EXPLORING THE SECRETS OF THE SEA

A sailor-geologist tells the story of ocean exploration, mainly from the oceanography side. Oceanography, he tells, us, is not a science in itself. It is a group of science which come together to tell us how the world's oceans were formed, what changed them over the ages, and how deep, warm, and active they are today. Famous voyages, like that of Darwin on the Heagle are briefly recounted, as are those of later ships like Challenges, Galates, and the very recent bathyscaphe Trieste. Great ocean explorers like Maury, Ewing and Piccard are seen spending their lives---and sometimes almost losing them---in arduous sea voyages throughout the world. Ocean life--with its world of whales, squid, sharks, schools of fish, millions of tons of seaweed---have been discovered and catalogued by these men. And so has the world of oceans itself, with its currents, underwater rivers and waterfalls, its strange variations of temperature, and the like. The future of the oceans--as seen through modern oceanography---is in itself nearly the subject for a whole book. The possibilities of underwater mining, food farming, fishing, and even climate control are now within the reach of modern science. An entertaining, well-written account of oceanography to add to a growing list of books now available on the subject.