A Cup of Coffee and the Ocean: The Basics of Ocean Dynamics

by Sung Yong Kim

Overview

This book introduces various, easily understandable examples of fluids encountered in daily life. It describes the characteristics of these fluids, starting from a cup of coffee, a familiar small-scale fluid, to the vast ocean—one of the largest-scale fluids on Earth. Understanding the principles of fluids and their motion has long been complex and challenging. However, grasping these fundamentals opens doors to deeper exploration and discovery. This book engages middle and high school students, undergraduates, and curious readers in exploring the ocean’s vast possibilities. Cartoons and simple language make the concepts more accessible, helping readers not only understand fluids but also gain valuable safety insights related to the ocean.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789819668342
Publisher:	Springer Nature Singapore
Publication date:	09/10/2025
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Prof. Dr. Sung Yong Kim is a professor of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea. He received a B.S. in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 1999 and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography/University of California — San Diego, La Jolla, USA, 2009. His research interests include coastal circulation, sub-mesoscale processes, statistical and dynamical data analysis, environmental parameterizations, and operational coastal ocean observing systems. He has served as a chair of the MONITOR Technical Committee, a co-chair of the Advisory Panel of the North Pacific Coastal Ocean Observing System (AP-NPCOOS), and a member of the Working Group of Climate Extremes and Coastal Impacts in the Pacific (WG-49) and Sub-mesoscale Processes and Marine Ecosystems (WG-50) in the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), as a member of the Boundary Currents and Shelf Sea Interactions (BC/SSI; BCTT) Task Team under Ocean Observations Physics and Climate (OOPC) Panel, Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the Steering Committee of Digital Twins of the Ocean, and the Pool of Experts for United Nations Regular Process — World Ocean Assessment (1st, 2nd, and 3rd cycles). He has served as a Program Committee member of OceanObs'19, International Digital Twins of the Ocean Summit 2023, and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) 2024. He was elected as a member of the Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology in 2017 and a member of the Ocean and Fisheries Science and Technology Committee under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2019. He is the recipient of the Young Frontier Research Scientists Award in the Korean Academy of Science and Technology in 2013, the Young Scientist Award in the Korean Society of Oceanography in 2014, the Young Scientist Award to brighten Korea for next 30 years (selected as one of 30 persons in Natural Sciences, particularly, Oceanography) in the Pohang University of Science and Technology in 2016, the Excellence Award of Oceans and Fisheries Science and Technology Grand Award, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2019, and Excellent Paper Award in Physical Oceanography, The Korean Society of Oceanography in 2020.

Table of Contents

Various motions of fluids.- Learning about fluids from a cup of coffee.- From a cup of coffee to the ocean.- Examples of ocean processes and safety remarks.- Unique phenomena in the ocean.- The way forward.- Mathematical presentations of ocean dynamics.