Tides: A Very Short Introduction (Bowers David George (Emeritus Professor of Physical Oceanography Bangor University))(Paperback / softback)

The tide is the greatest synchronised movement of matter on our planet. Every drop of seawater takes part in tidal motion, driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. At the coast, we see the tide as a twice-daily rise and fall of sea level that moves the edge of the sea up and down a beach or cliff-face. In some places, the tide is small but at others it can rise in a few hours by the height of a three storey building; it then has to be treated with great respect by those who live and work by the sea. In this Very Short Introduction David George Bowers and Emyr Martyn Roberts explore what we know about the tides. Blending clear explanations of well known tidal phenomena with recent insights in the deep ocean and coastal seas, Bowers and Roberts use examples from around the world, to tell the story of the tide, considering its nature and causes, its observation and prediction, and unusual tides and their relevance. They explore why tides have attracted the attention of some of the world''s greatest scientists, from the initial challenge of explaining why there are two tides a day when the moon and sun pass overhead just once; a problem that was solved by Isaac Newton. In the 19th century, scientists unravelled the rhythms of the tide; good tidal predictions in the form of tide tables were then possible. The predictions were made on beautiful tide predicting machines constructed of brass and mahogany, some of which can still be seen in maritime museums. In the 20th c
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