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

Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewellry before gems, art before canvas. In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiralling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world's most iconic seashells.

She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas. From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature's wisdom-and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.

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 compelling history of seashells and the animals that make them, revealing what they have to tell us about nature, our changing oceans and ourselves

Product details

• Authors: Cynthia Barnett, Cynthia (University of Florida) Barnett, Barnett Cynthia
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.08.2022
• EAN: 9781324022077
• ISBN: 978-1-324-02207-7
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 211 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 343 g
• Illustrations: 12 illustrations
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; 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