The same goes for the PADI Open Water Diver manual.
Manuals form part of a structured course.
The Diver's Handbook by Alan Mountain sets out to do that. It is bright, colourful, invitingly laid out and attempts to explain all about diving, without being daunting to anyone who might pick it up and flick through a few pages. In no way is the subject trivialised - all the information is there. In fact I would risk saying that all the information you will find in the Sport Diving manual is there, but presented in a way that the training agencies might care to note. Neither text nor photography is startlingly innovative, but the design puts it all together in a very digestible way.