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