June 2025

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Oceanography | Vol. 38, No. 2

86

BOOK REVIEW

A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW

OF THE OCEAN AND HUMANITY

SECOND EDITION

Book by Anders Omstedt, 2024, Springer Cham, 178 pp., ISBN (hardcover): 978-3-031-64325-5,

ISBN (eBook): 978-3-031-64326-2, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64326-2

Reviewed by Emma Coleman

Anders Omstedt is a Swedish oceanographer, author, and

professor emeritus in the Department of Marine Sciences,

University of Gothenburg. The second edition of his book enti­

tled A Philosophical View of the Ocean and Humanity, published

in 2024, is heavily influenced by the United Nations Decade of

Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). In

33 short chapters, Omstedt explores an array of topics spanning

oceanography, philosophy, and science communication. Despite

the broad nature of the topics, he always returns to probe the cen­

tral relationship between humans and the ocean. From promot­

ing the power of dreams as a key tool for creatively imagining

the future to giving succinct overviews of the major challenges in

ocean science today, Omstedt maintains an interesting conversa­

tion with the ocean throughout the book, recognizing it as a part­

ner with an active role to play in changing human behavior.

This second edition is divided into three sections. Parts  I

and III are entirely new. The first edition, published in 2020, is

present in a largely rewritten form in Part II. The second edition

also includes new illustrations along with forewords by Bernt

Gustavsson, Örebro University, and Markus Meier, Leibniz

Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde. The new content

adds necessary depth to the book, and I encourage readers to

engage with the updated edition.

In Part I, Omstedt “illustrate[s] how analytical thinking and

intuition can be trained by observing how we think and feel”

(p. 3). Here poetry, art, and dreams are introduced as tools that

can support and foster scientific curiosity and discovery. Omstedt

explores the merits of creative thinking in the Anthropocene and

highlights the insights these tools offer in the face of global chal­

lenges. Part II outlines “the threats the ocean faces through var­

ious human activities…[and the need to] work across many

academic disciplines, using transdisciplinary approaches and

developing new skills for conversation” (p. 129). Two perspec­

tives are interwoven throughout Part II. One gives an analyti­

cal overview of ocean science problems, and the other is repre­

sented by an intuitive conversation between a marine scientist

and the ocean. By paralleling these seemingly disparate modes of

thinking, readers are given an example of how both scientific and

artful inquiry work together to reframe our understanding of the

ocean and ourselves. Finally, Part III “deepens the description of

humans’ relationship to the ocean and our way of thinking with

inspiration from literature and philosophy” (p. xiii). In this sec­

tion, Omstedt grounds the ideas and cognitive tools introduced

in Parts I and II by complementing analytical research with the

insights gained from engagement with art and literature.

Throughout A Philosophical View of the Ocean and Humanity,

scientific and spiritual stories are combined to encourage changes

in human behavior. Omstedt asks the reader to meditate on ques­

tions about Earth and its ocean, as well as about life and our place

in it. In addition to scientific facts, Omstedt draws from mythol­

ogy, song, and novels, weaving together a story of the ocean and

humanity. Through this weaving, the book provides a multi­

faceted reading experience that challenges traditional Western

scientific paradigms by embracing critical reflection, personal

feelings, and creative thinking. Readers may be fascinated with

the oceanography-based chapters of Part  II or resonate more

closely with the dreamscapes illustrated in Part I. Thus, this book

is suited to a wide audience, as it pieces together creative and log­

ical ways of knowing in a broad meditation on the ocean and

humanity, one that opens new avenues of thought for change­

making. Oceanographers, climate scientists, science writers, and

scholars of science and technology studies may find the content

of this text particularly useful for informing their own work.

Omstedt makes it clear that ways of being and knowing out­

side of traditional science paradigms are necessary—not only for

enriching human lives, but for doing better science. He uses clear

language when articulating his philosophy. Omstedt avoids mak­

ing technical recommendations and focuses instead on human

understanding of the ocean on a philosophical level, and par­

ticularly, how that understanding shapes the practice of science.

It is a push that is especially useful for today’s oceanographers

and climate scientists who are pursuing their research in increas­

ingly unstable times. Taking the time to consider and commit

(or recommit) to the ethical and philosophical underpinnings

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