The Silent Deep: The Discovery, Ecology, and Conservation of the Deep Sea

Deep sea ecologist Koslow (a senior researcher at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) has both the breadth of knowledge and the keen insight to orchestrate this complex volume, an encyclopedic overview of 200 years' worth of oceanographic discoveries, research and resource exploitation. Organized chronologically, part one begins with ancient thinkers like Aristotle before profiling the work of pioneering oceanic naturalists of the early 19th century like Edward Forbes, Henri Milne-Edwards and (of course) Charles Darwin. The second part explores 20th-century methods for tackling the mysteries of the deep sea, including spectacular discoveries of unknown species, hydrothermal springs, methane seeps and whale falls. The third section considers the deep-reaching impact of humanity—not only through fishing, mining and dumping, but also global climate change, whose effects touch every region of the sea. This volume provides helpful information on any given seacentric query and a thorough bibliography for finding additional material. Illustrations and figures range from reproductions of early drawings to high-resolution in situ photographs startling in beauty and detail. Informative, gorgeous and extremely well-written, this title may be the only marine life reference you'll ever need. (Apr.)