Lectures on Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for Physical Oceanographers
Review: This has to be one of the best books on GFD to have come out in a long time. It is strongly oriented towards oceanographers, but the ideas are so clear that I would recommend anyone associated with fluid dynamics to take a look at this one. The first half (based on the course at Scripps, according to the author) is a treatment of classic GFD concepts in oceanography, but much is presented from a fresh perspective that new students don't normally come across. The second half is devoted to some much newer ideas in GFD, geophysical turbulence and Hamiltonian fluid dynamics. Again, this is great for students because it can be difficult to dive into the current research, and a gentle introduction goes a long way towards promoting these ideas.

The book lacks exercises, which is too bad because there are far too many monographs and far too few textbooks in this field (Cushman-Roisin's being one of the very few). This is partly because the ideas in the second half are some very new ones, which I don't think have appeared in many other textbooks so far. But I do think that it's a bit of a shame, because a book like this in classrooms has the potential to create some truly excellent physical oceanographers.

(And could "rsalmon14" be a visit by the author himself? We can only hope!)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for Physical Oceanographers
Review: This is not only my favorite book in GFD, but perhaps my favorite book on fluid dynamics. It doesn't sacrifice mathematical accuracy, but manages to stick to physical processes a bit more than other GFD monographs. The first chapter manages to bring together fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in a simple and convincing way that is not often discussed. It also spends a lot of time on the real meaning of potential vorticity, trying to get beyond the cryptic derivation of the conservation law. Later chapters provide lucid discussions of topics such as the issue of balanced dynamics, baroclinic instability, oceanic basin flow, and even a bit of thermocline theory. The second half of the book is focused on geophysical turbulence and Hamiltonian dynamics, neither of which is really discussed anywhere else in an introductory manner. For these two subjects, this is probably as good an introduction as you're ever going to find.

There are no exercises, so this is more of a monograph than a textbook. And because there is such attention to mathematical detail, it is probably not the best place to start your education. But I would encourage anyone who seeks a deeper knowledge of GFD to read this book.