Beyond the Moon: A Conversational, Common Sense Guide to Understanding the Tides
by James Greig McCully
Category: Nature

Finally, someone has written a comprehensive, easily readable explanation of the tides on earth that is both simple enough for students and solid enough for their professors. Step by step, by analogy and illustration, Beyond the Moon describes how the cyclical motion of the near solar system is impressed upon the earth's oceans, and how the hydraulics over the continental shelf and the geography of the coastline orchestrate this rhythm into the bewildering variety of tide patterns seen around the globe. This volume demystifies the complexity of the tides by systematically examining its many constituents and demonstrates that: "Nature is, at once, awesome in complexity and beautiful in simplicity." Contents: The Tides in History. The Challenge of Understanding the Tides on Earth; The Lunar Orbit; Solar Influences and Solar-Lunar Interaction. Gravitation and Tractal Forces; Celestial Harmonics; The Coriolis Force and Oceanic Amphidromes. Coastal Kelvin Waves. Tidal Currents. Sea Level; The Seiche Effect and Basins of Oscillation. Tidal Intermixing; Coastal Geography and Near Shore Topography, Resonant Co-Oscillation and Sustained Forcing; Shallow Estuaries and Tidal Pumping. Tidal Bores; The Computation of the Tide-Tables. Chaos Theory; The Weather and the Tides. Atmospheric Tides; Tidal Influence on Marine Biology. The Tides and Saltwater Fishing. Practical Tide-Table Information for Coastal Boaters; The Constituents of the Tides on Earth. Synopsis of Tidal Influences; Epilogue; Definitions. Key Features A thoroughly referenced science book with a conversational style Includes every significant influence on the tides on earth Explains in detail how NOAA calculates the tide tables Debunks the many popular myths about the tides Ranges from chaos theory to saltwater fishing Brings clarity and depth to this challenging aspect of physical oceanography Readership: Undergraduate oceanography students and secondary science students, as well as their teachers. The general public with an interest in science and nature. Coastal boaters, sailors, yachtsmen, and fishermen.