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  • Blue Machine

  • How the Ocean Shapes Our World
  • By: Helen Czerski
  • Narrated by: Helen Czerski
  • Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

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Blue Machine cover art

Blue Machine

By: Helen Czerski
Narrated by: Helen Czerski
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Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

FINANCIAL TIMES 2023 HIGHLIGHT

All of the Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine.

In a book that will recalibrate our view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. From the ancient Polynesians who navigated the Pacific by reading the waves to permanent residents of the deep such as the Greenland shark that can live for hundreds of years, she explains the vast currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that all have their place in the ocean's complex, interlinked system.

Timely, elegant and passionately argued, The Blue Machine is one of the biggest stories ever told. The understanding it offers is crucial to our future. Drawing on years of experience at the forefront of marine science, Helen Czerski captures the magnitude and subtlety of this complex force, showing us the thrilling extent to which we are at the mercy of this great engine.
©2023 Helen Czerski (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Biology Earth Sciences Ecosystems & Habitats
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Critic Reviews

In this captivating and urgently-needed book, Czerski weaves a wonderful, watery spell, entwining spectacular science with poetic awe as she expertly guides readers through the workings of a vast, unfamiliar world. Moving and thrilling, The Blue Machine tells us about the seas but also makes us care: an epic love story that captures the ocean's beating heart. (Jo Marchant, author of Cure and The Human Cosmos)
I love Helen Czerski's writing, and this is her richest work yet - as clear as springwater, yet as filled with fascinating things as the ocean itself. (Sarah Bakewell, author of How to Live and Humanly Possible)
JUNE BOOK OF THE MONTH: 'Physicist Helen Czerski offers a very different perspective on the ocean in her revelatory book... Published ahead of World Ocean Day on 8th June, it unlocks a treasure chest of enthralling stories; from the navigators of ancient Polynesia, and the marvels of plankton, to John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and the copious tears cried by turtles. (Caroline Sanderson)

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Profile Image for Sarah

The start of a big journey!

Part memoir of the author's journey, part introduction to the vast mechanics of the ocean. I recommend keeping a notebook handy as you listen, this book will start you down many fascinating rabbit holes!

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  • Col
  • 31-12-2023

The value of author as narrator

The passion with which Helen read her own work enhanced the audio version of this excellent scientific tome. The stories brought additional life and context to Helen’s treatise about the blue machine and just how much influence it has on life on our blue planet. Lots of valuable vignettes to share with our next generation of science students as once again, Helen Czerski writes about complex, scientific issues in an engaging and accessible way.

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