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The world's oceans are vast, too vast for their components to be distilled comfortably into the pages of a single book. That said, Richard Ellis, a noted student of all matters pelagic, does an extraordinary job of gathering key points of the oceans' natural and human history in this fact-filled, desk-sized encyclopedia. Starting with abalone ("a large marine gastropod of the genus Haliotis, with a dishlike shell punctuated by a series of holes on the outer edge") and ending with zooxanthellae (a kind of pigmented protozoan that conducts photosynthesis), Ellis offers sparkling discussions on topics ranging from the red-footed booby (whose name, we learn, derives from the Spanish bobo and refers unflatteringly to the bird's apparent stupidity in not fleeing humans) to Captain William Kidd ("one of history's most notorious pirates," whose reputed buried treasures are still the objects of treasure hunters' dreams) and from the Hanseatic League (a seagoing, commercial federation of north German towns that once ruled the Baltic) to scrimshaw ("the carving done by American whalemen on whale bones and teeth or, less frequently, on the tusks of walruses").
Whether beachgoer or deep-sea explorer, if you have any interest at all in the ocean, you'll find this, like Ellis's many other books on sea life and lore, to be a useful and entertaining companion. --Gregory McNamee
From Publishers Weekly
Biologist Ellis's previous books (The Search for the Giant Squid, etc.) have made him America's foremost writer on marine research. His 10th is a mighty reference work, encompassing in thousands of alphabetical entries not just the fish, plants and invertebrates that populate the world's oceans, but also its geography, geology, human uses and colorful history. Ellis aims to produce both a catalogue of facts and definitions, and a volume for recreational browsers; though it won't supplant more specialized compendia, it succeeds on both counts. Those hungry for facts about the fish 'n' chips staple plaice will also learn on the same page that early bony fishAplacodermsAmight have grown to 30 feet long. Above these entries lies Pitcairn Island, the most isolated settlement in the world, whose fewer than 100 residents descend from the Bounty mutineers. Ellis doesn't get everything in: he's understandably strongest on biology, less comprehensive in history and the arts. There are Homer and Winslow Homer, but no Horatio Hornblower. There's aircraft carrier and Midway, Battle of, but no medieval battle of Lepanto, and no ancient battle of Actium. As for cuisine and sport, there's surfing, but no related termsAand no sushi. Data hunters might be disappointed that Ellis rarely offers references or further reading. But these complaints pale beside the great range of information Ellis has singlehandedly assembled, and the fun to be had as readers survey it. Eight pages of color paintings and 471 illustrations, all by Ellis, adorn the work. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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