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I) Oceanography
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Click cover to enlarge
Janet Browne and Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin,
Voyaging
ISBN: 0691026068
Major Science Points: Medicine, scientific observation, botany, voyages of the Beagle, theoretical development, The Origin of Species.
Janet Browne details the life of one of histories most controversial scientists in Voyaging. We learn about Charles Darwin the man from his early life as a member of the cultured and privileged family, through his dalliance with medical school, his development as a naturalist, and his eventual notoriety as the man who developed the theory of natural selection. His five years aboard the Beagle and his forays throughout South America, the South Pacific, and the Galapagos Islands consume only one-third of this book, and transform a seasick apprentice into a keen observer of nature and an amateur geologist. Although Darwin is the central figure, Hooker, Wallace, Lyell, Huxley, Darwin’s wife and family all have important parts in this entertaining biography. Skillfully, Browne develops the human side of science, shows us that it is truly a human endeavor, and gives both the social and intellectual aspects of this man. Recommended April 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Adrian Desmond and James Moore
Darwin: The Life of a
Tormented Evolutionist
ISBN: 0393311503
Major Science Points: Basic geology, basic biology, evolutionary biology, development of theory, the influence of society on scientific development.
This book is a fresh look at Darwin, and a classic study of the scientific method as practiced by one of the great science minds of the 19th century. Of course, the textbook version of the scientific method is (1) make observations, (2) form a hypothesis, (3) test the hypothesis, (4) modify the hypothesis, repeating (3) and (4) as necessary. An unwritten but essential part of the scientific process is the life experience that allows a human being to make the magical leap to an understanding in the form of a hypothesis which has often eluded others who had the same facts at hand. Darwin’s father and grandfather, and the Wedgwood family relatives, encouraged thinking and the experiencing of nature. They philosophically aliened themselves among Unitarians and “dissenters,” who challenged the dominant and fossilized conservative British establishment that wanted to maintain privilege and property against logic and at the expense of the common people. Darwin’s father allowed pre-high school age Charles and his brother buy the materials for a chemical laboratory that they proposed themselves, set up, and tinkered with. A close relative, part of the wealthy Wedgwood wing of the family, finically supported Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen and other gases.
Part of one’s life experience is the age one grows up in. For Charles Darwin, it was a golden age of rapidly developing science before it become super specialized, when any educated person could understand the basic pros and cons of an issue. During this time, even businessmen would form groups to discuss the latest hot science topics. When Darwin was attending college, the biological faculty accepted evolution, and that life must have developed from the simple to the complex as the only reasonable explanation. Darwin did not propose evolution - his much later contribution was the mechanism by which one species could change to another, backed up by evidence. At that time, the dominant Anglican church and English social establishment, and even famous pioneer geologists such as Lyell and Sedwick, reacted to evolution much the same way that creationists do today, with the unwholesome addition that those who attracted attention could be stripped of their livelihood and jailed (present day “creationists” can only dream of returning to these “good old days” with the same punishment for school biology teachers). Creationists overlook that Charles Darwin believed in God, but he modified his socially based interpretations of life as his thinking on biology evolved.
Darwin’s initial “observation” phase was his life-changing, world-circling, discovery cruise on the HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. This was a British government-sponsored project to take accurate celestial fixes and make bathymetric maps at key places along South America, the Galapagos Islands, and points west. It is famous for Darwin’s biological observations that the plants and animals were always adapted to the local physical conditions.
What is not as well known is that Charles Darwin’s geological background was an important part of his preparation. In fact, Darwin considered his first love to be geology! He had had a crash course on geology with the great sedimentary geologist Adam Sedwick, who was part of the faculty at Cambridge University when Darwin was a student. Charles Lyell’s famous pioneering textbook Principles of Geology was carefully read by Darwin and consulted on the cruise. Darwin used the geological setting of dinosaur bones in Argentina and coral reefs in the Pacific to connect the geological dots, demonstrating that (1) there was no great flood that zapped the dinosaurs, that (2) that South America was rising, and (3) the Pacific Ocean floor and islands were sinking! ([What 20-something student today could sit in on some Geology 100 classes, pack off to South America and the Pacific atolls with only the Geology 100 text for a reference and, with what can be seen, find defendable evidence for this grand plate motion?) After the HMS Beagle voyage, Darwin’s first science fellowship election was to the British Geological Society, and his first scientific paper was presented in geology.
Another variant of the scientific method by Darwin was in the hypothesis testing stage. He used his geological observations and hypotheses as a framework to understand biology. His initial biological thinking began well before the HMS Beagle cruise, was greatly expanded during the voyage, and continued on for the rest of his life. New biological data from around the world was sent to him as specimens, notes, and scientific papers from a dramatically growing world of discoveries in the life sciences. This became the impetus for Darwin to probe the most basic nature of life on earth.
An example of what one could do is illustrated in his observation of a wasp. What is the difference between instinct, learning, and behavior? Guidance came from a wasp that stings a grub, lays eggs on the grub, and dies immediately. The orphaned eggs hatch, eat the grub, and grow up to become adults who “know” how to repeat the process without any direct instruction from the parent. This shows that “instinct” or instructions must be passed to the descendents in some genetic way and are not learned. With this sort of complex analysis, Darwin arrived at his evolution hypothesis and then tested it against a spectrum of biological and geological data over an expanded period of time, to arrive at his finished hypothesis, backed up with a solid base of a wide range of observations and analyses that has passed the test of time.
The authors of this biography weave these fragments together to help us understand the conditions that motivated a remarkable person who persevered to remarkable accomplishments. As you read this book, you will appreciate the detailed thinking and the intricate steps spread over a lifetime, applying the scientific method to arrive at what is arguably one of the more far-reaching scientific concepts formed since the industrial revolution. Recommended 2003 by Dr. Monte Marshall. Reviewed July 2003 by Bev Carson.
Deep
Atlantic. Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss
ISBN 1558216634
Major Science Points: Marine biology, oceanography, ocean floor topography and formation, hydrothermal vents, abyssal animal life in the Atlantic. Includes exceptional illustrations.
The portrayal of the Atlantic begins the with a history of ocean floor expeditions and the men who headed these ventures. Ellis examines ocean currents, ocean floor formation, topography, and hydrothermal vent areas before he takes us into the deep and the explorations made possible only since the invention of submersibles. The second half of his Atlantic chronicle reveals facts about the marine life present in the cold and incredible depths of the abyss. He presents sections on chemosynthetic creatures, invertebrates, cephalopods, sharks, fishes and whales found in the world’s deep oceans. The book has dramatic and beautiful illustrations. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed: June 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker
The Beach
Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker
ISBN: 0140278028
Major Science Points: Geology, physics, biology, origins, and terminology, environment.
Informative, full of contrast, and well organized with historic and scientific thought. Seeing a beach and knowing about it are two different things, and this book will help you do both. The focus and “proper” use of “the beach” has metamorphosed with time. Early on, the British used the beach as a type of convalescent rehabilitation unit for TB patients. In the late 1800s, bathing for genteel women consisted of being driven out into shallow water in a little house on wheels. The bathing experience was that a strong, mature woman attendant would grab the young woman around the waist and hold her under the waves (one would think that this would rather cut into the fun side of the beach experience), a very different experience than what was done in times past, or what we know today. The book includes photographs and paintings, informative descriptions and depictions of beaches, coves, bays, cliffs and waves. Our symbiotic relationship with beaches and their varied landscapes is wonderfully depicted. Recommended April 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
David Lewis
We The Navigators
ISBN: 0824815823
Major Science Points: Prehistoric navigation, Pacific basin and archipelagos settlement, stars, sun, ocean swells and wave patterns as means of navigation.
Thousands of years ago, the introduction of humans to remote islands in the Pacific basin began. The only means of accessing these islands was by navigating the ocean itself in outrigger canoes. We the Navigators examines the skills and tools used by the ancient explorers to successfully reach remote islands, some separated by thousands of miles of open ocean water. Star charts, wave patterns altered by an island 100 miles away, currents, cloud patterns and bird flights used by the navigators are examined and detailed. This is an astonishing story of traditional navigation, and a scholarly look at the systems used by the ancient explorers of the Pacific. Recommended 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Joseph Banks: A Life
ISBN: 0226616282
Major Science Points: Founding of Australia, maritime explorations, botany, maps.
As a young man, Banks ventured to Newfoundland and then joined Captain Cook on the HMS Endeavor for voyages through the Southern Hemisphere from 1768-1771. Stops at Tahiti, New Zealand, Eastern Australia and Indonesia are recounted. Biological observations and material collected during the cruise established Banks’ reputation as a professional scientist of note. Later in life, Banks enjoyed the company of both Benjamin Franklin and King George III, and lobbied to make Botany Bay, Australia a penal colony. He was also the president of the Royal Society of London until his death. He supported Captain Bligh’s search for breadfruit on the infamous Bounty, and encouraged the making of the first geology map of England. The author of the fictional Aubrey-Maturian series creates an engaging non-fiction about English naturalist Joseph Banks. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed June 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Longitude
ISBN: 0802713122
Major Science Points: Development of the accurate marine clock, navigation, physics, accuracy, mechanical designs.
The trials faced by travelers before the 18th century are hard to imagine in the day and age of GPS! Yet thousands of lives were lost because there was no accurate and dependable method to help navigators fix longitude at sea. In 1714 the British Parliament offered the equivalent of a $12 million prize to anyone who could solve the problem. One of the two plausible methods required a clock with accuracy that was far beyond the technical capability at that time. The solitary efforts of clockmaker John Harrison to create an accurate device that need to be impervious to pitch and roll, and the effects of humidity and temperature variations on board a ship, is the essence of this story but not the entire saga. For decades the Longitude Board in charge of prize money fought to keep the legitimate winner from his prize and the recognition he deserved. Woven into Ms. Sobel’s story are political intrigue, history, disaster at sea, hardship, human determination, scientific study, foul play, pettiness, and finally the acceptance of Harrison’s chronometer. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
II) Oceanography - Applied
John Steele Gordon
Thread Across the Ocean
ISBN: 0802713645
Major Science Points: Ocean topography/plateaus and ridges, physics, ship design, electrical signals and currents.
Thread Across the Ocean details the heroic efforts and resourcefulness of Cyrus Field, Lord Kelvin (the renowned physicist), and English engineer Isambard Brunel as they struggle to overcome often seemingly insurmountable technological problems, a near-disaster at sea, and uncommon physical, financial, and intellectual ordeals. The Civil War had barely ended in 1866 when a telegraph cable was laid across the Atlantic to unite the U.S. and Europe; it failed quickly and was followed by other disasters. The laying of almost 3,000 miles of cable is the outline of this story. The engineering achievements, the then-unimagined features of the oceanic floor, discoveries in applied electronics and applications of physics make this a tale of science, vision, determination, and international economics and commerce rolled into one book. In the end, this accomplishment made near-instantaneous international communications a fact of everyday life. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson, April 22, 2003.
Gary Kinder
Ship of Gold In the Deep Blue Sea
ISBN 0871134640
Major Science Points: Tropical storms, physical oceanography, salvage efforts in deep water, acoustical sonar, ocean floor geology, robotics, and engineering.
In 1857, California passengers and $1.6 million worth of gold coins and ingots created in the new California mint in San Francisco saild for New York aboard the SS Central America. Between Havana, Cuba and Charleston, South Carolina an Atlantic hurricane was building. Lacking meteorological knowledge, the heavily-laden steamer was at the mercy of the elements. It sank 160 miles off the South Carolina coast in 8,000 feet of water. All the gold and 425 lives were lost, ending the first part of the story.
One hundred twenty years later, Tommy Thompson studied engineering in college and became fascinated with shipwrecks. He began focusing on the SS Central America, and in 1983 he teamed up with a geologist to begin their search for the steamer and her cargo. They used details gleaned from the accounts of the steamer’s 153 survivors to build a map of probability. Even using modern statistical analysis, the search area was still vast, covering 1,400 square miles. In 1986, Thompson developed his ROV named Nemo and, using it in 1987-88, the team began concentrating on two sites. At the second site, after the team had spent hours searching with Nemo, the rusting side-wheel of the SS Central America came into view on the monitors. The SS Central America had been located and excavations began.
Some portions of this book are tiresome and drawn out. This book would be most appreciated by technology freaks and incurable fortune hunters. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed July 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Noel Mostert
SuperShip
Noel Mostert
ISBN: 0394494806
Major Science Points: Environmental issues, oceans, currents, ocean waves, impacts on ocean ecology and shorelines.
The energy crisis of the 1970s inspired Noel Mostert to write about the history of crude oil shipping. SuperShip is the chronicle of oil spills, disasters, ship design, the hubris of oil companies, and an ever-consuming nation that has led to the creation of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). A quarter-mile long and 50 yards wide, these immense ships each deliver enough crude to sustain a small city for a year. These ships also maximize the profits for the oil companies.
SuperShip is a look into the oil business, including the pollution from these colossal ships as they leak, break apart, and pump oil from their bilges. The author discusses shipping disasters and oil spills long before the Exxon Valdez. Mostert also discusses the intentional dumping of crude into oceans during rough seas and how this practice threatens our sensitive ocean resource. Recommended 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed June 2003 by Bev Carson.
III) Ocean - Fishing
Sebastian Junger
The Hungry Ocean
ISBN 0-393-04016-X
Major Science Points: Ocean fishing, meteorology, wind-driven currents, coastal currents, waves, convergence zones, thermoclines and thermohaline layers, boundary currents, and effects of physical conditions on fishing.
The lure of big catches and big payoffs led captain Linda Greenlaw and her crew of five men on the Hanna Boden to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland looking for swordfish. Ms. Greenlaw and her crew face storms, sharks, constant danger of mechanical failures, along with physical and mental fatigue during their month-long journey, which covers over 1,000 nautical miles. The interactions, camaraderie, and daily routine of the crew and captain offer a vivid glimpse into the often dangerous and always demanding profession of commercial swordfishing. Includes references to currents, thermohaline conditions, wind-driven and boundary currents, and how these affect searching and fishing for swordfish, and the livelihood of the Hanna Boden’s crew. Recommended by Bev Carson. Reviewed June 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
COD – A Biography of the
Fish That Changed the World
ISBN: 0140275010
Major Science Points: Oceanography, life cycles, depletion of fisheries, resource management, marine ecology, regulation, catches and economics, international fishing law, and mass extinction.
That this fish has changed the world is no exaggeration. Cod has played a substantial role in human development, exploration, wars, and the history of dozens of countries. This chronicle is of the cod’s importance through the history of the North Atlantic and the countries that surround it. Europeans fished cod off North America before Columbus “discovered” it in 1492. Cod fisheries are responsible for the exploration and development of Iceland, Greenland, Eastern Canada, and New England. The cod is linked to the social and religious customs of various cultures throughout the world. This fish became an integral part of languages and economies, has been responsible for numerous international conflicts, and even figured in slave trade. The dark side of the history of this fish, at one time reported to be beyond number, is the recent complete collapse of the Canadian cod fishery due to the usual trilogy of grievous over-fishing, industry denial, and facilitation by a lack of public will. This well-written book is an educational, humorous, historical and informative look at a single species of fish that was honored, revered, prized, and hunted for centuries by the Vikings, Basques, British, Americans and, now, not by the Canadians. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Distant Water: Fate
of the North Atlantic Fisherman
ISBN: 031692328-I
Major Science Points: Trawler fishing, ecology, regulation of resources.
This is a narrative of maritime men and women after World War II and the constantly diminishing food sources they sought. As large-scale fishing increased in efficiency by improved technology, it only furthered the decline of the fisheries. The book also includes daily accounts of shipboard life and prospects for the future of deep-water fisheries. The author has lived on several fishing vessels, both U.S. and foreign. In some ways, the Russian vessels seemed the most pragmatic. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed June 2003, Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Spike Walker
Working on the Edge
ISBN: 0312089244
Major Science Points: Fishing and over-harvesting of resources, climate, storms, ice, wind, hazards, predation, biological cycles, geography, and history of an industry.
Spike Walker details his years in Alaska, from a novice crabber to an experienced hand aboard various ships that searched for King crab in the waters around Alaska during the boom years. There are detailed and vivid accounts of the uneven quality of the ships and crews, and of life aboard a crabber, the good and bad boat captains, and the ever present waves, ice, and danger. The risks involved in the search for King crab in the seas and sub-zero temperatures of Alaska are legendary. Photographs of immense crab cages caked with ice and capsized ships bring home the reality of successful and failed fishing trips and rescues, and will make you feel as if you’re there. This is an honest and engaging look at the industry from a man who has worked on the ships, seen the wealth of successful harvests, as well as the loss of life, the mayhem of drug and alcohol abuse, and the failure of the crab population to sustain itself after years of incredible harvests. Spike Walker gives an account of the lives of “crabbers” on and off ship that is hard to imagine and impossible to forget. Recommended and reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
IV) Ocean – Military/Submarine
Igor Kurdin
Hostile Waters
ISBN: 0312966121
Major Science Points: Anti-submarine warfare, acoustics, surface waves, reactor accidents.
This is an account of a 1986 incident about an aging Soviet submarine off the coast of North Carolina and the struggle of her crew in trying to save their submarine, themselves, and the eastern US from nuclear destruction. Battling fire in the confined space, an overheating nuclear reactor, poisonous gases, radioactivity and deadly smoke, the men of the USSR-K219 manage to surface under incredible odds and then scuttle the ship once most of the crew escaped. Seaman Sergei Preminin aboard the K-219 sacrificed himself to save countless unsuspecting US citizens. The 10,000-ton sub and her nuclear-tipped missiles now lies three miles below the surface of the Atlantic. This is an account of heroism at sea, opposing views as to why the submarine failed, and a glimpse into the lives of men struggling to survive in the secretive Cold Wwar world of submarines and their battle with the sea. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Peter Mass
The Terrible Hours
ISBN: 0061014591
Major Science Points: Pioneering underwater rescue, rescue equipment, submarines, sea temperature and pressure.
Traditionally named for marine life, the submarine Squalus was no exception. [This is not clear. Many submarines are named for things other than marine life.] In the 1920s and 1930s, several submarines suffered accidents close to the coast and quickly sank to the continental shelf bottom where depths are relatively shallow. These subs would settle to the 50-80 meter-deep bottom with most, if not all, of the crew still alive. The sequence for these shallow-shelf submarine rescues was that (1) someone had to notice that the sub was overdue, (2) the sub had to be located, (3) a method of rescue had to improvised on the spot, and (4) this had to be accomplished in a few days before the crew ran out of air (actually, before the CO2 built up to toxic levels). Even a few dozen feet of water was enough to trap the submariners inside. These accidents eventually prompted a series of technical changes, many instigated by Commander “Swede” Momsen of the U.S. Navy, who experimented first with hard-hat diving techniques. He developed a free ascent device for escaping from a sufficiently shallow submarine known as the Momsen lung.
Commissioned in March 1939, the diesel sub Squalus had been making successful test dives in the Atlantic. On May 23, 1939 she had a compliment of 56 crew and three civilians on board when a valve malfunction caused the submarine to sink to 60 fathoms (243 feet) below the surface outside Portsmouth New Hampshire. The Terrible Hours is the tale of the men inside the sub and the man the Navy summoned to rescue them, Commander Momsen.
Momsen and his rescue party were lucky, as it took many attempts for a hard-hat diver to attach required guide cables to the sunken Squalus. The problem was that human mental processes are severely compromised when using atmospheric air at 240 feet depth (7.5 atmospheres), so that just turning a bolt with a wrench is a heroic effort requiring total mental focus. The amazing twist to this is that U.S. Navy authority disliked Momsen and his experiments so much that they refused to officially link his name with his successful rescue device, which saved lives and was the prototype for those that followed. The rescue of 33 Squalus survivors over two days despite the Navy bureaucracy was a victory of innovation over the status quo. The technique and theory behind the rescue of the crew and the eventual retrieval of the submarine from the ocean floor was the prototype for naval rescue operations for an extended period.
A minor weakness of this book is that there are no diagrams of the submarine, pictures of the equipment, or maps. These would have added considerably to the reader’s understanding and appreciation. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed July 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Nicholas Monsarrat
The Cruel Sea-The North Atlantic in WWII
ISBN: 1580800467
Major Science Points: Buoyancy, storms at sea, waves, naval warfare, technology.
The Cruel Sea is a vivid depiction of the ships and the men that were tested in the Atlantic during World War II. Author Nicholas Monsarrat served six years in the British Navy and fought in the Battle of the Atlantic. His background with corvettes as convoy escorts during WWII is the solid and substantial foundation for this historical novel.
A primary and ever-present character throughout the book is the restless, uncomfortable and dangerous Atlantic Ocean itself. The other main adversary is the enemy underneath its unpredictable surface. German submarines carried out numerous successful missions to destroy any ships supplying the British war effort in the 1940s. This widely read and acclaimed book combines accounts of experienced and novice seamen battling together, advances in technology made during wartime, shipwrecks, and rescues. Monsarrat touches us with the despair and loneliness experienced by men at war upon the sea, the brotherhood among sailors, the ghastliness of war, and the ever-present awareness that during war you are either the hunter or the prey. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed July 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Lawrence Drew
Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of
American Submarine Espionage
ISBN: 1891620088
Major Science Points: Ocean acoustics, cold war technology strategy, nuclear power.
This is the tale of submarine espionage and intrigue from the Cold War through the Clinton years. Games of cat and mouse, underwater collisions, warriors in metal tubes beneath the oceans intercepting enemy communications are all elements in Blind Man’s Bluff. Added to the mix are the personalities of the men, from the captains to the seamen to the politicians and bureaucrats who control their missions. From the submarines wired with self-destruct devices being sent into hostile waters, to cable-tapping missions, the loss of the USS Scorpion, the recovery of unexploded hydrogen bombs and lost Soviet equipment from the time of diesel subs to the modern nuclear fleet, we learn what it means to serve in the ocean depths from the men of the silent service.
This book tends to be more of an uneven list of incidents rather than a well-written, integrated story. It would most appeal to those with a special interest in submarines or the Cold War in the ocean. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
V) Ocean - Polar
Caroline Alexander and Joseph Hurley
The Endurance: Shackelton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition
ISBN: 0375404031
Major Science Points: Sea ice, currents, weather, sailing, navigation, Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean, South Georgia and Elephant Islands.
In 1914-1916, with no radios and trapped for nine months in pack ice, the Endurance sinking, Shackleton and his crew abandon ship and maneuver their way north in hopes of being able to rescue themselves. Without the sophisticated equipment of today, and facing incredibly desperate conditions, the men journey across hostile terrain and seas toward an eventual rescue 17 months after they began. Shackleton played out one of the greatest polar adventure stories of all time. Before the Endurance cruise, he was competing with other polar explorers, including Captain Scott and Amundsen, to be the first to the South Pole. He almost beat them, coming within 100 km of the Pole before being forced to turn back.
After Amundsen reached the South Pole, Shackleton decided on a scheme to be the first to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. Shackelton collected money to finance the expedition by check-kiting and other creative schemes. One money-saving trick was to not pay for a recovery ship, but depend upon public opinion to force the British government to pick them up after they had crossed Antarctica. But first his delivery ship, the Endurance, was to drop him, his team and supplies off on the edge of the Weddell Sea. They got close, but did not reach the drop-off point. Instead, the Weddell Sea ice first trapped the Endurance and eventually crushed it. A photo of the Endurance at night, being strangled by the pack ice, is a classic polar discovery period photo.
By all rights, Shackleton and his team should have died on the ice. But Shackleton by dint of his personality, his polar experience, and some incredible luck, got himself and every crew member off the pack ice and back to civilization.
What really makes this book is the incredible original black and white photos taken by the expedition photographer, John Hurley. Otherwise, the writing is unremarkable, naive and without depth. Rolland Huntford’s The Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen’s Race to the South Pole provides a much more sophisticated examination of polar exploration that includes Shackleton. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed July 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Frozen In Time:
Unlocking the Secrets of the Franklin Expedition
ISBN: 0452265371
Major Science Points: Arctic exploration, Northwest Passage, lead poisioning, forensic anthropology, Inuit people, archeology.
In 1845, Sir John Franklin set out on his search for the Northwest Passage with 134 men. His ships held provisions for five years and were advanced ships for the time. When the expedition failed to emerge on the other side the British, in hopes of finding the men, launched several rescue expeditions. In 1850, 30 bodies were discovered, along with a number of graves that indicated acts of cannibalism had occurred. Not until 1859 did the final search party discover a cairn at Point Victory that contained messages about Franklin’s death in 1847. It revealed that most of the expedition perished while trekking south after the ships were trapped in the ice in 1848.
This book documents a special modern expedition to the gravesite to exhume two of the permafrost-preserved bodies for onsite forensic examination. The authors make the case that meat cans sealed with lead solder contributed to the death of the men from lead poisoning and the subsequent collapse of the Franklin Expedition. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed July 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Roland Huntford
The Last Place On Earth: Scott and
Amundsen’s Race to the S. Pole
ISBN: 0375754741
Major Science Points: Early Antarctic exploration, polar oceans, Southern Ocean, sea ice, icebergs, currents storms, climate, glacial ice.
By 1900, Europeans had walked over every significant place on the Earth but two: the North Pole and the South Pole. After the American explorer Peary reached the North Pole, the last challenge and the last place on Earth for the geographical explorer was the South Pole, and this was the last place to be "discovered" for many unique environmental reasons. Antarctica, especially on the Polar plateau, could be the baseline definition for a "harsh environment," with “summer” temperatures plunging below –60o C, combined with gale force winds, giving a new and unhealthy meaning to the term "wind chill."
Of the many challenges to staying alive, a special one is a crevasse, or sheer-walled, narrow canyon more than 50 feet deep in the glacier that caps most of Antarctica. Many crevasses are death traps covered by a thin snow bridge that will collapse under a single step and hides any hint of the crevasse’s presence. The competition to get the South Pole after 1900 narrowed to a handful. It was a twist of fate that the first two explorers who reached the South Pole accomplished this feat within a month of each other.
These two men were in complete contrast to each other in every possible way. It was the careful, dour Norwegian Amundsen who beat the more popular, better financed, and well-staffed British naval officer Captain Scott. However, the British have always loved a good loser and Scott, who had the good sense to die on the ice, was elevated to the position of one of their finest losers.
This well-written book is a good mix of facts, explanations and an examination of the characters of the two principals while simultaneously weighing their actions and contributions. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed June 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman.
Roland Huntford
Nansen, Biography of a Polar Explorer
ISBN: 0349114927
Major Science Points: Arctic oceanography, Arctic bathymetry, currents, sea ice, weather, polar biology, and scientific theory.
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen was one of the great legendary Arctic explorers who joined in the competition to be the first to reach the North Pole. But Nansen was more than a polar explorer; he was a PhD scientist and a careful observer of the biology of the arctic polar region. He was an early skiing enthusiast who helped invent improvements in the very primitive equipment that existed at the time.
He spent the early portion of his life on increasingly difficult polar challenges: He was the first to cross the central Scandinavian mountains in the winter, the first to cross Greenland, the first to sail a boat from the Atlantic to the Pacific by way of the Canadian Arctic Ocean. With this experience, his interest turned to the North Pole. And it was also this experience that he used to design and construct a special ship that would not be seized and crushed by the shifting polar sea ice as so many had been in the past.
His ship did survive, but because the polar ice drifts away from the North Pole, he failed to reach this target geographical point. Nansen did reach farther north than any previous explorer and had many adventures in the process. One of his oceanographic achievements was to determine that the Arctic Ocean is not a shallow sea less than 200 m deep, but an ocean with depths comparable to the Atlantic or the Pacific. This measurement was performed by cutting a hole in the sea ice, and lowering a weight with more than 3,000 meters of piano wire to touch the Arctic ocean bottom. The hard part was to wind up 3 km of wire by hand.
In his lifetime, Nansen was a pioneering oceanographer, Norwegian statesman, skiing enthusiast, lover of women, innovator, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Recommended 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed July 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman.
The Horizontal
Everest: Extreme Journeys on Ellesmere Island
ISBN: 1569473277
Major Science Points: Geology, Ice floes, water currents, storm patterns above 75° N, history of polar explorers, history of indigenous people, modern exploration. Stunning photography and maps.
Jerry Kobalenko takes us on his extreme journeys that traverse the frozen and amazing Ellesmere Island. Accomplishing his journeys by pulling a sled across the 10th largest island in the world, he takes extreme to a new level. Ellesmere Island is approximately 450 miles from the North Pole and Kobalenko’s journeys are often done solo. Sledding across polar bear country, over ice fields at midnight, maneuvering through passes, enduring temperatures of -50°F, eating 7,000 calories a day to survive, and riding out arctic storms in a tent are only some of the adventures he shares with us. Jerry Kobalenko takes us to cairns left by successful and failed explorations, geological formations, and the climate variations present on Ellesmere Island.
The isolated island was the launching point for Arctic explorations by Perry, Nansen, Cook, Greely, Sverdrup, Björling and others. The unique weather patterns, geological formations, island climates, as well as Kobalenko’s personal experiences covering Ellesmere are woven into a comprehensible fabric of military history, exploration, and present-day adventures that give this book a unique texture. The photographs are definitely worthy of mention, and Kobalenko is truly a scholar of Arctic history! Recommended and reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Frank Worsley and Edmund Hillary
Shackelton’s Boat Journey
ISBN: 0393318648
Major Science Points: Navigation, currents, weather, waves, sea ice, polar oceans, the Weddell Sea, the Southern Ocean.
Review: Latitude 77° S, and a ship is stuck fast in the ice pack. It drifts with the ice through the summer, autumn, and then winter. The ship Endurance covers 1,000 miles in the ice before its crushed and sinks. The crew is stranded on the ice itself and takes shelter in tents. It is 1914, and no communication is possible with the outside world. Foraging for seals and penguins, the crew of the Endurance and her captain discover a will to survive the harsh weather, killer whales, hunger, and the frigid water that surrounds them. Then a decision is made and they embark on an amazing 480-mile journey, 28 men in three lifeboats seeking the nearest island that is on the edge of the sea ice, Elephant Island, which is a deserted, barren island covered with rocks, snow and ice, and hundreds of miles from the nearest convenience store.
There is the additional minor problem that the outside world had not the slightest idea of their situation or location. The only chance for survival was to attempt to sail with the wind and the Antarctic circumpolar current to South Georgia Island, 800 miles to the NE. The only vessel available is a small whaleboat rigged with sail to struggle over mountainous waves, shrieking winds and icy water.
They slept in sopping-wet sleeping bags, which were decomposing with the bilge water surging through them with each wave. Nearly continuous storms kept the sky overcast, allowing Shackelton to observe a partial sun but once during the entire voyage to make a sextant-based estimate of their position. Nevertheless, by dead reasoning, solid seamanship, and iron character, Shackelton and his small crew reach South Georgia Island. This accomplishment stands out as one of the world’s legendary small-boat journeys and has became known as Shackelton’s Boat Journey. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
VI) Ocean - Surfing
Willard Bascom
Waves and Beaches
Major Science Points: Technical, with clear description of different wave types. Recommended by Erik Klimczak April 2003.
Caught Inside -- A Surfer’s Year on the California Coast
Recommended by Chance Bergstrom and Erik Klimczak April 2003.
The Stormrider’s Guide -- North America
Recommended by Erik Klimczak April 2003.
In Search Of Captain Zero: A Surfer’s Road Trip Beyond the End of the Road
Recommended by Erik Klimczak April 2003.
Surfing California
Recommended by Erik Klimczak April 2003.
Surfer’s Start-Up
Recommended April 2003 by Doug Werner.
Surfer’s Guide to Hawaii
Recommended April 2003 by Chance Bergstrom and Greg Ambrose.
The World Stormrider Guide
Recommended April 2003 by Antony “Yep” Colas.
VII) Ocean – Survival, Adventure
Tania Aebi and Bernadette Brennen
Maiden Voyage
ISBN: 0345410122
Major Science Points: Circumnavigation, currents, oceans and seas of the world, storms.
In 1985, 18-year-old Tania Aebi left New York harbor in a 26-foot sailboat to circumnavigate the world. Her father had made her an offer of a college education or a sailboat. If she chose the sailboat, she had to try to become the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in record time. She chose to sail around the world solo - even though she had only started sailing two years earlier! Her adventures on her sloop, Varuna, are lively and engaging as Tania navigates the oceans and seas of the world. Confronted with broken instruments, leaking fuel lines, spectacular storms, gale force winds, engine failures, and cultural barriers along the way, she enthralls us with her travels across the globe. She reveals the miscues, incredible battles against the elements and herself, the exhilarations, losses, fears, and many of the people she met along the way. Her story of personal triumph, overcoming obstacles with only a cat for companionship, and navigating some of the most hostile and dangerous areas of the world alone is an adventure not easily forgotten. Recommended and reviewed July 2003 by Bev Carson.
Steven Callahan
Adrift
ISBN: 0618257322
Major Science Points: Sailing, storms, waves, tropical Atlantic winds and currents, marine life.
This is the story of naval architect Steven Callahan and his journey that begins as a race from Penzance to Antigua and becomes a solitary struggle for survival after his sloop suddenly takes on water and sinks in minutes. With the few supplies that he manages to rescue, most of which would hardly seem like survival gear, Callahan is able to defy thirst, sun, wind, and shark encounters in his 1,800 miles of drifting on a raft across the Atlantic. Navigating by crude instruments made from pencils and other atypical equipment, Callahan uses ingenuity to save his life. He skillfully manages to keep himself alive by spearing fish and collecting rainwater until a small fishing boat finally spots and rescues him. This book encourages us to recognize the importance of preparation, personal resolve, and knowledge as the ultimate tools for adventurers everywhere. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed June 2003 by Bev Carson.
Walter Lord
A Night to Remember
ISBN: 0553278274
Major Science Points: Icebergs, shipping, ship design, ship safety.
The fifth night into her maiden voyage, the infamous Titanic struck an iceberg and everyone on board became either a victim or a survivor. Walter Lord personally interviewed many of the survivors of the disaster and wrote accounts more stunning and horrible than we can imagine. Loss of life and of an era come alive in this detailed, well-told tale. Parts of this incredible book were left out of the movie, but should not be missed. A Night to Remember is exactly that! Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Richard Henry Dana, Jr. and Gary Kinder
Two Years Before the Mast
ISBN: 0375757945
Major Science Points: Sailing, seamanship in the 19th century, doldrums, winds, currents.
Richard Henry Dana gives details of his life after failing health causes him to forego Harvard for work in the fresh air upon a sailing ship in 1830. Dana had many adventures during his two years aboard the ship Alert, including one off the west coast of South America when a large rogue wave suddenly appeared, sweeping along the entire deck of his ship, knocking down the chicken coop and the galley hut with the cook inside. Dana was on deck at the time, saw the wave coming, and escaped by quickly climbing up the ratlines to the mast.
This book accurately details Dana’s experiences on a trade vessel traveling from Boston ‘round Cape Horn, up the wilderness coast of pre-Gold Rush California and back to Boston. His experiences of climbing masts and hoisting sails 100 feet above the ship’s deck, seeing dolphins, whales, and storms provide excitement that contrasts with the mundane, routine daily life experienced most days aboard the ship. The abuses of the captain and the difficult conditions aboard the Alert were publicized by this book, resulting in the passage of seamen’s laws to restrict the captain’s power and ease the conditions. A glossary of terms is helpful, and historical nautical information is abundant in this book. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Thor Heyerdahl
The Ra Expedition
ISBN: 0045720207
Major Science Points: Ocean currents, navigation, ancient technologies, ship building.
In 1969 and 1970, Thor Heyerdahl set out upon an oceanic voyage using a papyrus boat designed from the wall paintings on Egyptian tombs as his blueprints. The first Ra Expedition takes us from Morocco across 3,100 miles of ocean before the ship comes apart in a storm and the crew must abandon the expedition. Ten months later a second Ra is built, and Heyerdahl successfully crosses from Africa to the West Indies to confirm his theory that it was possible for ancient Egyptians to cross 4,000 miles of the Atlantic long before Columbus. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed June 2003 by Bev Carson.
Jack London
The Sea Wolf
ISBN: 0553212257
Major Science Points: Sailing, weather, fog, seal hunting.
This is the story of a gentleman knocked overboard when a ferry is struck in the fog in San Francisco Harbor. He is “rescued” by the cruel but intelligent captain of the Ghost, Wolf Larsen. Aboard the Ghost, the captive Humphrey must work hard to survive and fend for himself. Humphrey’s entire world is altered and jeopardized when Maude Brewster comes between him and Wolf. The couple escapes to an island, where a broken down Ghost and an ailing captain Larsen are stranded on their sanctuary. Contains realistic descriptions of sea conditions and weather in the NE Pacific.
Alan Moorehead
Darwin and the Beagle
ISBN: 1885283229
Major Science Points: Observation, geology, biology, ocean life, and paleontology.
Moorehead’s very readable account of Charles Darwin’s experiences aboard the 90-foot HMS Beagle on its world-circling discovery cruise. The focus is on the events of the voyages, the places visited, and the sites. Included are the shore excursions where Darwin collected specimens and made geological and biological observations that were grist for his publications. This book has many marvelous images of what was observed. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
Charles Nordoff and James Norman Hall
The Bounty Trilogy: Mutiny on the Bounty. Men Against
the Sea. Pitcairn’s Island
ISBN: 0316611662
Major Science Points: Winds, ocean currents, tropical Pacific.
A complex set of circumstances and personalities pit the crew against the captain, then man against sea, and eventually man against himself in this trilogy. These are stories of adventure, love, mutiny, hatred, stupidity, and the meaning of character. These elements all collide within each book within this series.
The first story is Mutiny on the Bounty, with Lieutenant William Bligh aboard the HMS Bounty and the ill-fated voyage to and from Tahiti. Is he reckless or merely overly prudish when he disregards the men who serve with and under him on the Bounty? One of the most infamous courts martial in naval history takes place within these pages. It is well told and is followed by the second book depicting incredible tales of cruelty and the will to survive.
Men Against the Sea is an epic survival tale and legendary small boat journal that still astonishes and shocks today. Bligh’s seamanship and navigational skills allow him and his crew to survive being set adrift. Nineteen men cover over 3,500 miles of ocean in a cramped, fragile open boat on the Pacific Ocean for 18 months. This part of the trilogy is marked by massive storms, hunger, thirst, inability to move, heat and the appalling predicament they face. After reaching a Dutch colonial port, Bligh wants to avenge himself against his former crew. His strong character or character flaws still imbue the man.
The final book in the trilogy is the account of the mutineers seeking to find a hiding place beyond the long arm of the British Navy and death by hanging. Pitcairn Island is selected on account of its remoteness, with the additional asset that the island’s position is incorrectly listed on British naval maps. Here the survivors try to form a functional society and live together with a group of Polynesians who join the Bounty after the mutiny. The beauty of the island is a stark contrast to the new inhabitants with their clashes of cultures and attempts to live a new life.
Survive the Savage Sea
ISBN 0 924486 73 2
Major Science Points: Winds, storms, ocean currents, encounters with marine animals.
The Robertson family is set adrift on the sea after an incredible attack by orcas sinks their 43-foot schooner in a matter of minutes. The family first escapes onto a rubber raft, managing to salvage their nine-foot dinghy and an alarmingly few supplies before their schooner slips below the surface. Later, the raft sinks and the entire family boards the tiny dingy for an astonishing 37-day survival epic.
Mr. Robinson uses his personal knowledge of the sea to escape the Equatorial Pacific currents and winds driving them away from Central America and toward the vast expanse of the widest part of the Pacific Ocean. They survive on marine life and rainwater but suffer through weather, sun, 20-foot waves, and fatigue before a Japanese vessel eventually rescues them. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
VIII) Ocean - Weather
The Perfect Storm
ISBN 039304016X
Major Science Points: Physical oceanography, meteorology, storms, winds, waves, forecasting, fishing, and air-sea rescue.
The rare combination of factors that creates the “perfect storm” highlights this chronicle of a modern-day marine catastrophe off New England in October 1991. With 40,000 pounds of swordfish and a short market promising big money, the men of the Andrea Gail turn back toward home after fishing the Flemish Cap. The crew find themselves confronting 10-story waves and a sea roiled by winds and rain from the convergence of a hurricane from Bermuda, a cold front from the Canadian Shield, and another storm cell from the Great Lakes. Although the film was a good rendering of the story, it cannot fully cover the immense amount of meteorological and oceanographic material covered in the book. The amazing natural events that unified over the Grand Banks region of the Atlantic in 1991 and their effects are the power behind The Perfect Storm.
The book chronicles the often destructive lifestyle of fishermen from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Weather forecasting, technology and human failures, and the development of a massive storm system are each a major element narrated, and each contributes to the sinking of the Andrea Gail. The depletion of the East Coast fisheries is also depicted with clarity. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.
Isaac’s Storm
ISBN: 0375708278
Major Science Points: Fetch, wave generation, swells, storm surge, hurricanes, latent heat of condensation, National Weather Bureau, Barrier Islands.
This is a reconstruction of one of the most powerful storms to ever inundate the U.S. It is the turn of the 20th century, the new National Weather Bureau has been formed, a large population of people inhabits a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. A massive hurricane with unmatched destructive power is bearing down on Galveston, Texas. Isaac Cline is the new chief of the Galveston weather service field station. U.S. forecasters dismiss the Cuban forecasters’ warnings of a tropical storm brewing and the suspected track.
This narrative links the city, a new science, lack of communication, and a storm rivaling any storm on record for intensity. With clarity and detail we become part of the community and, through the power of hindsight, we learn why this becomes “Isaac’s storm.” Erik Larson masterfully demonstrates the theory of hurricane formation and the storms’ self-perpetuating forces. He takes us into the lives of the residents of Galveston, and we watch the waters rise through homes as people seek refuge anywhere they can. We identify and sympathize with Isaac and his brother as they struggle to comprehend what is happening as the horrific storm continues to grow around them, and with them we search for survivors and the bodies of over 6,000 people lost in the storm. Finally we glimpse the storm leaving a path of destruction from Texas to New England, and the path it carves through the lives of Isaac Cline, his family, and the fledgling Weather Bureau. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Dr. Clive Dorman and Bev Carson.
The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart
ISBN: 0312051603
Major Science Points: Early aviation, overwater navigation, equatorial weather, clouds and winds.
This biography of Amelia Earhart covers the life of an exceptional woman and her disappearance over the Pacific in a quest for another aviation record, her marriage to publisher George Putnam and their business relationship, Earhart’s advocacy of women’s issues and equality, and her competitive spirit. She was not only the first woman to solo the Atlantic but also an author, teacher and peace advocate in her time. In 1937, Amelia Earhart started out to be the first woman aviator to circumnavigate the Earth via the equatorial region. This was to be the climax of a series of progressively more ambitious flights that propelled her into international fame during the golden age of aviation development.
She had completed two thirds of her trip on the morning of July 1st, when she was at one end of a dirt runway at Lae, New Guinea in front of the controls of her twin-engine, propeller-driven, aluminum Lockheed Electra aircraft. The other occupant was master navigator Fred Noonan, sitting in the back of the plane, separated from Earhart by specially installed gas tanks which took up most of the cabin. The extra gas capacity was essential to make the upcoming, longest leg of the globe-trotting trip.
This long, over-water flight segment would require all of navigator Noonan's skills and Pacific Ocean flying experience to bring them within the general vicinity of the target island. Navigational errors was such that, after a long flight, the target island was not where it was “supposed to be.” Noonan worked out a search scheme to find a nearby but out of sight target island before running out of gas which would become the industry standard.
Earhart took off and flew into aviation lore when she did not arrive at tiny Howland Island 21 hours later. No trace of Earhart, Noonan, or the Lockheed was ever seen after they had flown over inhabited islands about a third of the way to Howland Island. However, Earhart’s 30-minute radio transmissions were very clearly heard by the Coast Guard Cutter Itasca standing by on Howland Island waiting for her.
The author pieces together what happened on Earhart’s last flight, including an examination of her life, her motivations, and her thinking. In reality, Earhart made a series of poor choices for this flight, including not taking good advantage of the winds. She was flying to the east, and against the westward-flowing trade winds, which increased her flying time by about eight hours more than if she had flown in the opposite direction but with the trade winds. The added time put Howland Island at the edge of or a little beyond the absolute limit of her aircraft (with no search time).
Her last transmission was that she was low on gas, looking for Howland Island. She must have been within 200 nautical miles of Howland Island, based upon the strength of her radio signal as received by the Itasca. Crackpot hypotheses on her disappearance include that she crashed on another island, that she flew to the north and was shot down while spying on Japanese naval operations, and that she survived an ocean crash-landing only to be picked up and die in a Japanese POW camp. Read this book to see what the best available evidence supports. Then check out some of the fruitcake "Earhart" web pages that leave out some facts and distort others. Recommended by Dr. Clive Dorman. Reviewed May 2003 by Bev Carson.