by John Keay
Tarcher, 1983
216 pp. $12.95
by Stanton E. Samenow
Times Books, 1984
285 pp. $15.50
by David P. Billington
Basic, 1983
306 pp. $24.95
By Charles Wright. Random, 1984.
73 pp. $5.95
By James Reed. Princeton, 1984.
456 pp. $1 1.50
Edited by John R. Hayes. MIT, 1983.
260 pp. $10
for food and fuel. One day, he may tap the sea-bed as an important new source of key minerals. Men and governments have yet to mark the seas with ruin, but preventing ruin, given man's proclivities, has not been easy. Here, marking the Year of the Oceans, historian Susan Schlee chronicles the evolution of marine science; political sci- entist Ann Hollick considers the use and misuse of the oceans and the United Nations' decade-long attempt to fashion a work- able Law of the Sea amid conflicting...
From outer space, Earth resembles a ball of azure liquid. With nearly 71 percent of its surface covered with water, the planet has been aptly called the "blue drifter." Even the white whorls of clouds that embroider the planet's atmosphere are va- porous extensions of the oceans below.
The seas have long piqued man's curiosity, and he has im- bued them with his fondest hopes and his most poignant fears. In the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, based on tales told nearly 5,000 years ago,...
On April 30, 1982, the United Nations voted to adopt the Law of the Sea treaty that had been under negotiation for more than 10 years. The tally was 130 in favor, four opposed, and 17 ab- staining. The United States was one of the four states in opposi- tion. In the aftermath of this vote, proponents and opponents of the treaty began wielding their pens, variously campaigning to reverse or to reinforce the U.S. position.
By December, when 143 national delegations gathered at Montego Bay, Jamaica,...