Fundamentals of Acoustical Oceanography

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Summary: Three leading acoustical oceanographers applaud Fundamentals
Review: D.V. Holliday of Marconi-Tracor Aerospace, San Diego, CA in June 1999 issue of Limnology and Oceanography: "This book will be an invaluable reference for acoustical oceeanographers. It will also be used extensively by fisheries and biological oceanographers as they try to understand and develop new ways to use acoustics to study the physical and biological processes that lead to ever-varying distributions and abundances of organisms ranging from phytoplankton to marine mammals." "I strongly recommend it to acousticians, geophysicists and physical and biological oceanographers".

T.K. Stanton, Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, in the April 1999 issue of the J Acoust.Soc.Am.: "Fundamentals of Acoustical Oceanography is written in a style appropiate for a broad audience at many levels. Much of the text is written in a simple tutorial manner so that nonspecialists and people who are just entering the field can understand it. Furthermore, there is enough detail and references made to the literature so that the specialist can also make use of the material. The book spans areas of marine geology, marine biology, physical oceanography, and marine engineering and would be useful in applications involving ecology, commerce, and the military". "Medwin and Clay integrate diverse concepts and focus on solving realistic problems. Oceanography is described along with acoustics. Acoustical formulations are derived in terms of observable ocean parameters and there are many comparisons of theory with laboratory and ocean data." "The book follows "Acoustical Oceanography", published in 1977 by the same authors but with author order reversed. The first book was widely used and cited.. It had eleven printings, was translated into Russian and was cited routinely by scientists in varied disciplines and in many different journals. Since 1977, there have been significant advances in the area of acoustical oceanography. This new book incorporates many of the advances along with a new format".

D. Farmer, IOS, Canada in Aug 25 issue of EOS, Trans., Am. Geophys. Union: "Part of the excitement pervading this field (acoustical oceanography) stems from the rapidity with which the scope of possible applications is increasing:. Fundamentals of Acoustical Oceanography is an excellent starting point for oceanographers seeking acquaintance with this field as well as a valuable reference for practicing scientists. The opportunities (in acoustical oceanography) will be limited only by the oceanographer's imagination and the need for a firm understanding of the underlying principles. It is this last requirement to which the authors have contributed, and oceanographers will be grateful for their effort"

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Summary: Jim Hawkins, senior scientist, Planning Systems Incorporated
Review: I have used the Clay and Medwin's tome almost continuously throughout my career however, I never owned a copy. There were several reasons for this (graduate student income) but with a good job and the pending publication of the second edition I was finally ready to get my own copy. At first I was very pleased. The fundamentals of the first edition were retained while a wealth of new material was added. I eagerly opened to various topics of interest only to be appalled by the poor typesetting quality. Wiley publishers apparently used at least two different typesetting processes. The result is especially obvious when comparing equations; symbols change shape, size, and spacing within the same discussion on the same page. The effect is quite jarring. I'm afraid to guess, but the book appears to be the work of several people using different word processors and the result simply slapped together in an attractive binding. This is no way to treat this venerable text. For now I'll just try to find an old copy of the first edition. Take my advice if you are the least bit offended by poor typesetting this edition will drive you nuts.

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Summary: Clarification
Review: Just wanted to clarify a point made in Jim Hawkins' review of this book. John Wiley & Sons was not involved in the publication of the second edition of this venerable work. Any fault with the quality of the typesetting should be brought to the attention of Academic Press and the authors, not Wiley.