John T O KirkJohn Kirk began his research into ocean optics in the early 1970s in the Division of Plant Industry of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia, where he was a Chief Research Scientist, and continud it from 1997 in Kirk Marine Optics. He was awarded the Australian Society for Limnology Medal (1981), and besides the two successful previous editions of this book, has also co-authored The Plastids: Their Chemistry, Structure, Growth and Inheritance (Elsevier, 1978), which became the standard text in its field. Beyond his own scientific research interests, he has always been interested in the broader implications of science for human existence, and has published a book on this and other issues, Science and Certainty (CSIRO Publishing, 2007). Read More Read Less