ADVENTURING WITH BEEBE

The timeless magic of Will Beebe's writing does not dim. Here is an intriguing cross section of adventuring that takes the reader as far as the jungles of Venezuela and down some quarter mile below the sea's surface (this later to be doubled, but the piece included here made undersea history). There are twenty one adventures, and together they give at least cognizance to the scope of his contribution to the natural sciences:- botany, entomology, ornithology, ichthyology- to indicate the obvious ones. But there is nothing in the world around him that escapes his observation, his interest, his curiosity. And fortunately for those of us not equipped with scientific minds, he has the rare faculty of communication- of being able to share the sense of excitement, discovery, drama and beauty of the things he is experiencing. The pieces are selected from seven of his books:- Nonsuch, Half Mile Down, Zaca Venture, Book of Bays, Jungle Piece, Edge of the JungLe and High Jungle, of which three only are currently in print. His writing on birds is less widely known; this should take readers back to some of his very earliest writings in this field. His bathysphere adventures provide much of the initial impetus to undersea exploration which now bids fair to rival mountain climbing in reader appeal.