time.
August 24, 2023
This wasn't for me. I thought it would be written in the style of John Wright books, but most of it went right over my head. However, it's 2 stars (and it should be a lot more for those for whom this book is more suited) because the tone is friendly, and it's full of facts. Albeit, not facts I absorbed. But for someone who understands or has an interest in oceanography, or has better maths skills than I do, this would probably be a great book to pick up. For me, I found it boring simply because I couldn't really understand it and had no wish to try and do so. It had lots of maths in and didn't really involve the things I had hoped. I thought I would read about the life within our British coast, what lived there and why it chose that part to live on, but this wasn't the case. It was largely about water temperature and tides.
Overall, a disappointing book for me, but for others I'm sure they'll love it.
Overall, a disappointing book for me, but for others I'm sure they'll love it.
October 20, 2024
A good read although I found the writing a bit dense at times.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews