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From space, our entire tiny Earth is a blue dot. Blue �� the color of the ocean that blankets most of it, making Earth as we know it possible.

For all of us the ocean means something different. A place that can be both relaxing and terrifying. A habitat for countless species, all the way to the largest animals on the planet. A place with terrifying depths and crushing pressures, shrouded in perpetual darkness interrupted by occasional unexpected bioluminescence. A place that is both “non-land�� in our perception as well as the route connecting the continents. A place that shapes our weather. A place that still feeds us and sequesters our recklessly released carbon and can turn treacherously dangerous the moment you dare to be careless.

“All of our fresh water is borrowed from the ocean �� every cup of tea, every waterfall, 60 per cent of you and me, the most expensive champagne, your dog’s territorial liquid markers, and the snow covering the top of Everest.��

Helen Czerski, clearly passionate about it, chooses to present it as an astonishingly elegant and incredibly complex engine of life that powers all the functions of our planet, fueled by the energy of sunlight.

“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.��

Czerski’s admiration for the ocean in all its glory is contagious. She’s very knowledgeable and is able to share this knowledge in an easily accessible yet comprehensive manner, with details mixed with gentle humor and reasoned respect for the wonders of the titular “blue machine��. She blends physics, chemistry, marine biology, history and environmental science in a very interesting and engaging oceanography narrative that is a pleasure to read.

“In order to avoid ballooning, the turtle also needs to digest everything very quickly, and can probably hold only 25% of its body weight in its gut at any one time. It needs to use up its own energy to stay warm as it gives away energy to the huge amount of seawater passing through. So as it eats, huge plumes of very liquid faeces emerge from the other end. All of this really isn’t a tidy way to live.��

For me the most important thing to take from this book besides immense respect for the ocean is the realization that ocean is more than “absence of land�� and something that is “not there��. It cannot be ignored, and there are limits to the abuse it can take without it altering the life as we know it.

5 stars.
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Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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