This is an interesting and useful compendium written by well established oceanographers. It will be of value to marine researchers and administrators. The editors deserve our thanks for a coherent attempt to review the relevance of ocean science to human concerns. The title, however, promises more—a 20/20 vision for the future. Yet, as the editors say ” the best we can do is look back on developments that have shaped marine science during the most recent decades.” In this spirit I went back to the previous “vision” commissioned by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 1982—“Ocean Science for the year 2000”.

Steele, J.H. 2003. Review of Oceans 2020: Science, Trends, and the Challenge of Sustainability, edited by J.G. Field, G. Hempel, and C.P. Summerhayes. Oceanography 16(4):109, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2003.21.

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