Why am I passionate about this?

Upon seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time as a child, I was awestruck by its immensity and couldn't even begin to comprehend how deep it was and what creatures lurked beneath its waves. This initial encounter would spark a lifelong interest in the marine environment, leading to formal training and education in oceanography and a professorship where I could share my love and enthusiasm for the oceans. Though now retired, my fascination has not diminished, continuing to research and write about the oceans and, whenever possible, experience the smell, the roar, and the movement of the ocean.


I wrote

The California Current: A Pacific Ecosystem and Its Fliers, Divers, and Swimmers

By Stan Ulanski,

Book cover of The California Current: A Pacific Ecosystem and Its Fliers, Divers, and Swimmers

What is my book about?

This book links together many strands from both the natural and cultural worlds. It explores the science of this unique…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Sea Around Us

Stan Ulanski Why did I love this book?

I was particularly attracted to this book because it was one of the first works to provide a timely reminder of the fragility and centrality of the ocean and the life that abounds within it.

This enduring work, published over six decades ago, makes an important case for the primacy of the ocean. I was first exposed to this book at a relatively young age, and its profound influence shaped my future endeavors in ocean science.

By Rachel Carson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sea Around Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Sea Around Us is one of the most influential books ever written about the natural world. In it Rachel Carson tells the history of our oceans, combining scientific insight and poetic prose as only she can, to take us from the creation of the oceans, through their role in shaping life on Earth, to what the future holds. It was prophetic at the time it was written, alerting the world to a crisis in the climate, and it speaks to the fragility and centrality of the oceans and the life that abounds within them.


Book cover of The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea

Stan Ulanski Why did I love this book?

I found this book a must-read because the author brings to light the physical, biological, and historical importance of the Gulf of Mexico—an in-depth analysis of the environmental history of this unique body of water.

I appreciated the author's comprehensive and entertaining portrait of this diverse and productive ecosystem, which has been degraded over time due to human neglect but remains resilient, giving us hope that America's Sea will continue to thrive and sustain us.

By Jack E. Davis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Gulf as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hailed as a "nonfiction epic . . . in the tradition of Jared Diamond's best-seller Collapse, and Simon Winchester's Atlantic" (Dallas Morning News), Jack E. Davis's The Gulf is "by turns informative, lyrical, inspiring and chilling for anyone who cares about the future of 'America's Sea' " (Wall Street Journal). Illuminating America's political and economic relationship with the environment from the age of the conquistadors to the present, Davis demonstrates how the Gulf's fruitful ecosystems and exceptional beauty empowered a growing nation. Filled with vivid, untold stories from the sportfish that launched Gulfside vacationing to Hollywood's role in the country's…


Book cover of The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean

Stan Ulanski Why did I love this book?

I found this book particularly appealing because the author takes the reader on a fascinating journey to the ocean abyss—a hostile and little-understood ocean realm. On this journey, I soon learned that this strange and exotic underworld is a place of smoldering volcanoes, deep fissures, a geologically active seafloor, and bizarre and mysterious creatures operating under different biological rules than surface inhabitants. After reading this book, I wished to accompany the author on her many dives to this forbidding place.

By Susan Casey,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Underworld as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From bestselling author Susan Casey, an awe-inspiring portrait of the mysterious world beneath the waves, and the men and women who seek to uncover its secrets

“An irresistible mix of splendid scholarship, heart-stopping adventure writing, and vivid, visceral prose." —Sy Montgomery, New York Times best-selling author of The Soul of an Octopus

For all of human history, the deep ocean has been a source of wonder and terror, an unknown realm that evoked a singular, compelling question: What’s down there? Unable to answer this for centuries, people believed the deep was a sinister realm of…


Book cover of The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World

Stan Ulanski Why did I love this book?

I was truly amazed that these slippery, slimy creatures could be mesmerizing and mysterious. I soon learned that so little about these enigmatic creatures is known. In particular, no one has seen eels mating or giving birth, and scientists still don't understand what innate force drives them to spawn thousands of miles from their freshwater homes. I was also drawn to this book because the author melds the personal and scientific into a captivating story at the eel.

By Patrik Svensson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Book of Eels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world’s most elusive fish—the eel—and a reflection on the human condition

Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth,…


Book cover of The Log from the Sea of Cortez

Stan Ulanski Why did I love this book?

The book captures the excitement of Steinbeck's research expedition with biologist Ed Ricketts to the remote Sea of Cortez, with all its hardships, failures, and thrills of discovery.

I felt that I was onboard the vessel, feeling the rhythmic rocking of the boat, the daily oppressive heat and humidity, and the mind-numbing routine of taking myriad samples and observations. I found myself nodding along with Steinbeck's assessment that though marine exploration can be tedious, the rewards lift up the human spirit.

By John Steinbeck,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Log from the Sea of Cortez as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1940 Steinbeck sailed in a sardine boat with his great friend the marine biologist, Ed Ricketts, to collect marine invertebrates from the beaches of the Gulf of California. The expedition was described by the two men in SEA OF CORTEZ, published in 1941. The day-to-day story of the trip is told here in the Log, which combines science, philosophy and high-spirited adventure.


Don't forget about my Book 😀

The California Current: A Pacific Ecosystem and Its Fliers, Divers, and Swimmers

By Stan Ulanski,

Book cover of The California Current: A Pacific Ecosystem and Its Fliers, Divers, and Swimmers

What is my book about?

This book links together many strands from both the natural and cultural worlds. It explores the science of this unique biological realm, examines its relationship to the wider Pacific, elucidates its many life forms, both above and within the sea, and chronicles the development of industries that depend on it.

For example, every year, whales, sharks, tunas, turtles, and seabirds migrate thousands of miles to feast upon the ecosystem's rich food resources. These nomads of the Pacific may roam the California Current Ecosystem, seeking out new but ephemeral meadows of life.

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Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

By Amy Carney,

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Amy Carney Author Of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Historian Professor Curl up with a good book reader Traveler – Berlin is my happy place!

Amy's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more on topic, but it would be more accurate to say that I wrote a book about SS men as husbands and fathers.

From 1931 to 1945, leaders of the SS, a paramilitary group under the Nazi party, sought to transform their organization into a racially-elite family community that would serve…

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

By Amy Carney,

What is this book about?

From 1931 to 1945, leaders of the SS, a paramilitary group under the Nazi party, sought to transform their organization into a racially-elite family community that would serve as the Third Reich's new aristocracy. They utilized the science of eugenics to convince SS men to marry suitable wives and have many children.

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS by Amy Carney is the first work to significantly assess the role of SS men as husbands and fathers during the Third Reich. The family community, and the place of men in this community, started with one simple order issued by…


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Interested in oceanography, seas, and presidential biography?

Oceanography 14 books
Seas 28 books