- Hardcover: 282 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press (11 Jan 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0674026799
- ISBN-13: 978-0674026797
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,230,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #24 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Animal Sciences > Marine Life > Coral
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
Time is running out for the Great Barrier Reef, and no one knows it better than J. E. N. Veron..."A Reef in Time" is fascinating in that it puts climate change in context of the history of the earth, by concentrating on one element of it. It's bleak--but not as bleak as the outlook for the reef--and is backed up by extensive data and scientific research and analysis. It is the whole, and last, word on the Great Barrier Reef and climate change.--Jodie Davis and Margaret Ambrose"Habitat Australia" (04/01/2008)
Review
"The book provides a compelling and highly readable account of the formation of the reef, as well as a description of its role as a functioning part of the ocean's ecosystem".
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The Great Barrier Reef, Nature's pinnacle of achievement in the ocean realm, is the embodiment of wilderness, of remotenessa place of endless beauty that has endured when so many other places on Earth, cherished by generations past, no longer engender strong emotions or else have been altered beyond all recognition. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The Great Barrier Reef, Nature's pinnacle of achievement in the ocean realm, is the embodiment of wilderness, of remotenessa place of endless beauty that has endured when so many other places on Earth, cherished by generations past, no longer engender strong emotions or else have been altered beyond all recognition. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The author has been involved in coral research and classification for his entire career and I have followed his more accessible works for about 20 years. The fact that he has written this book is a cause for attention and, as it turns out, a cause for alarm. His arguments make frightening reading. Veron is always ready to point out that the problems facing the world climate are surmountable through political will although there is an underlying suggestion that he himself is not very optimistic.
I would strongly recommend this book for those with an interest in our planet (not merely the Great Barrier Reef) and suggest that it is far from a refreshing, amusing or relaxing read.
I would strongly recommend this book for those with an interest in our planet (not merely the Great Barrier Reef) and suggest that it is far from a refreshing, amusing or relaxing read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book may well turn out to be among the most important of this century. An easy boast, but warranted nonetheless.
Apart from anything else, it is a rare delight to come across a carefully structured, intelligently pitched exposition of what is a complex, intricate subject. Veron clearly has the academic gravitas and communication skills to spell out the lessons he has learned over his four decades of study of coral reefs.
The book has important things to say about past environments as they relate to the Great Barrier Reef, and why the burgeoning rise in atmospheric CO2 levels heralds wholesale alteration of ocean chemistry. Veron handles the whole issue of time - geological as juxtaposed to human-focused - in a soberly trenchant manner. It allows you to set in context the utter precariousness of humanity's current spate with regard to the healthy functioning of this planet's life-support systems.
Coral reefs, rainforests, top soils and fish stocks are not just dinky add-ons to this down-home lil' planet we all "share" with our fellow earth-mates. They must be accorded the same importance we assign to our own livers, skin layers and immune-systems. They help keep all ecosystems viable and we bloody well need them!
My only criticism is that editors have almost certainly not given this author as much space as he deserves. The book could quite easily run to another 30 pages and give us more background biology of corals today to allow non-specialist readers to get a better handle on why they are so important to marine ecosystems.
But overall, this is a finely judged effort at popular understanding, one we all badly need. Urgently. The pictures are nice too.
If the politicians we see fit to elect to office would only take some time to read and assess what this book has to say so compellingly, maybe we would see some real leadership emerge to tackle the crisis which billows up like a thundercloud above us.
And if on completing this book, it hasn't scared seven pails of warm, liquid BeJeezus out of you, ease back. Relax. Forget it. It means you're dead.
Apart from anything else, it is a rare delight to come across a carefully structured, intelligently pitched exposition of what is a complex, intricate subject. Veron clearly has the academic gravitas and communication skills to spell out the lessons he has learned over his four decades of study of coral reefs.
The book has important things to say about past environments as they relate to the Great Barrier Reef, and why the burgeoning rise in atmospheric CO2 levels heralds wholesale alteration of ocean chemistry. Veron handles the whole issue of time - geological as juxtaposed to human-focused - in a soberly trenchant manner. It allows you to set in context the utter precariousness of humanity's current spate with regard to the healthy functioning of this planet's life-support systems.
Coral reefs, rainforests, top soils and fish stocks are not just dinky add-ons to this down-home lil' planet we all "share" with our fellow earth-mates. They must be accorded the same importance we assign to our own livers, skin layers and immune-systems. They help keep all ecosystems viable and we bloody well need them!
My only criticism is that editors have almost certainly not given this author as much space as he deserves. The book could quite easily run to another 30 pages and give us more background biology of corals today to allow non-specialist readers to get a better handle on why they are so important to marine ecosystems.
But overall, this is a finely judged effort at popular understanding, one we all badly need. Urgently. The pictures are nice too.
If the politicians we see fit to elect to office would only take some time to read and assess what this book has to say so compellingly, maybe we would see some real leadership emerge to tackle the crisis which billows up like a thundercloud above us.
And if on completing this book, it hasn't scared seven pails of warm, liquid BeJeezus out of you, ease back. Relax. Forget it. It means you're dead.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
An instructive read on a depressing topic
22 Feb 2008
Format:Hardcover
Excellent overview of the Great Barrier Reef's history. The text flows, is extremely easy to read, and the chapters and headings are set out logically. Much of the background involves controversial theories (e.g. reasons for major extinctions), and these, among others, are discussed thoroughly and with sufficient maps, given the relatively short length and overall scope of the book. The important points (carbon dioxide and ocean acidification) are drilled home repeatedly without a loss of their impact.
It is clear that the target audience for this book is for newcomers to the fields of coral research or paleontology. The only major flaw I see in the book are the many identical diagrams and photographs from previous publications by Dr. Veron, but, for those who pick up this book with no prior knowledge, this same information must be novel and informative. Even for those who have a background in the above fields, there is enough new information in this book to satisfy, and a few veritable gems of insight and observation.
This book has a few ideas which people may or may not agree with Dr. Veron, but it is well-researched and well-argued. The overriding message presented in the final chapters is certainly the focus of the book, and in the end, the other details which may or may not be correct rightly take a back seat.
Overall a recommended read.
It is clear that the target audience for this book is for newcomers to the fields of coral research or paleontology. The only major flaw I see in the book are the many identical diagrams and photographs from previous publications by Dr. Veron, but, for those who pick up this book with no prior knowledge, this same information must be novel and informative. Even for those who have a background in the above fields, there is enough new information in this book to satisfy, and a few veritable gems of insight and observation.
This book has a few ideas which people may or may not agree with Dr. Veron, but it is well-researched and well-argued. The overriding message presented in the final chapters is certainly the focus of the book, and in the end, the other details which may or may not be correct rightly take a back seat.
Overall a recommended read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Interesting, Touching, but Terrifying
9 May 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was awesome and proved very informative and I would highly recommend it, however the last couple of pages are where the author gives you their personal opinion (I do believe they earned their right to do so)and it is a bit of downer. Their personal outlook on the future of the coral reefs is rather bleak and suggests that within my generation's lifetime if not their own the reefs will disappear for the extension of the human race's existence. This however, arguably, makes the book of greater importance, because if people don't know then they will never be able to care.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
An Unfortunate Reality
24 Mar 2008
Format:Hardcover
In "A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End" the highly respected coral reef expert J. E. N. Veron describes both the history of reefs in general and the Great Barrier Reef in particular. Certainly this book is not exactly uplifting because it outlines the future end of the reef, not in space, but in time. This end is to a large part premature and almost certainly to be brought on by human activity.
As Veron notes reefs have come and gone throughout the history of the earth, appearing in the Devonian, Permian and Triassic, only to be destroyed in mass extinction events. New and different reefs returned, but not until after hundreds of thousands to millions of years. On both sides of the Rio Grande Valley, where I now live, are immense remains of middle Permian reefs, all of which disappeared in that mother of all extinction events which marks the Permian-Triassic boundary. The reefs now stand over 4000 feet above sea level, a monument to impermanence. Such would eventually be the fate of the monumental Great Barrier Reef, but in tens of thousands of years at least. The activities of humans (in causing global warming, direct damage to reefs and acidification of the oceans) may now cause the same destruction in hundreds of years or less.
What is to be done? Venon thinks that there is some cause for hope, but I am unsure that that such hope is warranted. In this I would like to be wrong. However I see no political will on the part of either governments or populations to curb their activities in time before tipping points are reached that commit us to a major disruption of the planet. In essence we in the United States have wasted nearly eight years that we really did not have because of an administration that preferred wishful thinking to reality. Still I cannot just blame the United States as even the European Union will not reach its own goals and China and India, among others, are hurrying to reach the same levels of greenhouse gas emissions as the developed world.
Venon has written a thoughtful and well documented book that will certainly educate the reader in the current knowledge of reefs and the likely result of our current predicament. I recommend it, but be aware that you may find it depressing, despite Venon's attempts to be upbeat.
As Veron notes reefs have come and gone throughout the history of the earth, appearing in the Devonian, Permian and Triassic, only to be destroyed in mass extinction events. New and different reefs returned, but not until after hundreds of thousands to millions of years. On both sides of the Rio Grande Valley, where I now live, are immense remains of middle Permian reefs, all of which disappeared in that mother of all extinction events which marks the Permian-Triassic boundary. The reefs now stand over 4000 feet above sea level, a monument to impermanence. Such would eventually be the fate of the monumental Great Barrier Reef, but in tens of thousands of years at least. The activities of humans (in causing global warming, direct damage to reefs and acidification of the oceans) may now cause the same destruction in hundreds of years or less.
What is to be done? Venon thinks that there is some cause for hope, but I am unsure that that such hope is warranted. In this I would like to be wrong. However I see no political will on the part of either governments or populations to curb their activities in time before tipping points are reached that commit us to a major disruption of the planet. In essence we in the United States have wasted nearly eight years that we really did not have because of an administration that preferred wishful thinking to reality. Still I cannot just blame the United States as even the European Union will not reach its own goals and China and India, among others, are hurrying to reach the same levels of greenhouse gas emissions as the developed world.
Venon has written a thoughtful and well documented book that will certainly educate the reader in the current knowledge of reefs and the likely result of our current predicament. I recommend it, but be aware that you may find it depressing, despite Venon's attempts to be upbeat.
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