The Sea Around Us

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.

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. 

This book changed reading books about the ocean forever. Rachel Carson lived her whole life near the shore but also was deeply devoted to science.

Her book presents a lyrical account of the ocean and all of its aspects, including where water goes, how organisms live in the ocean, and, eventually, how the ocean might succumb to human disturbance. 

Although more than half a century old, Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us still reads as fresh and evocative as it did when first published.

Carson, the environmentalist writer more famous for Silent Spring, was perhaps the finest science communicator of the twentieth century. The Sea Around Us endures today through the forceful and convincing case it makes for the importance of the intimate relationship between human societies and the sea.

What is so striking about Caron’s work is her ability to offer such a highly textured account that shifts seamlessly from describing the awe-inspiring vastness of the sea to… show more.

Carson’s 1955 book is worth revisiting in this age of sea-level rise. The second installment in her ocean trilogy, The Sea Around Us occupied the New York Times bestseller list for 86 weeks. It also won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and the Burroughs Medal in nature writing. Today, the book remains a model for turning science into prose. Carson’s work endures in part because she found writing difficult. For all her toil, readers are the beneficiaries. Whether describing a seashell or explaining the intricate composition of sediments, her words move across the page as nimbly as sanderlings across… show more.

The Sea Around Us is, in my opinion, one of the most important classic books ever written about the oceans. This prize-winning, best-selling manuscript by late marine biologist, iconic environmentalist, and author Rachel Carlson was first published back in 1951. After many decades, it remains a powerful reading. What I like the most about this book is the ability of the author to combine scientific facts and insights with poetic prose. Today, The Sea Around us continues to remind us of the damage we are doing to our oceans.