Product Description

Driving through the Atlantic Ocean is a powerful current with a force 300 times that of the mighty Amazon. First discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513, it sped ships laden with fortunes in spices, sugar, and rum from the New World back to Spain and also guided the ships of the buccaneers who preyed on them. Later, the current was essential to the development of the transatlantic slave trade. So important were the economic benefits of this ocean conveyor belt to American traders that early maps of it—charted with the help of Benjamin Franklin—were kept as closely guarded secrets.

Stan Ulanski explores the fascinating science and history of this sea highway known as the Gulf Stream, one of the last vestiges of wilderness on Earth. Spanning both distance and time, Ulanski's investigation reveals how the Gulf Stream affects and is affected by every living thing that encounters it—from tiny planktonic organisms to giant bluefin tuna, from ancient mariners to big game anglers. He examines the scientific discovery of ocean circulation, the biological life teeming in the stream, and the role of ocean currents in the settlement of the New World. The Gulf Stream continues to be important today for trade and sport, for the irreplaceable habitat it provides for plant and animal species, and for its key part in changing weather patterns and the climate of the North Atlantic region. The Gulf Stream is an essential introduction to this vital natural wonder.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #493431 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-08
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 232 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780807832172
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Ulanski (The Science of Fly Fishing) takes readers on a dizzying trip within, afloat and around the Gulf Stream, the mighty oceanic river, powerful enough to be readily seen from space, containing mysterious, scary and tasty creatures: the reclusive, 2,000-pound giant squid; swarms of tentacled, stinging Portuguese man-of-wars and a complex food chain, with tiny drifting phytoplankton (the grasses of the sea) at the bottom and the almost mythic bluefin tuna at the top. The book also depicts human life along the Gulf Stream: Columbus following the trade winds and the North Atlantic gyre to reach the New World; buccaneers and pirates of the Caribbean; Benjamin Franklin, intrigued by the idea of a 'stream' flowing through... the Atlantic Ocean and hoping to speed up mail delivery, measuring and meticulously recording water temperatures on trips back and forth to Europe. Although the potentially urgent issue of the Gulf Stream in relation to climate change is given short shrift, this multifaceted treatment of the blue god offers something for almost every kind of ocean lover. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Most of us think the Gulf Stream is a current in the Atlantic that is responsible for Europe’s mild climate. Trouble is, that best-known Gulf Stream fact isn’t—a fact, that is. Ulanski begins to make us genuinely knowledgeable about the stream by first explaining grand oceanic movement, especially in the North Atlantic, in which the Gulf Stream is the western arm of a vast, four-segmented cycle of upper water, and then summarizing the stream’s “anatomy” and the history of human discovery of oceanic circulation, in which Ben Franklin is a key figure. Proceeding to marine biology in the book’s second section, Ulanski provides captivating chapters on plankton and larger floating organisms, the giant bluefin tuna, and the sport-fishable species in the stream. The third and last section rehearses how the stream enabled the Age of Discovery and the colonial cultures of North America and the Caribbean, including that of the latter’s storied pirates. Ulanski’s crystal-clear exposition keeps the science-and-history catch-up course he is teaching utterly fascinating throughout. --Ray Olson

Review
"Includes a fascinating account of the Gulf Stream's role in history."
— Science News

"Ulanski is a scientist but doesn't write like one. His book is jam-packed with facts, but they are so gracefully integrated into the text that it's only when you come up for air that you realize you've been learning all along."
— The Wall Street Journal

"The Gulf Stream is a blend of science and history that tells the story of one of the world’s most powerful natural forces that has heavily influenced the exploration and development of the New World. It is packed full of details about the oceans and the people who explored the seas over the past 500 years, helping readers understand the connections between natural and human ecologies."
— Todd Miller, executive director, North Carolina Coastal Federation

"Here is the amazing story of the ocean river we know as the Gulf Stream, told in a manner the layman can understand."
— David Stick, author of Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast

"Historical examples add interest. . . . The sections on life and travel in the Gulf Stream are the most interesting and readable and will appeal to general readers."
— Library Journal

"Ulanski takes readers on a dizzying trip within, afloat and around the Gulf Stream. . . . This multifaceted treatment of 'the blue god' offers something for almost every kind of ocean lover."
— Publishers Weekly

"Takes the reader on a pelagic voyage about the Atlantic Ocean and through time."
— California Literary Review

"The book's strength is its versatility. It can be used in an introductory oceanography or environmental science class, and is also geared to nature and outdoor enthusiasts with its section on marine life and fishing. History buffs will appreciate the power of the Gulf Stream in setting the stage for settlement in the Americas."
— ForeWord Magazine

"Will fascinate a wide variety of readers. . . . Ulanski does an inspired job carrying centuries of information to the modern reader."
— The Virginian Pilot

"Provides the layperson a synopsis of the physical origin, general biology, and rich exploration history of the Gulf Stream. . . . A concise, engaging blend of science and history."
— CHOICE

"Ulanski makes clear the connections between the physical world and human activity through history."
— McCormick Messenger

"A valuable book. . . . A multilayered and eminently insightful book about the way the natural world works. . . . It's the intimate relationship between species and environment that best underscores Ulanski's promotion of ecological awareness."
— The Texas Observer

"Valuable. . . . A multilayered and eminently insightful book about the way the natural world works."
— The Texas Observer

Customer Reviews

The story of one of the last vestiges of wilderness on Earth
"The Gulf Stream" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Ulanski's book interview ran here as cover feature on April 7, 2009.