Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid [Hardcover]

Wendy Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2011

Kraken is the traditional name for gigantic sea monsters, and this book introduces one of the most charismatic, enigmatic, and curious inhabitants of the sea: the squid. The pages take the reader on a wild narrative ride through the world of squid science and adventure, along the way addressing some riddles about what intelligence is, and what monsters lie in the deep. In addition to squid, both giant and otherwise, Kraken examines other equally enthralling cephalopods, including the octopus and the cuttlefish, and explores their otherworldly abilities, such as camouflage and bioluminescence. Accessible and entertaining, Kraken is also the first substantial volume on the subject in more than a decade and a must for fans of popular science.

Praise for KRAKEN: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid 

"Williams writes with a deft, supple hand as she surveys these spindly, extraordinary beasts and their world. She reminds us that the known world might be considerably larger than in the days of the bestiary-makers, but there is still room for wonder and strangeness."
-Los Angeles Times.com

"Williams's account of squid, octopuses, and other cephalopods abounds with both ancient legend and modern science." 
-Discover 

"[Exposes squid's] eerie similarities to the human species, down to eye structure and the all-important brain cell, the neuron." 
-New York Post 

"just the right mix of history and science" 
-ForeWord Reviews

"Kraken is an engaging and expansive biography of a creature that sparks our imagination and stimulates our curiosity. It's a perfect blend of storytelling and science." 
-Vincent Pieribone, author of Aglow in the Dark

KRAKEN extracts pure joy, intellectual exhilaration, and deep wonder from the most unlikely of places--squid. It is hard to read Wendy Williams's luminous account and not feel the thrill of discovery of the utterly profound connections we share with squid and all other living things on the planet. With wit, passion, and skill as a storyteller, Williams has given us a beautiful window into our world and ourselves. --Neil Shubin, author of the national bestseller "Your Inner Fish" 

Wendy William's KRAKEN weaves vignettes of stories about historical encounters with squid and octopus, with stories of today's scientists who are captivated by these animals. Her compelling book has the power to change your world-view about these creatures of the sea, while telling the gripping, wholly comprehensible story of the ways in which these animals have changed human medical history. --Mark J. Spalding, President, The Ocean Foundation

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Williams is a fine writer and takes us on an engaging and informative journey through the world of cephalopod science..." --- John Farndon, The Spectator

"The giant squid is now accepted as a fact of oceanic life and I have been revelling in all squid in the recently published American book Kraken...."
Simon Barnes, The Times of London

About the Author

Wendy Williams's writing has appeared on the front pages of the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, and The Baltimore Sun. She's also written for the New York Times, Parade Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and Science. Williams is the coauthor of Cape Wind, which was named one of 2007's ten best environmental books by Booklist and one of the year's best science books by Library Journal. She lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Abrams Image (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810984652
• ISBN-13: 978-0810984653
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Marine Biology
  • #69 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Marine Life

More About the Author

About Wendy Williams

Thirty-year science journalist Wendy Williams first became interested in squid when she received a science journalism fellowship at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Her writing has been published in a wide diversity of newspapers and magazines, ranging from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times to Scientific American and Science.

The author of several books, Wendy has appeared on numerous radio shows, including the Diane Rehm Show, the Dennis Miller Show, Animal House and many, many others on both NPR and AM radio.

She has also been on numerous television shows going as far back as the David Susskind Show and Geraldo.

Her field of specialty is introducing complex science in language that's easily accessible to the general public. Her current book, Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid, discusses a wide range of invertebrate research and marine science using the squid as the narrative character.

The final section examines the question of the intelligence of squid, octopus and cuttlefish - a group of closely related marine animals that make excellent use of the neuron, the basic unit of thinking. In fact, for nearly a hundred years, scientists have used the squid neuron to study human neurons.
Comments on the book praise both its scientific accuracy and its always-present sense of humor.

Public appearances to present Kraken include the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Atlanta Aquarium, the National Aquarium, the Nantucket Athenaeum, and many, many more.

Her previous book, which was named one of the year's ten best environmental books by Booklist, was Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics and the Battle for America's Energy Future.

She is working on an update about Cape Wind, likely to be the nation's first offshore wind farm, and would be able to talk about that project as well as about squid, octopus and cuttlefish. She lives on Cape Cod and spends as much time around the ocean as possible.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascination and serendipity March 8, 2011

By Joan W. Chevalier

Format:Hardcover

Wendy has an enormous capacity for fascination, scale, and detail. It is hard to discern if she finds the scientists studying squid and octopus more fascinating or the creatures. She has a great facility with moving from small to large, from a remarkably clear rendering of the neuron's work, to a picturesque descripton of Woods Hole, Mass -- keeping story, history and science all moving forward. We learn about a squid who harvests light producing bacteria and evicts those who underperform; we learn that "neurosurgeons are surprisingly squeamish" (perhaps one of my all time favorite lines), and that Horace Walpole ("around the time that Ben Franklin was killing wild turkeys with electricity in the colonies") coined the term "serendipty" and that there is more in science that is "serendipitous" than you might expect. There is a mother lode of material here for a novelist such as Jeanette Winterston and for all of us whose senses have become a little dulled by the daily grind. I believe that this is an important book, such that I will tell you that I found the first chapter slow going. I think that Wendy may have been trying to give us too much of an overview before the reader was sufficiently engaged. So, skip the first chapter if you must, but don't be deterred. You will go back to read it because, by the end of the book, you will be entirely engaged with the marvel of the squid and the writer's mind which encompassed it. Congratulations, Wendy.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars KRAKEN Rocks! April 7, 2011

By Lady Diver

Format:Hardcover

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Kraken. As a scuba diver I have long been fascinated by cephalopods, especially octopi and Caribbean reef squid. I marvel at their obvious curiosity and especially at their ability to mesmerize by changing their colors so quickly and beautifully. With reef squid, when you get close enough you can even see electric pulses going through their body that are iridescent and also very colorful. Kraken did a lot to explain how and why this occurs and goes even further to provide much information and discussion about the intelligence of these marvelous sea creatures. In addition to that, Kraken provided some big surprises. I had absolutely NO idea how valuable research on squid neurons has been to human research and medicine. That part of Kraken was truly fascinating. I highly recommend reading this book -- and you don't need to be a scientist or scuba diver to enjoy it and relate to it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, fascinating cephalopod overview March 11, 2011

By Sarah Porter

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't honestly say I loved absolutely every second. There were moments when I found Williams's prose a little cutesy, or her transitions jarring, or I wished there was more detail about something. But for a slim book, it packs in an incredible amount of breathtaking information and also does a great job of presenting enough of the basic scientific context to let you understand the material. (E.g., I understand how neurons work a lot better now.) Consistently enthralling.