The Sea Around UsPublished in 1951, The Sea Around Us is one of the most remarkably successful books ever written about the natural world. Rachel Carson's rare ability to combine scientific insight with moving, poetic prose catapulted her book to first place on The New York Times best-seller list, where it enjoyed wide attention for thirty-one consecutive weeks. It remained on the list for more than a year and a half and ultimately sold well over a million copies, has been translated into 28 languages, inspired an Academy Award-winning documentary, and won both the 1952 National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal. This classic work remains as fresh today as when it first appeared. Carson's writing teems with stunning, memorable images--the newly formed Earth cooling beneath an endlessly overcast sky; the centuries of nonstop rain that created the oceans; giant squids battling sperm whales hundreds of fathoms below the surface; and incredibly powerful tides moving 100 billion tons of water daily in the Bay of Fundy. Quite simply, she captures the mystery and allure of the ocean with a compelling blend of imagination and expertise. Reintroducing a classic work to a whole new generation of readers, this Special Edition features a new chapter written by Jeffrey Levinton, a leading expert in marine ecology, that brings the scientific side of The Sea Around Us completely up to date. Levinton incorporates the most recent thinking on continental drift, coral reefs, the spread of the ocean floor, the deterioration of the oceans, mass extinction of sea life, and many other topics. In addition, acclaimed nature writer Ann Zwinger has contributed a brief foreword. Today, with the oceans endangered by the dumping of medical waste and ecological disasters such as the Exxon oil spill in Alaska, this illuminating volume provides a timely reminder of both the fragility and the importance of the ocean and the life that abounds within it. Anyone who loves the sea, or who is concerned about our natural environment, will want to read this classic work. |
Contents
The Gray Beginnings | 3 |
The Pattern of the Surface | 17 |
The Changing Year | 29 |
The Long Snowfall | 75 |
The Birth of an Island | 83 |
The Shape of Ancient Seas | 97 |
THE RESTLESS | 109 |
Wind Sun and the Spinning of the Earth | 131 |
The Moving Tides | 149 |
The Global Thermostat | 167 |
Wealth from the Salt Seas | 185 |
Suggestions for Further Reading | 245 |
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Common terms and phrases
abundant ancient animals Antarctic Arctic areas Atlantic Barents Sea Bay of Fundy beach birds bottom canyons Carson century climate coast coastal cold continental continental shelf continents copepods coral creatures crest crust dark deep sea deep water deposited depths diatoms drift earth east Europe fathoms feet fish formed fossil geologic geologists glaciers Greenland Gulf Stream Iceland islands known Krakatoa Labrador Current land larvae layer living marine mass miles million years ago moon mountains moving mysterious North America northern ocean basins ocean floor ocean water oceanographers open ocean Pacific perhaps plankton plants Pleistocene Pytheas rain reef Ridge rise rivers rocks sailing salt Sargasso sargassum sea floor sea level sediments shallow ship shores slopes sound South South Equatorial Current species sperm whale Spitsbergen squid storm submarine surf surface waters temperature thousands tidal tides tion vessel volcanic warm waves whales winds