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The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans

The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans

Current price: $18.95
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN:
9781324022077
Pages:
448
The Book Catapult
2 on hand, as of Mar 27 8:22pm
(Science/Nature)
On Our Shelves Now

Description

A Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year
A Tampa Bay Times Best Book of the Year

A stunning history of seashells and the animals that make them that "will have you marveling at nature…Barnett’s account remarkably spirals out, appropriately, to become a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation" (John Williams, New York Times Book Review).

Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature’s creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas.

In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable history of our world through an examination of the unassuming seashell. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas.

From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature’s wisdom—and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.

About the Author

Cynthia Barnett is the author of three previous books, including Rain, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and named a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. She lives with her family in Gainesville, Florida, where she is also Environmental Journalist in Residence at the University of Florida.

Praise for The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans

The Sound of the Sea is a glorious history of shells and of those who have loved shells. It is a history of fascination and of shame. It stretches our capacity to absorb new knowledge. It is as complex, multichambered and beautiful as its subject, and if Barnett can awaken our sense of wonder, then perhaps there is hope for jump-starting our collective sense of responsibility toward the oceans and one another.

— Katharine Norbury, Washington Post

Will have you marveling at nature…Barnett’s account remarkably spirals out, appropriately, to become a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation.
— John Williams, New York Times Book Review

For anyone who's ever admired the ocean's most beautiful objects, this is a literal 'beach read' to treasure.
— Ron Charles, CBS Sunday Morning

Fascinating…[The Sound of the Sea] explores topics ranging from colonialism to ocean acidification in connection to seashells.

— Jonathon Keats, Forbes

Enthralling…[A] fascinating history of the shellmakers and of the multitude of ways they have interacted with and shaped human beings.
— Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times

Magnificent…[Barnett] starts with wonder, imbues that with knowledge, and then alchemizes it all into awe, leaving the reader struck with a blow of revelation…If you're looking for a late-summer beach read, you couldn't possibly do any better than The Sound of the Sea.

— Jason Mark, Sierra

[An] arresting meditation on shells and ocean history.
— Andrew Robinson, Nature

A lustrous meditation…Barnett’s richly detailed narrative is a celebration of how much we have valued mollusks in the past, how fascinating they are in the present, and how vital it is to insure their survival into the future.
— Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History

This is not a scolding book; it's an awestruck travelogue and appreciation of something beautiful…With each page, Barnett's meticulous insights soon had me marveling with new appreciation.
— Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon

A superbly researched and thoroughly documented book, covering a complex subject from many different aspects…[I]t reads like a fascinating adventure story…[B]oth enjoyable and informative.
— Tom Eichhorst, American Conchologist

Well-researched, consistently illuminating…An absolutely captivating nature book.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred)

A delightful, informative, and momentous read for both enthusiasts and readers who’ve never picked up a shell.
— Library Journal (starred)

Riveting…[A]n entertaining, colorful tour of a surprisingly dynamic part of nature.
— Publishers Weekly

Full of fascinating and important stories, vividly evoked. I was captivated by both the wonders of molluscan life and by the many unexpected ways that shells live at the center of human cultures. A must-read for anyone interested in the riches of the living Earth.
— David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen

In the deeply researched tradition of Rachel Carson’s sea trilogy, Cynthia Barnett enchantingly weaves poetic musings with deep-seated conservation wisdom and ocean science. An instant classic of nature history—a science-driven work of literature full of seaside grandeur.
— Douglas Brinkley, best-selling author of The Wilderness Warrior

Writing with clarity and heart, turning science into prose and history into useful knowledge, Cynthia Barnett has given us a book for the ages. The Sound of the Sea is timely and mind-opening, echoing voices from the wondrous world of shell-harbored creatures of the sea. She urges us to give them our ear in ways we never have before, for in this transitional age, their truth is our fate, their wisdom our answer, and their future our hope.

— Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf

The Sound of the Sea is as exquisite, many-chambered, and luminous as the shells Cynthia Barnett describes in her wild and hybrid book. It is a travelogue, a finely argued indictment of colonization and capitalism, a reanimation of scientists lost to the official narrative, and, most ringingly, the story of the way shells and the soft and vulnerable animals within them reflect back both the greatness of human ingenuity and the equally immense and rippling effect of human harm to the natural world. This song of mingled praise and warning left me shell-shocked, wonder-struck, utterly delighted.

— Lauren Groff, best-selling author of Florida

The Sound of the Sea is one of those rare, knockout books that has you gasping in surprise on every page. From the prehistoric to the present, seashells have suffused human life, from giving voice to ancient gods to spurring climate solutions today. Thank you, Cynthia Barnett, for honoring the gifts the mollusks have left us, and—like the conch shells that once called the faithful to worship—for giving them the voice to speak for the imperiled ocean.

— Sy Montgomery, best-selling author of The Soul of an Octopus