07/11/2016
English science writer Aldersey-Williams (In Search of Thomas Browne) capably serves as a guide to the tide, a powerful, often underappreciated force of nature. He begins his examination by experiencing a full tidal cycle in his home county of Norfolk before traveling to the Euripus Strait, where Aristotle studied one of the few areas of the Mediterranean with significant tides. Aldersey-Williams also discusses Charybdis, Odysseus’s famous whirlpool, starting with Homer’s description and working forward; he notes that the Strait of Messina has been identified as the potential source of the legend. The ineffective attempt by Canute (the 11th-century Danish king of England) to command the tide receives a thorough consideration, as do the much later tidal calculations that preceded the amphibious landings on D-Day—made possible by the tidal harmonic analyzer, a mechanical device created by a team lead by the future Lord Kelvin. No discussion of tides would be complete without a visit to the record-holding Bay of Fundy, to which Aldersey-Williams devotes an entire chapter. Inevitably, his final thoughts turn to global climate change and the rise of the tides. Throughout the book, Aldersey-Williams’s inclusion of a range of stories gives a broad view of humans’ continued fascination with the movement of the waters. Agent: Antony Topping, Greene & Heaton. (Sept.)
Here is the epic story of the centuries-long search to understand the tide: from Aristotle, said to have drowned himself when he failed to figure out the Greek tides, to the pioneering investigations into the role of the moon by Galileo and Newton, to supercomputing in our own time. Celebrated science writer Hugh Aldersey-Williams whisks the reader along his travels to Nova Scotia, where the tides are the strongest in the world; to arctic Norway, home of the raging tidal whirlpool known as the maelstrom; and to Venice, to explore efforts to defend against the famed acqua alta. Along the way, Aldersey-Williams reveals the tidal truths behind the legends of Scylla and Charybdis, the story of Moses parting the Red Sea, the conquests of Julius Caesar, the Boston Tea Party, and the D-Day landings in Normandy.
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The Tide: The Science and Stories Behind the Greatest Force on Earth
Here is the epic story of the centuries-long search to understand the tide: from Aristotle, said to have drowned himself when he failed to figure out the Greek tides, to the pioneering investigations into the role of the moon by Galileo and Newton, to supercomputing in our own time. Celebrated science writer Hugh Aldersey-Williams whisks the reader along his travels to Nova Scotia, where the tides are the strongest in the world; to arctic Norway, home of the raging tidal whirlpool known as the maelstrom; and to Venice, to explore efforts to defend against the famed acqua alta. Along the way, Aldersey-Williams reveals the tidal truths behind the legends of Scylla and Charybdis, the story of Moses parting the Red Sea, the conquests of Julius Caesar, the Boston Tea Party, and the D-Day landings in Normandy.
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940170098880 |
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Publisher: | HighBridge Company |
Publication date: | 09/20/2016 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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