The Sea Around Us, Special Edition Paperback – December 12, 1991

We live on a blue planet, it's surface is dominated by a vast, mysterious, expanse of trackless wilderness that we call the ocean. All life, as far as we know, sprang from its timeless embrace, diversifying into the countless forms that inhabit the Earth today. From the darkest depth of the ocean to the farthest reaches of land and air, life is the defining element of our world. But each and every living thing carries within it the pulsing, bitter, chemistry of the sea, in its blood and throughout its body. It's been said that we know less about Poseidon's watery domain than we do about our nearest celestial neighbor; the Moon. Be that as it may, the sea remains, to this very day, a hidden realm of secret places and eternal mystery. While there were many fine nature books written prior to 1951, Rachel Carson's "The Sea Around Us" (*) is the one that reset the bar for all those that followed. Written for the general public by an eminent biologist of the day, this book took readers to a place that few, if any, had even thought of. Winner of the National Book Award-Nonfiction and the Burroughs Medal for science writing "The Sea Around Us" spent an astounding 86 weeks on the New York Times best seller list and was an instant hit with readers everywhere. In spite of being written nearly 60 years ago many of it's concepts are still valid today and it remains one of the best nature books ever written. Yes, Oceanography and the study of marine life has come a long way over the intervening decades but the overall message is as vital today as it was during the early 20th Century. Carson was an all around naturalist and this book covers more than just sea life. Geology is an important part of any nature study, it sets the stage for all that follows. The formation of the Earth and how we came to have a moon are all covered with theories that were popular when Carson wrote this book. The mid-Atlantic Ridge was discovered around 1850 during the HMS Challenger Expedition but nobody knew what its function was or how it fit into the overall picture. So you won't find any mention of Sea-Floor Spreading, Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics or the Hawaiian Hot Spot in "The Sea Around Us", these are modern concepts that weren't accepted by the scientific "old guard" till late in the 1960s. What you will find is a stunning tour of the living sea from it's ancient beginning to our modern day explorations. In researching for her book the author consulted with other scientists in various fields, people like Jacques Cousteau and Thor Heyerdahl. An excerpt from Heyerdahl's personal letter to her gives an account of his observations of Pacific surface life taken while he was aboard his balsa wood raft "Kon-Tiki" in 1947. Beyond Biology Carson gives the reader an in depth review of ocean currents, wave action and the never ending tides. Island Biogeography is reviewed with thoughts on how various plants and animals may have migrated to the most remote islands or from one continent to another by using various pathways like; walking over temporary land bridges, riding in the wind or drifting on ocean currents. Delving into some other disciplines she examines the birth of an island, undersea volcanoes, the ever changing sea level and how Ice Ages impacted the ocean. Throughout the book Carson gives her views on Man's use, and abuse, of the sea. She also talks about climate change, warming Arctic seas and shrinking glaciers but, like some scientists today, she links these issues more to long term climate fluctuations rather than just human activities. Many of her views are just a relevant now as they were in the last century. Some of her comments seem to anticipate our modern fears of "global warming", environmental degradation and our threatened biodiversity. All of this is, of course, from the viewpoint of 1950's science, but Rachel Carson was a professional scientists and, as such, was fully aware that some of what she wrote about could be overturned or invalidated by future research, observations and findings. How much things can change in just a decade is covered in this 1961 edition with extensive notes and some thoughts on newer concepts. Now, some 60 years after publication, there are countless new books and authors that will bring us up to date on many of the issues covered in this book. "The Sea Around Us" is an excellent introduction to our Blue Planet's oceans and the many living things that call it home. So don't be put off by when it was written, I'm sure that anyone who loves reading about Natural History will find it well worth their time. I also think that Rachel Carson would be pleased and excited by our modern day findings and the many new theories in Oceanography and Biology. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition.(*) This is book 2 of Carson's "Sea Trilogy". Book 1 is "Under the Sea Wind" and book 3 is "The Edge of the Sea".Last Ranger

• The Sea Around Us was first published in 1950 and revised in 1960. The revisions mostly take the form of footnotes, which in my edition are shown in the text. TSAU is one of the single handful of most famous popular science books ever. I probably never would have picked it up, thinking it hopelessly outdated, except for a wonderful PBS documentary on Ms. Carson. But having the added hook, knowing the context, joined with the motivation of that it must be famous for something, inspired me after all these decades to give it a go. So first of all, what is it? From the bio I know that it is highly scientific, i.e., it is largely based on primary sources. Also, that it was many years in writing. What emerges is 15 chapters, loosely grouped into three sections, which are loosely grouped into the book. Some of the subjects of the chapters are – what does the bottom of the ocean look like and how could these structures, e.g., canyons in the continental shelf have formed? How did humans migrate over the ocean, especially in prehistoric times? Some of the subjects are rich and surprising: life on the ocean bottom depends on the long snowfall of detritus. Now for evaluation. I learned much. Considering the beginning was perhaps the most outdated I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, the tides must affect the deep ocean. The tides were really much higher in the ancient earth? Of course, since the moon was much closer. So, the oceans daily must have swept over much greater parts of the continents. And with violence. How dated is it? There were only the first computers. Only the first satellites. Only the first DNA sequencing. Continental drift was still speculative. Deep ocean vents were still undiscovered. Some of the fun is seeing how much has changed, but yet how much they got right. Much of the praise is for the writing and the language. Certainly, every word is indeed in its place. And every paragraph. Often the best language though is from the quotes, especially from the mariners. Digressing, I now understand Moana better than before! So yes, it is a great book and very much recommended for anybody who looks forward to their vacation on the ocean every year. Especially if they love nature. And science.

This review is for the seller and not necessarily the contents of the book. I buy a lot of used books and don't usually buy books listed as "acceptable", I took a chance on this one because it is hard to find and usually a lot more expensive. I am VERY pleased with condition of this book, it is beautiful, very little wear for such an old book. I have bought used books listed as Excellent, in the past, that come with the bindings falling off and pages falling out, which is disappointing. I am extremely pleased with this purchase (I don't normally leave reviews- that's how happy I am).

I thought I was going to be reading a book about the amazing "creatures" of our oceans and seas. Surprisingly I was taken on a scientific journey and many of the truths and theories relating to the lands and seas about us, their solar interactions, creation and much more. We've learned a lot more in the 60 years since the author's updated version, although much remains the same. It is still one of our least knowledgeable areas. Interesting read.

This book is a superb geography text book, well written and , although from the late 1950s, not dated.It was written before the Plate Theory of continental movement, before satellite measurements of sea levels and coast lines and before deep ocean exploration, but it doesn't suffer from that. Nothing she talks about is wrong in today's knowledge. It is just explained deeper if it is read with a layman's understanding of those recent developments.

I found this book following the Google Doodle honouring Rachel Carson's environmental awareness work. I was struck by how beautifully written this was. The description was evocative, and while it was a scientific book, the narrative flowed quite nicely. Somehow the content was highly educational but avoided the 'lecture' style. Because there is no proper 'story' to the book, I have been reading it on and off simply whenever I am in the mood to be transported into a deep ocean of discovery.

An extremely interesting read, I recommend to any curious person who loves the sea and how things came to be...

I bought this copy for my young friend's 15th birthday. It inspired me as a child some 50 years ago! Updated illustrations and a magical book.

Great