"Work on problems you most enjoy" — Munk's legacy

Abstract

An exchange I once had with oceanographer Walter Munk offers insight into how he inspired countless scientists and engineers. The inspiration first came to me from his classic paper 'Abyssal recipes' (W. H. Munk Deep-Sea Res. 13, 707–730; 1966), in which he laid out the seemingly unlikely notion that swimming animals contribute to ocean mixing. In 2007, after pursuing that line of research for more than a year without success, I e-mailed Walter for advice.

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