Blue Machine

On the surface, this book seems like it would unlock a fascinating perspective on the oceans of the world. It is pitched from the first chapter as considering how the ocean is the largest machine on earth, a perspective I thought fascinating and also one that matches with a lot of social theory. Yet as the writing unravels, the machinic element seems to go out the window, replaced with quite disconnected anecdotes of the ocean that draw from history, geology and personal experience.

It is worth mentioning that I think Helen Czerski is probably an excellent scientist, and a thoughtful one too. But the writing was put down as if narrating a BBC television programme (which is her day-job). The paragraphs are full of intrigue that is missing the visual information to make it coherent, leading you into a paragraph with hints and clues only to reveal several pages later what the writing is about. This does not suit the medium of print at all. Also, the chapters are far too long and often meander wildly into different themes from where they start out. And if you are familiar with postcolonial theory there are quite a few clangers, such as sections where non-western historical scientists are described first by their features rather than their achievements (a Chinese eunuch stands out in my memory) while western scientists are introduced to sections where they have no role to play (captain Cook is mentioned at the beginning of a section about Hawai'i referencing geological activity thousands of years before he landed there, and is then never referenced again in the whole chapter – did he need to be mentioned at all?!). While some sections were interesting, they were mostly scientific history that were quite matter-of-fact, such as how the currents work or how discoveries had been made. In the end, I just found this a frustrating slog, and wished it had been what it had promised.

An excellent book about a global machine that people don't often think about: the global ocean. A machine takes in energy and does work, and the author shows how the ocean does that. The ocean takes in the energy of the sun, stores it mainly as heat, and uses it to move water in great currents all over the world. This affects how organisms live, for those at the surface to those living in the depths.

The book starts with showing how the machine works physically. Light from the sun heats the surface, causing evaporation and currents to form as cold water moves in to replace the lost water. The earth's rotation swirls the currents as they move north or south, which are further affected by land masses in their path. The author goes from the equator to the poles, showing how the workings of the machine affect the local conditions in areas.

All of this, of course, affects how organisms will live, by taking advantage of the conditions caused by the machine, whether to move about, eat or to breed. Humans are not exempted, as sailing ships and other early vessels also took advantage of the currents. Reading the currents also allows humans to predict where good fishing ground might be located.

All this human activity has lead to disruptions in the global ecosystem, for marine organisms depend on a predictable machine in order to survive. As an example, whaling lead to a collapse in marine microorganisms because the microorganisms depend on iron to grow, and a major source of iron was whale poop, which is now in short supply. The changing climate has also led to warmer water temperatures and changing currents, which are disrupting the lives of organisms.

In closing, the author offers some thoughts on how to reduce such disruptions. But the major point of the book is to make people more aware of the ocean and the machine that is running in it, and not to treat the oceans as a 'blank spot' that we can all throw our troubles (and refuse) into and not consider the consequences.