Review of Handbook of Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Edited by Young C. Kim: World Scientific Publishing, Hackensack, NJ; 2010; ISBN 978-981-281-929-1; 1192 pp.; $223.00.

This handbook has a handsome appearance and presents 41 chapters authored by top-flight contributors from 15 countries; hence, it has a broad international perspective. The chapters cover many topics of relevance and interest in coastal engineering. The thematic sections, with numbers of chapters in each section indicated in parentheses, are as follows: “Shallow-Water Waves” (seven), “Water-Level Fluctuations” (three), “Coastal (13) and Offshore (one) Structures,” “Ports and Harbors” (two), “Coastal Sediment Processes” (five), “Environmental Problems” (one), “Sustainable Coastal Development” (two), “Coastal Hazards” (four), “Physical Modeling” (two), and “Coastal Engineering Practice and Education” (one). Some of the chapters cover design guidance in depth and at length, and others are quite short.

The breadth of physical, theoretical, and numerical modeling topics covered in one volume is useful and the majority of chapters have useful references to follow up. I found the chapters cover a wide range of examples and site locations by virtue of the international authorship. The information on different sites is always helpful to put your own work into context and (for me) there were highlights on waves and currents, coastal and other maritime structures, sand grade and fine sediments—including interaction with navigating vessels—as well as content on coasts, coastal management and coast protection structures, risk analysis, inlets and sea areas.

Taking the liberty of lifting the quotation from page 969, namely, that there is no such thing as a free lunch, the postgraduate, academic, and professional will benefit from the time invested in reading a range of chapters, not just those covering their own specialties, and making their own links between topics. The call for the recognition of the big picture in education and practice made by Kamphuis in the last chapter will be addressed by paying attention to the breadth of knowledge contained in the handbook. This book provides ample opportunities to reduce the tendency for a narrow focus and promote cross-disciplinary inquiry in coastal and ocean sciences and engineering. It provides up-to-date and accessible content and both leads the reader into specific topics by experts in their field, and provides a thought-provoking range of ideas within one volume.

In my view, one shortcoming arises from a lack of a consistent structure between chapters—some finish with a summary, some with a conclusion and future study, some with remarks or conclusions, or are left open-ended. The citation format varies between chapters and in some, the short form of citation—author, journal, year—with title omitted, requires the reader to make further investigation of the title if unfamiliar with the reference. The occasional grammatical and typographical error has crept through, although this does not appear to detract from the overall quality of the content. I found the lack of an index made the book more difficult to use, since multiple references to particular subjects or items of interest could not be traced across the book, other than by homing in on the thematic section. While an index would help locate specific material quickly, the natural tendency to graze through book content for relevant material is aided first, by the chapter titles, which are clearly descriptive of their content, and second, by the generally clear layout within chapter sections.

Overall, this book of more than 1,100 pages is well laid out and easy to read, the individual leaves of the hardback lie pleasingly open on the desk at the required location. This book has a wealth of relevant information and complements other reference material in academic and professional libraries, where it should have a long shelf life. The best option, in my view, is to have it ready to hand to the desk.