Customer Reviews

Underwater to Get Out of the Rain: A Love Affair with the Sea

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Trevor Norton is one of those lucky men who picked up an enthusiasm when he was a boy, nurtured it through his schooling, and kept at it through a happy lifetime of academic involvement within it. In _Underwater to Get Out of the Rain: A Love Affair with the Sea_ (Da Capo), he lets us in on why he has spent as much of his life as he could under the water, and whether you want to join him there or not, he does make a convincing case for a life passionately and usefully spent. After all, how many other experts on kelp do you know who may have changed the tactics of a war? In 1982, when British troops were dispatched to the Falklands because Argentina had invaded them, Norton was called up by an official from the Ministry of Defense: "'Are you the seaweed chappie?' said a man with a pound of plums in his mouth. 'Just a wee enquiry. I've been led to believe there are exceptionally large seaweeds off the coast of the erm... Falkland Islands.'" Norton confirms this, and explains that stems of the kelp might tangle the propellers of landing craft, but that there would be less of it in sheltered coves and inlets. "Really, by Jove, is that so?" came the reply, and so perhaps kelp and Norton's advice determined the landing places. It's one of countless odd and amusing stories, dished out with plenty of fascinating marine biology, in a thoroughly readable and enchanting book.

Norton had been an unruly child, "but as I learned more about living things, I became too busy to be bad." And he used his fascination for the sea to power his academic efforts (he is now Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Liverpool). The many chapters here cover Norton's underwater life all over the world, and convey his fascination with the creatures he sees. Barnacle mating, for instance, is extraordinary: "The bold, bisexual barnacle has a prick up its sleeve; its enormous penis is three or four times taller than the shell. Out it leaps, thin and arching, and dips into an adjacent barnacle as neat as a nib into a surprised inkwell." The creatures are amazing, and so are the odd people who come into Norton's life, or historical figures who inspired him. Pages here are devoted to Ed Ricketts, the marine biologist of Cannery Row and John Steinbeck's pal. Norton describes Liverpool in the sixties, but explains, "People have often asked me what it was like to be there. If only I'd known it was going to become 'Liverpool in the sixties' I'd have paid more attention." It was where he met his wife (who has done the charming illustrations for this book): "She was obviously bright and I would like to say that I was first attracted by her intellect, but in the age of miniskirts there was so much to admire that I got distracted."

Norton realizes his own good luck in timing. "Yesterday's expedition is today's excursion and tomorrow's package tour." He has been able to see pristine reefs and to write about them, but then faces the dilemma that since complex reef ecology is damaged by human visits, to celebrate the beauty of a specific reef is to "expose it to the dangers of excessive admiration." The coral reef state park in Florida, for instance, gets thousands of visitors a day, as well as damage by pollution and careless boat usage. It isn't the only instance Norton describes of the encroachment of the modern world into the oceans. Overfishing has changed the oceans forever, with much bigger nets, spotter planes to locate schools of fish, and sonar mounted on the nets to guide the skipper in enclosing his prey. "Fish have as much chance of evading a net as a tree has of dodging the ax." Especially distressing is his description of ruin within the waters of the Philippines by such fishing techniques as dynamiting and poisoning by bleach and cyanide. This is far too lively and cheery a book, however, to be overcome by such reflections. Norton is a witty writer with a fund of good stories to tell and a delight in the surprises of the human and the marine world, a delight that any reader will enjoy.

As a young boy author Trevor Norton was fascinated by water: a fascination which would continue into adulthood, and which serves as the foundation of experience of UNDERWATER TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN, a blend of natural history and memoir. Norton's fascination would lead him to travel oceans of the world, to study the science and history of oceans, and to probe both the surface of the ocean and the world of a submerged laboratory. UNDERWATER TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN is a joyous celebration as well as a scientific investigation and a fine leisure read.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Trevor Norton is a very gifted man: he is undoubtedly a first-rate scientist, who enjoys his profession inmensely, but he has other virtues as well. First, he can write: every page is elegantly crafted, with a knack for the telling detail and a gift for the essential. In a few pages you are there with him, becoming acquainted with an underwater scene, or with a long-deceased biologist. Second, Norton is interested in everything, from science to history, reminding us how fascinating life itself can be, if only we care to look. And he has a sense of humor.

As the sub-title says, this is the story of a love affair with the sea. The author confesses to be an unruly child until he found the sea and then became too busy to be bad. His love has taken him to academic heights, to strange and exotic parts of the globe and to the depths of the ocean.

The book is part the natural history of the ocean, part the story of man's interferrence, part just stories, and part science. More perhaps than any of these, it's a vision into his own philosophy of life, the fascination that both he and the surface of the world is seven tenths salt water.

All in all, this is a delightful book. It is great to see that someone who starts out with a fascination about something is able to work in that area as a career and now many years later still holds that fascination. This fascination he then combines with the skills of a natural born story teller to produce a volume as entertaining as this.

Excellent marine biology books that are written for the lay reader can be hard to come by. I read this book about 10 years ago and gave it away to a friend. I recently was thinking I would like to RE read it and ordered it from Amazon. It is a wonderful autobiographical account of the author's life as a marine bioligist and his travels and career. Although filled with interesting trivia regarding the British Isles, as well as other islands around the globe, history, personal anecdotes regarding friends and acquaintances, there is still enough marine science, scuba diving adventures, and amazing information about the ocean and it's denizens to keep any one interested. I am glad I ordered it for another read. It was even more enjoyable on the second time around and I recommend this book for anyone with the least bit of interest in the ocean.

"Underwater to Get Out of The Rain" is a book to read for the sheer pleasure of living vicariously through the author's life. If you have any interest in the ocean then Trevor Norton's poetic musings will seduce you into what he calls "the real world." He recalls his crystal clear memories of his first experience swimming in the ocean and then details several trips he made to Northumberland, North Wales, Lanzarote, Spain, Liverpool, the Isle of Man, Scotland, Carsaid Island, Ireland, California, Sweden, Yemen, Egypt and the Philippines.

This is a mixture of memoir, fascinating history and lore. I especially enjoyed the intriguing tales of mermaids and Trevor Norton's explanation on why ships sink in the Bermuda Triangle. I also didn't realize that there are giant squid in the San Juan Islands not far from where I live. While I've been to Orcas island for a weekend I had no idea such creatures lived there.

Trevor Norton seems fascinated by seaweed and explains how it is used in toothpaste and ketchup. His descriptions of the sea hare had me looking up pictures online. His tales of the sea are not devoid of tragedy, he has survived where others perished. In one story he is surrounded by sharks in another he is wading in pools filled with sea snakes.

It sometimes takes me a few years to get to a book I want to read and this one was worth the wait. Trevor Norton's writing style is a delight to read and his command of the English language is exemplary. If you love the ocean then I think you will enjoy these adventurous tales.

~The Rebecca Review

The book arrived extremely quickly - exceeding expectations - and in excellent condition. It made a beautiful birthday present for my friend. Thank you. ^_^