Earlier this month, we told you about Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed. Recently, I got my hands on a copy, and I'm so happy I did. This amazing reference guide is brimming with charts, tables, maps, pictures, drawings, and information -- so much information! -- that it's almost overwhelming. However, sit down with a cup of coffee, slowly turn the pages, and you'll see that...no...it'll still be overwhelming. However, looking at Ocean is overwhelming in the same way that the world's oceans themselves -- huge, sprawling, bottomless, and beautiful -- are overwhelming: despite their size, you still feel compelled to dive right in. Quite simply, Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed is the ultimate reference guide for our planet's most precious resource.

The first thing you'll notice about Ocean is its massive size. It's thicker than my laptop! At 512 pages, this 5.83-pound book is almost as epic as its subject.
With its hard cover and huge glossy pages, it almost looks like an arty photography book. In fact, the second thing you'll notice about the book is the amazing amount of arty photographs contained within its pages -- and what amazing images they are. From drool-worthy aerial views of Moorea to macro images of the beautiful Mauve Stinger; from terrifying images of the Common blackdevil fish, to a shot of a Pacific Stilt-mangrove that is the very definition of the word tranquil, the book is an arty photography book.

Except that it's filled with words. Filled! The words are the third thing you'll notice about this amazing book. No arty photography book in the history of arty photography books has ever achieved such intellectual grandeur.

With an introduction by Fabien Cousteau; written by some of the world's preeminent ocean experts (Richard Beatty; David Burnie; Kim Dennis-Bryan; Robert Dinwiddie; France Dipper; Philip Eales; Monty Halls; and Michael Scott); and published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, Ocean has, quite literally, an ocean's worth of information in it. Happily, though, the experts who assembled the book have made the information within it exceedingly accessible and understandable. Here are just a few of the amazing facts I learned reading this book:

• The Maldives is home to thousands of faros, which are mini-atolls within the larger Maldivian atoll.
  
• Ribbon worms (a.k.a., Nemertean worms) can reach lengths of 160 feet. One such ribbon worm is called the Football Jersey worm, because of its striking similarity to the pattern on an American football.
  
• Earth's oceans contain about 324 million cubic miles of seawater.
  
• Many fishermen in Sri Lanka fish from stilts, so as not to frighten away their quarry.
  
• The Humber Estuary discharges about 66,000 gallons of water per second into the North Sea, which is the largest input from any British river into this sea.
  
• The Fangtooth, with its large head and giant, syringe-like teeth, has been recorded at depths of 16,380 feet, which is known as the Abyssal Zone (only the Hadal Zone is deeper).

Don't think for a minute that these facts are the only morsels contained within the book. It's filled with information -- and with striking images to accompany and support that information. It actually makes learning fun -- almost frighteningly so!

Ocean is divided into four chapters:

1. An Introduction, which talks about physical and chemical features of oceans (spotlighting unusual aspects of the oceans like the Corryvreckan Whirlpool, as well as explaining how sound travels through water);
   
2. Ocean Environments, which discusses areas that compose the oceans (from ocean floor sediment to seamounts and guyots);
3. Ocean Life, which examines marine animals found in the various zones (including coral, birds, bugs, fishes, mammals and everything in between); and,
   
4. The Atlas of the Oceans, which contains detailed maps of the oceans and illustrates, for example, the zones, basins, and rises within them.
   

Each section is further sub-divided into smaller sections. What do you want to learn about the ocean? Trust me, it'll be in the book. Moreover, if you want to know what an ocean-related "thing" looks like -- from the tombolos of Scotland to the Common Glasswort -- it's in here. If you're interested in checking out some sample pages, Divester has an exclusive peak at some of the pages concerning anglerfish and mangroves (PDF alert).

Here's an astounding fact for you that I came up with all on my own: assuming that each page has 5 pictures on it, that means the book is packed with over 2500 full-color images. Truly, for a reference manual, Ocean is beautifully photographed. I love the shot of the Regan's Angler. There's a gorgeous shot of a violet-spotted reef lobster in the book. The image of the reflective beach in the Seychelles made me want to book a flight right now. Gorgeous stuff.

Divers will love this book for several reasons. First, it's an excellent overview of the ocean, that thing in which most diving occurs. Understanding what the ocean is and how it works will make for a more satisfying, more complete dive experience. Second, the book explains coral and coral reef ecosystems in great detail. If you don't really know what you're looking at when you're underwater, reading this book will be very enlightening. Third, the marine animal descriptions are out-of-this-world-cool. While there's plenty of information about common marine creatures, the book goes into great detail about many less common animals, as well. In this way, the book really explains how the ocean is a dynamic, important, filled-to-the-brim environment -- that needs protecting. In other words, the book's title -- Ocean: The Last Wilderness Revealed -- while a mouthful, is very appropriate. It discusses the planet's most uncharted and unexplored environment in great detail, revealing much of its mystery and beauty.

Unfortunately, I can't imagine sitting down with the book and reading straight through, bookmarking my way until I reach the end. It would be like sitting down with one volume of Encyclopedia Britannica and reading it cover to cover. There's simply no way I could do it. Instead, I plan to leave it on the coffee table and flip through it while I'm waiting for my wife to get out of the shower; as I'm watching PBS and something unfamiliar is mentioned; as a conversation-starter for when annoying neighbors drop by; or simply on quiet Sunday afternoons when I feel like relaxing and zoning out. You could do the same.

Want to get smarter (or, at least appear smarter to your friends and co-workers)? Pick up a copy of Ocean. Amazon has them available for just over $31. Hey, not only will this hefty book it make you smarter, it'll make you stronger, too.