"The oceans have always shaped human lives," writes marine biologist Helen Scales in her vibrant new book The Brilliant Abyss, but the surface and the very edges have so far mattered the most. "However, one way or another, the future ocean is the deep ocean." A golden era of deep-sea discovery is underway. Revolutionary studies in the deep are rewriting the very notion of life on Earth and the rules of what is possible. In the process, the abyss is...

The story of the USS Indianapolis is well-known. After delivering crucial components of the atomic bomb that would level Hiroshima in 1945, the Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the South China Sea. Of the nearly 1,200 men aboard, 900 survived the torpedoing, spilling into the sea. White tip sharks began attacking the next morning and after four days only 300 sailors were alive to rescue.
Less famous are the many stories...

"In a beautiful celebration of the natural world, Ernst Haeckel's biological illustrations are a masterful union of science and art. Over a century since their first publication, the German scientist's intricate prints remain an unparalleled study of microscopic organisms and advance marine life. ...First published in 1904, Haeckel's detailed illustrations serve as a visual encyclopedia for his pioneering research and anatomical discoveries." (---from...