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 The Tide: The Science and Stories Behind the Greatest Force on Earth 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. This is the spectacular story of Earth's dynamic ocean. Czerski argues throughout that to truly see the miraculous oceans, to understand and to feel our connection to them, is vital and integral to our history and our future. Her outstanding book advances that understanding and honours that connection. Her readers will see the seas anew. That being said, if your only destination is an enjoyable read with endless interesting facts, a lifetime of knowledge, and an enthusiasm for her research that is contagious, this book is perfect for you. This is a book about the blue machine that drives our planet. We are taken on an intimate tour of the sea, it's layers, it's inhabitants from the smallest to the biggest, and how it effects our lives. I learned that salt - no matter how exotic it appears or where it comes from - is in fact all the same.

This brilliantly organised account of it will change the way you see the world, and its colossal oceanic expanses. There is indeed a great blue engine, regulating the circulatory systems of our home world. It is, as Czerski puts it, the beating heart of the planet. Jon Turney, Arts Desk Czerski is a wonderful writer ... Blue Machine really does change the way you see the world.' Daily Mail 'In Helen Czerski's hands, the mechanical becomes magical. An instant classic.'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. 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. BOOK OF THE WEEK: This beautifully written, sweeping guide shows how the deep movement of the seas have ruled our lives in unexpected ways over millennia. Tom Whipple, The Times Most of us have a very superficial relationship with the ocean. If we deign to visit it all, we transgress mainly into its uppermost layers. We boat or sail on the surface occasionally interacting with some of its top tier predators such as whales, porpoises, orcas, sharks, or seals. As a society we use the ocean as a source of protein, or we use it as a garbage dump. Out of sight, out of mind as the saying goes. Yet the Oceans comprise 70% of the surface area of the earth and 97% of all the water on the planet. They are the places where life began and evolved for over three billion years. It is where we come from. The dynamic currents and energy mass of the oceans affect the climates of all the continents. The complex oceanic ecosystems not only provide us with protein but profoundly affect the livability of our atmosphere. To read Helen Czerski is to take a fascinating dive below the waves as she tries to explain the complex workings of our blue planet’s blue machine, how it makes our planet a haven for life and also the catastrophic dangers we face by over exploiting and destabilizing its complex ecosystems.

One thing is clear, this woman loves the ocean and anything and everything associated with it. The book is less of a novel than it is an outpouring of a life's research encompassing everything from the water cycle, to a history of trade routes, whale excrement, ocean food webs, the life of scientists working at the poles, deep ocean biology, plastic contamination, whale earwax, the transition from sailing to the steam-engine, and yes, more whale poop. It was very interesting, yet was also all over the place. Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All of the Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine. This is a fascinating book and one that I read in chunks over several days. I thought this book was so well laid out and explained and I definitely closed the book at the end knowing I knew more now than I did before. The explanations made sense and this is what I really liked about it. The blue of Earth is a gigantic engine, a dynamic liquid power- house that stretches around our planet and is connected to every part of our lives. It has components on every scale, from the mighty Gulf Stream gliding across the Atlantic to the tiny bub- bles bursting at the top of a breaking wave. This is a beautiful, elegant, tightly woven system, full of surprising connections and profound consequences. The complexity can seem over- whelming, but at the largest scale, the logic is straightforward.”The oceans are full of water, and water is just water, so there’s not much to know, right? Wrong. Far from being homogenous, the water in our oceans varies in temperature, salinity and depth, among other things. It’s affected by the weather and affects the weather. Some parts are well mixed and others remain stratified. I recommend Blue Machine if you want to find out more about how whales are affected by war and where there’s a secret sound tunnel.