Townsend (oceanography, U. of Maine) found college level textbooks he was looking for lacking in marine science and that oceanography textbooks treated the topic thoroughly but all but ignored marine biology, and vice versa. He took it upon himself to write this textbook to give students in introductory marine science courses solid treatment of both topics. Chapters address a variety of subjects, including the geography and evolution of the sea floor, waves and tides, zooplankton and invertebrates, marine environments, and human impacts. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)