Seventy Years of Exploration in Oceanography A Prolonged Weekend Dis
The present volume documents an interview with the eminent oceanographer and geophysicist Walter Munk, who is one of the "grand old men" of oceanography. The book covers many key issues, such as ocean-wave prediction, ocean acoustic thermography. As a hig
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Hans von Storch Klaus Hasselmann
Seventy Years of Exploration in Oceanography A Prolonged Weekend Discussion with Walter Munk
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Hans von Storch Institute of Coastal Research GKSS Research Center Geesthacht Germany Center of Excellence CLISAP University of Hamburg Germany [email protected]
Klaus Hasselmann Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie Bundesstraße 55 20146 Hamburg Germany [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-12086-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-12087-9 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-12087-9 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010922341 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typesetting and production: le-tex publishing services GmbH, Leipzig, Germany Cover design: WMXDesign GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword – Carl Wunsch
Many scientists are impatient with, and uninterested in, the history of their subject – and young scientists are universally urged to focus on what is not understood – to “exercise some imagination” – to look forward and not back. Some understanding of the past is, however, essential for progress. In many fields “what everyone knows” is often merely an accident of the then available technology, or the sometimes arbitrary, specific interests of the small number of strong leaders who set the research directions for decades at a time. In this fascinating interview, Hans von Storch and Klaus Hasselmann elicit from Walter Munk the major elements of a career in physical oceanography, geophysics, and war and peace. The story of Munk’s life could readily make a strong character in a novel, although it might be regarded as implausible. Born into a wealthy Jewish banking family in imperial Vienna, he developed (at least as he tells it) into a tennis playing, skiing, ne’er-do-well, exiled to school in rural New York State, following which he did an unsuccessful stint in the family banking business, and migrated to the promised land of California. Employing his undoubted salesmanship skills, he gained a toehold in academia as a Caltech undergraduate. From there, Walter’s life is the quintessential mid-20th century American sci
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