Author: Callum Roberts
Publisher: PENGUIN/PUTNAM (PENGUIN ACCT), May 2012
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-670-02354-X
Synopsis
A fascinating tour of mankind?s historical relationship to the sea; offers a devastating account of modern impacts on it & reveals what it would take to steer the right course while there is still time. 7x10 inches, 416 pgs.
More Information
A Silent Spring for oceans, written by "the Rachel Carson of the fish world" (The New York Times)
Who can forget the sense of wonder with which they discovered the creatures of the deep? In this vibrant hymn to the sea, Callum Roberts?one of the world?s foremost conservation biologists?leads readers on a fascinating tour of the sea, from the earliest traces of water on earth to the oceans as we know them today. In the process, Roberts looks at how the taming of the oceans has shaped human civilization and affected marine life.
We have always been fish eaters, from the dawn of civilization, but in the last twenty years we have transformed the oceans beyond recognition. Putting our exploitation of the seas into historical context, Roberts details the impact of modern fishing techniques, pollution, and climate change, and reveals potential for conservation. Like Four Fish and The Omnivore?s Dilemma, The Ocean of Life takes a long view to tell a story in which each one of us has a role to play.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Callum Roberts is the author of The Unnatural History of the Sea, a Washington Post Book of the Year and winner of the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. A professor of marine conservation at the University of York, he has appeared in several documentaries, including "America Before Columbus" and "The End of the Line," and is a board member of Seaweb, a U.S.-based environmental group. He lives in England.