The book communicates coastal geology such that the reader gets a better understanding of how scientists work and how scientific knowledge is acquired and how it progresses. It presents the human side of geologic research, including missteps, in this case, research on coastal change of the recent past, the present, and the near future.

The audience for this volume is the general public, coastal managers, politicians, and decision makers in general, in the coastal realm. But the implications of this work with regard to future climate change and human responses are relevant globally.