Why am I passionate about this?

I am a marine biologist who studies salt marshes, fishes, crabs, and marine pollution. I fell in love with the ocean as a child and am interested in sharing my love and knowledge with other people. So, in addition to my scientific research, I write books for the general public. This was the first one, and I wanted a second author to help me write in a "user-friendly" way, different from technical writing. 


I wrote

Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History

By Judith Weis, Carol A. Butler,

Book cover of Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History

What is my book about?

A book for the interested layperson about these tidal marshes that are vital as habitats for animals and protection for…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Sea Around Us

Judith Weis Why did I love this book?

A book about the marine world that is written for the general public which is scientifically accurate. The author’s writing style is poetic and entrancing while being scientifically correct.

She explains the basics of waves and tides and other aspects of physical oceanography, as well as focusing most of her attention on the fascinating life that inhabits the oceans. Her discussions of life forms from the tiny plankton near the surface down to the bizarre creatures that live in the deep sea, are fascinating. 

By Rachel Carson,

Why should I read it?

6 authors 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 Edge of the Sea

Judith Weis Why did I love this book?

Once again, there's a poetic quality in this discussion of the shore and the life within it.

The author talks about the lives of the creatures that live in the empty shells we find and the kinds of creatures found on rocky shores, sandy beaches, and coral reefs. Along the Maine coast are the surf zone and tide pools, where barnacles, limpets, and periwinkles live along rocky shores. On sandy beaches, we explore the holes and tracks of crabs and the burrows of clams and whelks that come out at low tide.

She discusses geologic history in the reefs off the Carolina coast and the sponges, starfish, barnacles, and shipworm tunnels in driftwood. In the Keys is the coral coast—with a vast variety of life. In this area are also mangrove swamps, making "the edge of the sea" a fascinating place. 

By Rachel Carson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In The Edge of the Sea Rachel Carson introduces us to the 'strange and beautiful place' where the sea meets the land. She explores a tide pool, an inaccessible cave, and watches a lone crab on the shore at midnight. From these, and other, encounters she offers us not just a scientifically accurate study of the ecology of the seashore, but also a hauntingly beautiful account of the fragile balance of life found at the edge of the sea.

The Edge of the Sea, like all her writing, sounds a prophetic alarm for the damage mankind is doing to the…


Book cover of The Silent World

Judith Weis Why did I love this book?

Jacques Cousteau, an engineer and the inventor of scuba, chronicled his early days of underwater adventure in this book. It is a real-life adventure story by a person who first made us realize what a fascinating world exists under the sea.

Cousteau and his friend Fredric Dumas take us into the world under the sea. (We now know with new technology that it’s pretty noisy down there). They are developing new technologies to bear the enormous pressure in the depths. They go to depths that no one has ever gone to before, discover the effects of gases, and get drunk on nitrogen in their air supply. They also tackle large squids and octopuses and escape shark attacks.

The book has old black-and-white photos of underwater dives and of sharks and squids.  

By Jacques Yves Cousteau, Frederic Dumas (photographer),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Before becoming the man who introduced us to the wonders of the sea through his beloved television series, Jacques Cousteau was better known as an engineer and the inventor of scuba. He chronicled his early days of underwater adventure in The Silent World?a memoir that was an instant, international bestseller upon its publication in 1954. Now, National Geographic presents a 50th anniversary edition of this remarkable book, allowing readers to once again travel under the sea with Cousteau during the turbulent days of World War II.


Book cover of Between Pacific Tides

Judith Weis Why did I love this book?

This book is another classic of marine biology. It focuses on the shore as a place of wonder, excitement, and beauty.

It describes the behaviors and habitats of the animals in the rocky shores and tide pools of the Pacific Coast of the US. The animals are discussed in relation to their habitat, be it rocky shore, sandy beach, wharf piling, or mud flat.

The detailed and fascinating lives of these creatures are described in relation to their physiology, life history, interrelationships in their community, and the influences of waves and shifting tides.

By Edward F. Ricketts, Jack Calvin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Between Pacific Tides as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the classic works of marine biology, a favorite for generations, has now been completely revised and expanded. Between Pacific Tides is a book for all who find the shore a place of excitement, wonder, and beauty, and an unsurpassed introductory text for both students and professionals.

This book describes the habits and habitats of the animals that live in one of the most prolific life zones of the world-the rocky shores and tide pools of the Pacific Coast of the United States. The intricate and fascinating life processes of these creatures are described with affectionate care. The animals…


Book cover of Life and Death of the Salt Marsh

Judith Weis Why did I love this book?

One of nature's unappreciated great gifts is the salt marshes growing along the East Coast from Newfoundland to Florida–a ribbon of green growth, growing intertidally, part on solid land, part in moving water.

This book shows how these marshes develop and grow, what kinds of plants and animals inhabit them, and how they interact ecologically. It also demonstrates how important salt marshes are ecologically, what they do for us, and how we are destroying them. Another book with poetic writing by biologists.

"At low tide, the wind blowing across Spartina grass sounds like wind of the prairie. When the tide is in, the gentle music of moving water is added to the prairie rustle.... "

By John Teal, Mildred Teal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life and Death of the Salt Marsh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"At low tide, the wind blowing across Spartina grass sounds like wind of the prairie. When the tide is in, the gentle music of moving water is added to the prairie rustle.... "One of nature's greatest gifts is the string of salt marshes that edges the East Coast from Newfoundland to Florida -- a ribbon of green growth, part solid land, part scurrying water. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh shows how these marshes are developed, what kinds of life inhabit them, how enormously they have contributed to man, and how ruthlessly man is destroying them.


Explore my book 😀

Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History

By Judith Weis, Carol A. Butler,

Book cover of Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History

What is my book about?

A book for the interested layperson about these tidal marshes that are vital as habitats for animals and protection for coastal communities.

These systems, which also sequester pollutants, are found along the shores of estuaries in temperate areas worldwide. We discuss their ecology, the plants and animals that live there and how they are adapted to live in such a changing tidal and salty environment. We also cover the numerous ways that humans have altered and/or destroyed these vital ecosystems, from filling and farming to ditching and polluting. Finally, we cover how, in the past few decades, tidal marshes have been and are still being restored and are recovering from centuries of abuse.  

Book cover of The Sea Around Us
Book cover of The Edge of the Sea
Book cover of The Silent World

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Elephant Safari

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Book cover of Elephant Safari

Peter Riva Author Of Kidnapped on Safari

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to, and loved, North, Central, and especially East Africa for over fifty years. Only six times have I been to Africa on holiday; more often, perhaps twenty or more times, as a television producer. Working in Africa gains a perspective of reality that the glories of vacation do not. Each has its place, each its pitfalls like stalled plane rides with emergency landings in the bush or attacks by wildlife. But, in the end, the magic of the “otherness,” what an old friend called “primitava” captures one’s soul and changes your life.

Peter's book list on the otherness that few get to experience

What is my book about?

Keen to rekindle their love of East African wildlife adventures after years of filming, extreme dangers, and rescues, producer Pero Baltazar, safari guide Mbuno Waliangulu, and Nancy Breiton, camerawoman, undertake a filming walking adventure north of Lake Rudolf, crossing from Kenya into Ethiopia along the Omo River, following a herd of elephant making their annual migration.

Stumbling onto an elephant poaching, the team become embroiled in true financing of terrorism for al Shabaab –ivory sales–and are determined to stop the slaughter at any cost. Ivory trade financing terrorism involves UN refugee camps with two hundred thousand displaced Somali persons, powerful…

Elephant Safari

By Peter Riva,

What is this book about?

A documentary team hiking through East Africa collides with a gang of deadly poachers, in this gripping adventure by the author of Kidnapped on Safari.

Years of filming, extreme dangers, and daring rescues have taken their toll on documentary producer Pero Baltazar and his team. To relax and reconnect with the East African wildlife they love, Pero organizes a walking safari for him, his camerawoman Nancy Breiton, and their elite guide Mbuno Waliangulu. Still, Pero has trouble truly disconnecting from work. When the team comes across a herd of elephants making their annual migration north of Lake Rudolf, Pero decides…


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