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Editorial Review Product Description
Reef. The very word conjures up restful, tropical imageswrapped in warmth and displayed in shimmering colors. So it is withthis book, a series of reef images, past and present brought to lifeby thoughtful and probing analysis and revealed through well-writtenand beautifully illustrated articles. Ever since Darwin reported on his investigations of far-flung reefs,these structures have held an unending fascination for earthscientists. The fact that their fossil predecessors contain a wealthof information about past life and can be filled with a king's ransomof hydrocarbons, means that they will always be subjects of legitimatescientific study. This book likewise is a gold mine of up-to-dateinformation, a report card on the status of reefs and reef research atthe beginning of the millennium. Although the perspective isgeological, the articles are multidisciplinary, and so the book is atreasure-trove for biologists, ecologists and oceanographers. Itbrings together, in one place papers by the experts who have for manyyears sought to understand the nature of reefs in different timeperiods. While it might have suffered from the lack of a centralistview, it does not, because each author has clearly tried to placetemporally distinctive reefs in a larger global context. Thus theauthors rarely just report on `their' reefs, but to our benefit cannotresist comparing and contrasting reefs with one another and wrestingas much paleoceanographic information out of their data as possible.One particular phrase from this book that sticks in my mind is thatreefs are a `plethora of paradoxes'. This truism is illustrated againand again as different reefs are chronicled. It is clear that if wewant to read the valuable information that they contain, we must do socarefully using all the tools at our disposal, and with an open mind.Some of the most engaging parts of the book occur when differentauthors interpret reefs in the same period in earth history, indifferent ways. Likewise, it is particularly compelling to read theview of ongoing reef studies by a pioneering reef worker. In short, this volume is, at the same time, a wonderful source ofbasic information, and a grand overview of modern and ancient reefsystems, for students of all ages. Although you may begin in a restfulframe of mind, when you have read it all, there will be much toponder, not only about the fossil record but also about what reefs aretelling us of our modern world. Noel P. James, Kingston, Ontario ... Read more |
