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Dr. Rip's Essential Beach Book: Everything You Need to Know About Surf, Sand and Rips. Brander, Rob, 2010. Sydney, NSW, Australia: University of New South Wales Press, 238 p. ABN: 40-000-382-669, $A26.36, plus $A5.00 for postage.
Although not designed and written for the specialist in coastal science, this book is worth the time and effort to read. Rob Brander has managed to bring together a large amount of information in an informative and interesting way that will definitely appeal to the lay reader. I am impressed by Rob's ability to take a rather complicated subject and make it understandable in simple terms for those who really know nothing about the coast. With so many people moving from interior locations to the coastal zone, and with so many tourists going to the beach, there is a need for a book like this. As the coast and beaches in particular become increasingly congested, the risks also increase for damage to life and limb as beachgoers venture into the surf. As pointed out by Rob many times in the book, the unsuspecting tourist is most likely to pick the most dangerous spot to go into the water because they see a flatwater break in the breaking waves where the water is calm. Little do they know that this is exactly where the rip current resides at thatmoment and that they are putting themselves in harm's way by going into the water in this location. Safety does not always occur in what appears to be the most serene spot along the coast.
This book is basically about rip currents, but it covers a much broader range of topics than that. Rob says that the idea for the book grew out of talks to the public at his surf lifesaving club...