Life Under the Sea

Why does the bumblebee have better aerodynamics than a 747? What structural design is shared by a tornado and a blood vessel?

Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturers have built things by a process known as "heat, beat, and treat." They use enormous amounts of energy to heat raw material, shape it with heavy machinery, and maintain its...

Author Mark Kurlansky pleasantly surprised the world with this engaging best-seller that garnered rave reviews from critics and casual readers alike. His subject for this whimsical biography is the codfish, a species remarkable for its influence on humanity. Cod, Kurlansky argues, has driven economic, political, cultural and military thinking... Read more »

From the author of The Hidden Lives of Owls, an exploration of the elusive lives of whales in the Pacific Ocean, home to orcas, humpbacks, sperm, blue, and gray whales.

Leigh Calvez has spent a dozen years researching, observing, and probing the lives of the giants of the deep. Here, she relates the stories of nature's most remarkable... Read more »

Part adventure story, part manifesto, this is legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau's passionate plea for sustaining life on earth.

Explorer, diving pioneer, filmmaker, inventor, and activist, Jacques Cousteau was blessed from his childhood with boundless curiosity about the natural world. As the leader of fascinating, often dangerous... Read more »

In this astonishing book from the author of the best selling memoir The Good Good Pig, Sy Montgomery explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. Read more »