The Sound of the Sea - Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans

Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations for thousands of years. They were money before coins, jewellery before gems, art before canvas.

In The Sound of the Sea, Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and environmental science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. From the mysterious glow of giant clams to the surprising origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, the book is filled with unforgettable stories. As it explores the perfect symmetry of a Chambered Nautilus, the pink-glossed lip of a Queen Conch or what we hear when we hold a shell to the ear, it makes a powerful argument for listening to shells-and acting on what they are telling us about the impacts of climate change on the seas, marine life and humanity.

About the author

Cynthia Barnett is the author of three previous books, including Rain, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and named a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. She lives with her family in Gainesville, Florida, where she is also Environmental Journalist in Residence at the University of Florida.

Summary

A history of shells and the creatures that make them, revealing their outsized role in human affairs and what they have to tell us about the changing oceans.

Product details

• Authors: Cynthia Barnett, Cynthia (University of Florida) Barnett, Barnett Cynthia
• Publisher: Norton
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.08.2021
• EAN: 9780393651447
• ISBN: 978-0-393-65144-7
• No. of pages: 432
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 246 mm x 34 mm
• Weight: 756 g
• Subjects: Guides > Nature > Nature guide; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Travel > Travel guides; SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geography, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Ecology, HISTORY / Historical Geography, NATURE / Animals / Marine Life, Ecological science, the Biosphere, Sea life and the seashore: general interest, Deltas, estuaries, coastal regions, Sea life & the seashore, Coastlines, The Earth: Natural History General, The Earth: natural history: general interest, Historical Geography