Author of the acclaimed Monsters of the Deep and The Book of Whales, Ellis turns his attention here to the bottom of the sea?to the Atlantic floor. He reviews the history of deep-sea exploration from the 19th-century British Challenger expedition to William Beebe's bathysphere to modern submersibles, charting the various advances in technology. Ellis takes us on an imaginary submarine voyage across the bottom of the Atlantic, into its canyons and past the remains of the Titanic. Then he describes the strange and wonderful fauna of the depths, from luminescent sea cucumbers to giant squid (scientists have seen only parts of the animal, never an entire one) to cookie-cutter sharks and whales. Both text and the many white-on-black drawings by Ellis provide an illuminating introduction to Earth's last frontier. Illustrations.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Ellis (Monsters of the Sea, LJ 11/1/94) has written another fascinating account of the exploration of the last frontier on Earth: the bottom of the sea. Using fiction, such as Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, he describes our fascination with and imagining of the unknown ocean. He traces the history of Atlantic exploration from explorers' early voyages to the development of ever more sophisticated submarines and submersibles. Ellis is entertaining, as when he describes the ramming of Alvin by a swordfish. But descriptions of tragedy, such as the sinking of Sea-Link, provide a realistic balance to the continuing progress of exploration and seemingly unhampered development of vehicles that could go deeper for longer periods of time. The chapters on creatures of the deep are clear, accurate, and well written. Highly recommended for all general science collections.?Mary J. Nickum, Bozeman, Mont.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
