BOOK REVIEW: OCEANS – Science and solutions for Australia

 

Edited by Bruce Mapstone

A beautifully presented and very comprehensive record of the very extensive and valuable marine research conducted by the CSIRO, Australia’s national scientific research organisation.

Australia benefits from lengthy coastline and a commensurately vast Exclusive Economic Zone. The CSIRO has, for generations, scientifically recorded and analysed the content of that zone. This book enables the citizens of Australia to gain a good idea of what all that money and effort has been expended on.

Your reviewer has been critical of the CSIRO in the past and, indeed, still is of some of its activities. However, given the corpus of its work, as presented here, he is impressed with the overall result.

While it is still possible and, indeed, reasonable to dispute some of the conclusions reached and recommendations made by CSIRO personnel, it is impossible not to admire the extent and value of their work. This book provides a very useful summary of that work and the knowledge gained from it. Further, it offers some useful references for further study.

Available from CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, Australia.

Web: www.publishing.csiro.au


Neil Baird

Co-founder and former Editor-in-Chief of Baird Maritime and Work Boat World magazine, Neil has travelled the length and breadth of this planet in over 40 years in the business. He knows the global work boat industry better than anyone.