IntroductionTo Physical Oceanography

This book is written for upper-division undergraduatesand new
graduatestu-
dentsinmeteorology,oceanengineering,andoceanography.
Becausethesestu-
dentshaveadiversebackground,Ihaveemphasizedideasand conceptsmore
thanmathematicalderivations.
Unlikemostbooks,Iamdistributingthisbookforfreein
digitalformatvia
theworld-wideweb.Iamdoingthisfortworeasons:
1.Textbooksareusuallyoutofdatebythetimetheyarepublished,
usually
ayearortwoaftertheauthorfinisheswritingthebook.RandolLarson,
writingin Syllabus,states:“Inmyopinion,technology text
booksarea
wasteofnaturalresources.They’reoutofdatethemomenttheyare
published.Becauseoftheirshortshelflife,studentsdon’teven
want to
holdontothem”—(Larson,2002).Bypublishinginelectronicform,
Ican
makerevisionseveryyear,keepingthebookcurrent.
2.Manystudents,especiallyinless-developedcountriescannot
affordthe
highcostoftextbooksfromthedevelopedworld.Thisthenis agift
fromtheUSNationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration nasa
to the students of the world.
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