The Sea
Nature and Culture
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
Sailing across time and geography, the imaginary and the real, The Sea chronicles the many physical and cultural meanings of the watery abyss.
This book explores the sea and its meanings from ancient myths to contemporary geopolitics, from Atlantis to the Mediterranean migrant crisis. Richard Hamblyn traces a cultural and geographical journey from estuary to abyss, beginning with the topographies of the shoreline and ending with the likely futures of our maritime environments. Along the way he considers the sea as a site of work and endurance; of story and song; of language, leisure, and longing. By meditating on the sea as both a physical and a cultural presence, the book shines new light on the sea and its indelible place in the human imagination.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Hamblyn (Terra) takes readers on a satisfying if episodic tour of the world's waters, focusing on the spirit of the sea and the meaning it has taken on in societies for millennia. Drawing on both science and art, he quotes poetry alongside technical descriptions of hydrographic sounding and cites thinkers as varied as Benjamin Franklin, who studied marine symbiosis; Katsushika Hokusai, an artist who used wave motifs; and Jane Austen, who referenced sea breezes. Among the many topics touched upon are changes in beach culture, shipwreck protocol in 1275, trophic asynchronies (when interacting species experience changes in their life-cycles), sea-inspired symphonies, the dark zone 6,560 feet below the ocean's surface, connected currents, and found messages in bottles. Hamblyn takes a particular interest in English etymologies (the Old English word for "high tide" referred to festival days and also gave people the word "tidy"), and becomes most impassioned when delivering a stark warning on deep-sea trawling, toxic pollutants, and ocean acidification. He does justice to the ocean's vast and mysterious nature, though some readers may wish Hamblyn stretched his net further as his scope remains mostly Western. Still, this pleasant and edifying study will be a nice place to start for readers looking to learn more about the ocean.
