LoveReading Says
Just stunning! Blue Machine should be placed in the hands of school pupils, politicians, environmentalists, in fact anyone and everyone. Looking at the oceans as a single engine powered by sunlight ensures an eye-opening and fascinating read. Helen Czerski writes with a beautifully nuanced and compelling pen, once I started reading I simply didn’t want to stop. She says that: “Thinking about the ocean isn’t a luxury for the curious any more. It’s a major part of our life-support system and we’d better take it seriously. We’re also learning that even this vast body of water isn’t big enough to shrug off the influence of humankind”. She shows, tells, explains, and captures hearts and minds, she passes her important message by encouraging understanding and a connection. As I explored I fell in love with something I have always viewed with awe and even a little fear. Blue Machine is at once an extraordinary history lesson, story time, and vital warning to humankind. Read it!
Liz Robinson
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Blue Machine Synopsis
All of the Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine.
Earth is home to a huge story that is rarely told - that of our ocean. Not the fish or the dolphins, but the massive ocean engine itself: what it does, why it works, and the many ways it has influenced animals, weather and human history & culture.
In a book that will recalibrate our view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. 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 explains the vast currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that all have their place in the ocean's complex, interlinked system.
Timely, elegant and passionately argued, Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet. The understanding it offers is crucial to our future. Drawing on years of experience at the forefront of marine science, Helen Czerski captures the magnitude and subtlety of Earth's defining feature, showing us the thrilling extent to which we are at the mercy of this great engine.
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Helen Czerski Press Reviews
In this captivating and urgently-needed book, Czerski weaves a wonderful, watery spell, entwining spectacular science with poetic awe as she expertly guides readers through the workings of a vast, unfamiliar world. Moving and thrilling, The Blue Machine tells us about the seas but also makes us care: an epic love story that captures the ocean's beating heart. -- Jo Marchant, author of Cure and The Human Cosmos
I love Helen Czerski's writing, and this is her richest work yet - as clear as springwater, yet as filled with fascinating things as the ocean itself. -- Sarah Bakewell, author of How to Live and Humanly Possible
JUNE BOOK OF THE MONTH: 'Physicist Helen Czerski offers a very different perspective on the ocean in her revelatory book... Published ahead of World Ocean Day on 8th June, it unlocks a treasure chest of enthralling stories; from the navigators of ancient Polynesia, and the marvels of plankton, to John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and the copious tears cried by turtles. -- Caroline Sanderson - The Bookseller
Blue Machine is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. Helen Czerski is a consummate storyteller ... in places you'll drift serenely among corals or dense kelp forests, in others you'll ride Atlantic breakers or fear for your life in a tropical storm ... When you resurface, you will be bursting with enthusiasm and wonder and you'll understand how the ocean works and more besides. -- Dr George McGavin, zoologist, entomologist and broadcaster
Awash with fascinating facts. Helen Czerski writes with authority, passion and an easy conversational style . You will want to be out there on the ice and ocean with her. I loved it. -- Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of Tide
'A fascinating dive into the essential engine that drives our world. Czerski brings the oceans alive with compelling stories that masterfully navigate this most complex system.' -- Gaia Vince, science journalist, broadcaster and author of Nomad Century
'A dazzle of stories beautifully told...Outstanding ... Her readers will see the seas anew.' -- Horatio Clare, Telegraph
'Excellent and important.' Spectator
'In Helen Czerski's hands, the mechanical becomes magical. An instant classic.' -- Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read Water
About Helen Czerski
Helen Czerski was born in Manchester. She is a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at University College London. As a physicist she studies the bubbles underneath breaking waves in the open ocean to understand their effects on weather and climate. Helen regularly presents BBC programmes on physics, the ocean and the atmosphere - recent series include Colour: The Spectrum of Science, Orbit, Operation Iceberg, Super Senses, Dara O'Briain's Science Club, as well as programmes on bubbles, the sun and our weather. She is also a columnist for Focus magazine, shortlisted for PPA columnist of the year in 2014, and has written numerous articles for national newspapers. She lives in London.
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