Blue Machine

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FINANCIAL TIMES 2023 HIGHLIGHT

All of the Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine.

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, The Blue Machine is one of the biggest stories ever told. 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 this complex force, showing us the thrilling extent to which we are at the mercy of this great engine.

©2023 Helen Czerski (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

A spectacular read.
Independent
Splendid
Guardian
[Czerski's] profound, sparkling global ocean voyage mingles history and culture, natural history, geography, animals and people.
Nature
'Czerski aims to greatly expand and even revolutionise the reader's understanding of what is going on in seven tenths of the planet that is not covered in land
Financial Times
Lively and engrossing ... Alongside her vivid portrayal of waters sliding over one another, colliding, mixing andturning into ice or water vapour, she explains how the living beings within the sea alsoform part of the 'blue machine' ... [Cerzski's personal experience of both Polynesian canoes off Hawaii and ice floes near the North Pole is not icing on the cake but part of the argument of this excellent and important book.
The Spectator
Helen Czerski's fascinating new book casts the ocean as an extraordinary giant engine, and helps us grasp its complex physicsand its key role in climate change
New Scientist
The Blue Machine is a point of departure, a map for further exploration. Not since reading The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson have I read a book as timely, salient, and informative.
Science magazine
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.
The Bookseller

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
A comprehensive and fascinating account of the inner (and outer) works of the oceans. The author is incredibly knowledgeable and approaches the subject from so many angles, it’s a true pleasure to listen to someone so passionate about their chosen professional path but also our planet. If the science was taught at schools by people like Helen, we would have so many more scientists in the society and maybe we won’t have to face the climate catastrophe.
Aleksandra 14/11/2024

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