Ive looked at basic bubble physics, and optics... the dynamics of what — Helen Czerski

"Czerski... frames the ocean as a , the blue machine, driven by the difference in solar heating between the equator and North and South poles, with complications from tidal forces, wind, differences in salinity—which, like temperature, affects density—and shape of continental land masses and undersea crust. They generate complex effects... in a great, layered mass of water that is in constant motion. ...It all adds up to a persuasive case that Earth-dwellers need to understand the ocean and work with it..."

"My favorite element is . Thats mainly because of this organism... a ... a tiny... organism that lives in the surface of the ocean..."

"[A]ll of these platelets, this really intricate structure... is made of so calcium is incorporated into this structure..."

"This organism lives, and it dies, and quite often when it dies, the broken fragments... drift down... and... can build up... on the floor of the ocean, and over geological time these beautiful little platelets of calcium carbonate become squashed into rocks of calcium... [A]s techtonic plates move around and seas come and go, those rocks can get lifted up and so this... is what the White Cliffs of Dover are made of..."

"So after the calcium has been part of the cliffs it can crumble down... It goes back into the ocean and this cycle starts all over again."

"[N]o one was talking about the ocean, and when I went looking for popular science books... about , there really is close to nothing. Theres lots of things about fish and whales and about pollution. Everything except the water itself, and that seemed to be the most ludicrous omission... I was sure the stories were there, but... to tell the story, to paint a picture of the ocean."