Pacific by Simon Winchester

Pacific : Silicon Chips & Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators and Fading Empires by Simon Winchester as the name suggests is a book about the Pacific Ocean. Simon is a prolific writer and has written numerous books on diverse subjects including leading personalities, events, the Earth and the world around us. I had bought a book written by Simon last year and was not impressed by it; the book is titled Land. I would not recommend that book titled 'Land'. I chanced upon this book - Pacific whilst browsing the National Library in Singapore for some interesting reads. The index looked appealing and hence I borrowed the same to further my curiosity and evaluate how this book would be.

The book is well written and is rather innovative. Simon looks at the Pacific from many dimensions and not just as a body of water. The Pacific is now the most interesting and dynamic region of the world and has supplanted the Atlantic in terms of importance, size and preeminence. The Pacific is home to the world's largest economies, most powerful navies, cutting edge high tech hubs, hot beds for scientific research especially around climate change & oceanography and is surrounded by more than two billion people along its eastern and western coastlines. Most critically, the Pacific is where the new fault lines are emerging replacing Germany which was the fault line during the cold war with the Russians in the 20th century. 

The book has numerous chapters covering a multitude of issues. In this review, I shall cover top four chapters that I felt were unique to the Pacific ocean and the Pacific rim and extremely interesting. A review of these four chapters should generate enough interest for the reader to read the entire book in detail. 

The interesting aspect about the book is the way it has been written. To elaborate further, let me cite one example. A key feature of the Pacific rim is the presence of dominant economies on both the Eastern and Western Pacific with incredible volume and value of trade, commerce and investment flowing back and forth. Simon charter's this growth and development by sharing insights about Sony Corporation's rise after WW2 as a specific case in point and then balances this out with a more expansive view on trade and development of industry & manufacturing across the Pacific rim countries. This is a common theme that will run across many chapters and that's what makes this book different and interesting. 

Mr. Ibuka's Radio Revolution - the first part of this chapter is dedicated to the rise of Sony Corporation, a company founded by two engineers Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, who is the more well known personality of the two. Sony was born from the aftermath of WW2 as the nation began its incredible rise from the ashes (literally) and at a time when 20% of Tokyo suffered from tuberculosis and there was no semblance of any law and order or infrastructure. 

Sony exemplifies the West Pacific rim manufacturing story centred around precision, miniaturisation, high quality, scale, perfection and innovation especially in the field of consumer electronics. The chapter begins with the foundations of Sony Corp, its foray into transistor radios and building from there into a range of consumer devices that marry the machine to the artist, by amusing and entertaining the individual and playing on emotions and sentiments. Times have changed and since 2014 Japan has become a net importer of consumer electronics; an industry it spawned and dominated. Whilst Japan may have faded, its place was taken up by other Pacific Rim regions like South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and then of course China. The current axis is firmly anchored across China and the US which marks a seismic shift for the US and in turn generates a lot of challenges. With Japan, the US relationship was with a country that was an enemy but became a friend; with China on the other hand, it is a country that was an ally but now turning into an adversary. 

Of Masters & Commanders - Oct 26, 2006 - year zero when Chinese naval ambitions perceptibly changed. As you may have guessed this chapter is about US and Chinese naval supremacy for the waters of the Pacific, the US forward projection of power and the Chinese attempts to deter the US and create a wide buffer zone for its own navy. Whilst 2006 was the year when a Chinese submarine tailed and came within striking distance of the USS Kitty Hawk, an American aircraft carrier, this chapter starts with events much earlier. It commences in 1991 with the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo that rendered useless the two critical US bases in the South China Sea / Pacific - Subic and Clarke (in the Philippines) thus considerably weakening America's power in that part of the world. The chapter elaborates on the militarisation of the South China Sea,  The First Island Chain defence for China, The American pivot to the Pacific, Anti Access / Area Denial concept, Air Sea Battle counter, Admiral Liu Huaqing [https://cimsec.org/father-modern-chinese-navy-liu-huaqing/], Andrew Marshall [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/andrew-marshall-brain-pentagon-passed-away/588952/] and steps & counter steps taken by China and America in what is now a clear escalating arms and naval race.  

Echoes of a Distant Thunder - Cyclone Tracy that hit Darwin in the 70s and Haiyan the super Typhoon that hit Philippines in 2013 are just two of the many devastating weather events that impact the Pacific rim. The Pacific is where the storms with the greatest intensities tend to get generated and their frequency is significantly greater than say the Atlantic ocean. The vastness of the Pacific ocean, coupled with a large part of the Pacific water body located between the two Tropics means it becomes a significant reservoir of heat, energy and hence weather patterns. The Pacific is also home to the most important weather phenomenon namely ENSO El Nino and the Southern Oscillation. The ENSO is now considered to be the most critical and important weather pattern and disruption event that occurs in the Pacific Ocean but impacts global weather patterns. 

Fires in the Deep - February 1977, one of the greatest maritime discoveries of all time happened in the Pacific. It was the discovery of deep ocean hydro thermal vents that changed many views about the origins of life and of incredible minerals and wealth at the bottom of the oceans. Life forms discovered around the hydrothermal vents defied the existing reasoning demonstrating that active life forms existed at unheard of depths, where the pressure is significant, there is complete absence of sunlight, warmth and no known established nutrients. A seminal paper was written in Science on this phenomenon [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226614578_The_Prokaryotes] due to the deep under sea / ocean work carried out in the Pacific. 

In addition, work carried in the deep oceans like the Pacific confirmed the existence of underwater mountains, ridges, valleys, eruptions and plate tectonic theories. The unique tectonic architecture of the Pacific plate (which is the largest tectonic plate on Earth) and its jostling with other plates creates the unique but deadly Ring of Fire around the Pacific rim. This deadly Ring of Fire encapsulates more than 400 active volcanoes and deadly earth quakes caused by the movement of the Pacific plate against the other plates in the region. 

Besides these four chapters there are many other chapters that share wonderful insights and secrets around the Pacific ocean including a chapter on the Korean war, garbage floating in the Pacific, the fragile ecosystem of the Pacific including the world of corals. growth of Hong Kong and the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to the Chinese and atomic testing programs in the Pacific. 

There is a wealth of knowledge to be obtained by reading many of the chapters in this book. The power of the Pacific, what lies beneath it and around its rim makes for fascinating reading. This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in science, climate, and the geopolitics around the most dynamic region in the world - the Pacific.  

https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Silicon-Surfboards-Dictators-Empires/dp/0062315420