E-Book Overview
Ebb and Flow was named one of 2007's ''best science books'' by Peter Calamai, science editor of the Toronto Star [Dec. 30, 2007]. He calls it a ''wonderful resource book…. Tom Koppel seems to have visited or read about every place with unusual tides and water currents, yet he wears this scholarship lightly.''
Tides have shaped our world. They have carved out shorelines, transformed early life on Earth, and altered the course of human civilization. Tides frustrated Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, and aided General MacArthur. They govern the way our planet moves, provide us with an alternative source of energy, and may be aggravating global climate change.
Drawing on science, history, and personal memories, Koppel's fascinating book engages and enlightens, demonstrating that a subject we take for granted affects all our lives. He weaves together three grand narratives, exploring how tides impact coasts and marine life, how they have altered human history and development, and how science has striven to understand the surprisingly complex way in which tides actually work.
E-Book Content
ebb and flow Tides and Life on our Once and Future Planet
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ebb and flow Tides and Life on our Once and Future Planet
T O M KO P P E L
THE DUNDURN GROUP TORONTO
Copyright © Tom Koppel, 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright. Editor: Barry Jowett Copy editor: Andrea Waters Design: Alison Carr Printer: Marquis Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Koppel, Tom Ebb and flow: tides and life on our once and future planet / Tom Koppel. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-55002-726-6 1. Tides. I. Title. 551.46'4
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Conseil des Arts du Canada
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Canada Council for the Arts
ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL
Canada
CONSEIL DES ARTS DE L'ONTARIO
We acknowledge the support of The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions. /. Kirk Howard, President Printed and bound in Canada. Printed on recycled paper. www.dundurn.com Dundurn Press 3 Church Street, Suite 500 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5E 1M2
Gazelle Book Services Limited White Cross Mills High Town, Lancaster, England LA1 4XS
Dundurn Press 2250 Military Road Tonawanda, NY U.S.A. 14150
In fond memory of Lili Marlene, Seawolfe, and the Admiral, three fine wooden boats that carried me safely through many a tide.
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Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 PROLOGUE II CHAPTER I: HIGH WATER AND HISTORY: 15 India, China, and How the Ancient World Learned about the Moon and Tides
CHAPTER 2: LIVING BY THE TIDES: 37 Author's Daily Activities Run in Sync with the Local Tide Tables
CHAPTER 3: HEAVEN AND EARTH: 55 The Renaissance and Isaac Newton's Gr