Several years ago, when I first began to teach an undergraduate introductory oceanography course, I was faced with the issue of text selection. At the time the options were somewhat limited. It seems, however, that in the intervening years we’ve seen a bloom of new volumes. On the one hand this is terrific—it’s a reflection of the growing interest in introducing college students to the field. On the other hand it makes text selection an even more daunting task. I’m reminded of my first trip to Starbuck’s in Seattle several years ago when I was both delighted and overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of diversity offered to me in coffee, a commodity I had previously thought only came in two forms: a mug or a styrofoam cup.

Spinrad, R.W. 1996. The oceanographic text pattern: A review and comparison of introductory oceanography texts. Oceanography 9(3):194–201, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1996.12.

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