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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinary chronicle of deep-ocean exploration., March 3, 1999
The Last Great WildernessTHE UNIVERSE BELOW: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea. Reviewed by Capt. Gordon I. Peterson, USN (Ret.),Senior Editor, Sea Power Magazine The International Year of the Ocean (YOTO) in 1998 sought to publicize the critical role the oceans play in shaping the life of the planet. William J. Broad, a science reporter for The New York Times since 1983, has made a masterful contribution to that goal in his fifth book, The Universe Below, a fascinating chronicle of the ongoing rush of discovery aimed at learning more about the largest unexplored part of the planet: the deep sea-which, in Broad's view, represents the world's "last great wilderness." Broad's work, the product of more than a decade of journalistic research, interviews, and firsthand experience, offers a gripping account of past, present and future efforts to unlock the secrets of the oceanic depths lying beyond the shallow borders of the world's continental land masses. These deep oceans encompass roughly 65 percent of the earth's surface; devoid of sunlight, they are estimated to occupy 97 percent of the space inhabited by Earth's living things. More than 500 years have elapsed since the beginning of the Age of Discovery's epic voyages of exploration. But, Broad asserts, "The truth is that our planet has managed to remain largely unexplored, until now." Contrary to the popular and scientific misconceptions of past centuries, the waters and seabeds of the deep are teeming with life. Broad, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, reveals how this strange and remote undersea environment is only now beginning to be understood as its secrets are slowly discovered and deciphered. Following an informative survey of how scientists and seafarers of many nations had labored for centuries to understand the mysteries of the depths, Broad describes in considerable detail the U.S. Navy's pioneering efforts in deep-ocean research and operations, primarily through the use of manned submersibles, during the long years of the cold war. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) contracted for use of Auguste Piccard's bathyscaph Trieste in 1957, and purchased the craft the following year. In the competition for budget dollars, these early years of the U.S. Navy's deep-ocean research are described as a love-hate affair within the upper echelons on the Navy. To the consternation of the Navy's undersea explorers and scientists, Trieste was retired in 1961. Her retirement was short-lived, however. Broad explains how the tragic loss of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher in 1963, and Trieste's five-month search for its wreckage, generated a major reassessment of Navy policy. This appraisal led to far-reaching improvements in the Navy's deep-sea capabilities during the decade that followed, beginning with the christening of the submersible Alvin in 1964. Other craft followed, including the nuclear-powered research submarine NR-1, the Deep-Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs) Mystic and Avalon, the more advanced manned submersibles Turtle and Sea Cliff, and modern surface ships designed and built specifically to support undersea operations and research. New and more advanced scientific instruments and systems, underwater robots, navigation techniques, and sonar technologies also were pioneered during this era. In a chapter titled, "The Battle Zone," Broad draws on numerous interviews, declassified documents, and previously published accounts to relate how these developments enabled the Navy to wage an intentionally unpublicized but highly successful campaign to gather information about Soviet equipment and weapons, and even retrieve some from the seabed. The full story details may never be made public, Broad states, but he provides abundant evidence to support evidence to support the claim of some analysts that the U.S. Navy's deep-sea feats were the West's greatest intelligence coup in four decades of spying on the USSR. With the end of the Cold War and a shift in U.S. geopolitical strategy, an unintended peace dividend emerged when the equipment and technologies essential to of the U.S. Navy's covert operations gradually became available the nation's (and allied) to civilian research, academic, and commercial sectors. Fleet attack submarines were enrolled in well-publicized scientific research. The previous tight security about the U.S. Navy's worldwide array of undersea microphones was relaxed, and scientists were afforded a revealing window to the deep through access to the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). Meanwhile, faced with its own internal adjustments and economic realities, Russia began to sell or rent its equipment and fleets of submersibles and surface ships to foreigners. In successive chapters, enriched with accounts of his own participation on several expeditions, Broad explains how access to these new technologies and instruments has led to a rapidly accelerating growth in underwater exploration and exploitation. The world has indeed entered a new era. The deep sea comes to life as Broad takes the reader on numerous diving expeditions around the globe, from the wreckage of the Titanic to the lost relics of earlier ages and the current, still, ongoing exploration of California's Monterey Canyon. The U.S. Navy has retired several of its submersibles, and Broad thoroughly documents the increasingly important oceanic research role played by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the nation's other public and private oceanographic research centers. The now-enthralled readers learns of, and from, Broad's firsthand experiences during the exploration of deep volcanism on the ocean's floor-and the observance of the literally hundreds of different animal species flourishing there, many of them new to science. Heat-loving microbes, considered the likely ancestors of all life of Earth, thrive in temperatures in excess of 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Broad explains how microbial research will soon be opening new doors in the understanding of genetics and the development of genetic tools to help cure numerous diseases. Broad paints a compelling portrait of how new technologies open undersea possibilities that are often a double-edged sword. The uneasy balance between commercial salvors and marine archeologists has been upset with the ascendancy of commercial teams and treasure hunters. Slow-growing stocks of fish from the deep sea have been exploited dangerously through overfishing, with little understanding of long-term consequences, he also points out. Increasing numbers of small countries, private firms, and individuals will have access to the deep in the years to come. Yet, the effects of pollution, ocean warming, and falling levels of plankton, and of surface fish, all project uncertain consequences for the deep oceans. Broad makes a convincing argument that the emerging benefits tied to exploitation of the deep must be weighed carefully against the risks. It is important to address these issues in a serious way, he emphasizes-possibly by strengthening the public sector so it may better guide the private one. In his mind, a prudent step toward proper ecological stewardship would be to place entire regions of the deep off limits to deep fishing, seabed mining, and other commercial development. Broad clearly has done his homework. He explains the minutiae of undersea biology, geology, and oceanography in a fluent, authoritative style that will appeal to a wide range of readers. The text is graced with profuse and elegant illustrations by artist Dimitry Schidlovsky; Broad explains that reproduction of undersea photography is inadequate to depict the incredible sights of the deep's geology, fauna, and unusual living inhabitants. He supplements his captivating narrative with a chronology of deep exploration, a generous glossary, informative end notes, and a comprehensive bibliography. Most living things on planet Earth reside in the sea, Broad writes, but mankind still knows precious little of those occupying the darkened waters of the deep oceans. The current transformation in oceanographic research is similar to the age of global exploration launched 500 years ago, he says, but the push is now downward, not outward-with new advances already in the works and most of the last great remaining wilderness to be explored.
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