Chasing Science at Sea: Racing Hurricanes, Stalking Sharks, and Living…

Could have been fascinating, but somehow wasn't. Felt as though I was being talked down to all the time and got very tired of reading the phrase 'in the field' (which seems particularly inappropriate for oceanographic research). The author is obviously very proud of being a scientist, but doesn't convey her enthusiasm well to a non-specialist.

I gave up on it in the end. ( )

Prager offers a good introduction to several ocean-related sciences, but the book suffers severely from not following the "show, don't tell" rule. The incidents she depicts in the book are (mostly) interesting, and the topics covered are broad, but Prager seems to feel the need to begin and end every chapter (and many sub-sections) with some variation of "Science is exciting. Really, it is."

The chapters here may have worked as magazine articles, but the book begins to lag once you've read the same basic introductory paragraphs three or four times. If you're interested in the subject, you may want to browse through (section titles make it easy to find areas of interest), but I'd advise against trying to read the book cover-to-cover. ( )