The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau (hereafter Ocean World) is a 20-volume set concerned with the oceans generally and, more specifically, with marine life and exploration. This is a revised edition of The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau produced in 1974. According to the publisher, the 1975 edition resulted from revisions made by Captain Cousteau after thorough reassessment of the original edition. (p. 742)

Ocean World is, according to its publisher, intended for student use through senior high school and for home use by both children and adults. This review will assess the set's appropriateness for this broad spectrum of readers….

The broad thematic organization of Ocean World distinguishes it generally from a more systematic and tradition approach which might have emphasized the academic disciplines such as geography, geology, marine biology, and their appropriate subdivisions. For example, marine life or biology could have been subdivided by such topics as "ecology," "plant...