ocean

Even as our understanding of ecological systems evolve, there are touchstone texts that lay the foundations of our understanding. Ecology of Atlantic Shorelines by Mark Bertness is such a touchstone for these unique coastal ecosystems.

This collection of articles, by various experts, covers the treatment and diseases of wildlife. It provides an in-depth look at the scientific knowledge needed—and challenges—of treating wildlife disease in the countries of the Pacific Basin. This collection is edited by Murray Fowler, considered to be the father of zoological medicine; the depth of his knowledge lends special relevance to this text.

This book came to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library from the now defunct Panama Canal Zone Library, one of the most important libraries in Panama during the Canal Zone era.

William Finden and his younger brother, Edward, were renowned English engravers. Their smooth, neat style proved popular and soon the brothers engaged several assistants to publish volumes of engraved plates depicting aspects of English society. Views of Ports and Harbours is one such volume. As the preface describes, this work is comprised of views of most of the principal ports, naval stations, watering places, and fishing-towns on the English coast from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Plymouth.

This rare second edition of Journal of researches... is the final definitive text of Darwin's "first literary child," revised to reflect his developing ideas on evolution. It chronicles his historic five-year voyage on the Beagle to Brazil, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, Peru, the Galapagos Islands, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries and islands along the way. This journey was the most important event in Darwin's intellectual life.

Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs)—a socio-biological term—are large (≥200,000 km²) regions of the world's oceans tied to coastal areas and related to “Exclusive Economic Zones” (EEZs). LMEs include the river basins and estuaries that feed into a coastal area and extend out to the continental shelf and beyond, to the edges of deep open water. Ninety-five percent of the biomass yields from oceans are produced within or near EEZs. To keep our oceans healthy, it is important to manage and conserve these areas of our planet properly.

Didier Robert de Vaugondy (1723–1786), appointed geographer of King Louis XV in 1760, created this atlas to educate young students in the basic elements of geography. With his father, Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (1688–1766), he published one of the key atlases of the century called The Atlas Universel (1757) which employed modern surveyed maps to update and correct latitude and longitude points and revise place names.

English architect, George Perry (b. 1771) authored this groundbreaking scientific book on conchology, the study of shells. It is the only shell book illustrated with hand-colored aquatint plates by the engraver John Clarke. The illustrations were based on natural specimens mostly from private collections and the British Museum, including shells from across the globe, from Sri Lanka to New Zealand. Some names assigned to shells by Perry are still in use today.

Volume One of A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia, with figures of all the species was written by Charles Darwin in 1851 to cover the Lepadidæ, or pedunculated cirripedes. Lepadidæ are a family of goose barnacles described by Darwin. His study of barnacles, both living and in fossils, helped him understand how the species diversity developed over time, which was an important factor in his writing On the Origin of Species.

Italian polymath Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) has been called the father of natural history by such giants in the field as Carl Linnaeus and the Comte de Buffon. A true Renaissance man, he studied law, philosophy, and medicine before being named the University of Bologna’s first Chair of Natural Science in 1561. He founded the University’s botanical garden— one of the first of its kind in Europe— several years later, and included space for his natural history collection, which included animal specimens, minerals, plants, and man-made artifacts.

Imagine climbing into a small, metal submersible, closing the hatch, and dropping into the ocean. The light will quickly fade as the metal around you grinds ever-so-slightly, adjusting to the changes in pressure. But you’re not afraid – no, of course not, not when Richard Ellis is by your side regaling you with tales of giant squid attacking bait traps, discovering vent fields at the bottom of the ocean, and the sudden appearance of a prehistoric, formally extinct fish. This is exactly what reading this book is like. In it, Mr.

The Southern Cross Expedition (otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition) holds a special place in history: it was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, the first to ever winter on the Antarctic mainland, the first to visit the Great Ice Barrier in over 50 years, and a pioneer of Antarctic survival and travel techniques. Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, even stated that the expedition’s work helped him and other explorers.

This slim volume of Hawaii’s natural history was compiled when Hawaii was still a territory of the United States (Hawaii became a state in 1961.).  Written in an accessible style, it positively brims with information about Hawaii from the formation of its volcanos and history of its indigenous people to the cellular make-up of the Portuguese Man-of-War and the destructive quality of Hawaiian rats.

How fast could you write a 300 page book? Sensationalist journalist Jay Henry Mowbray turned out this edition of Sinking of The "Titanic" (complete with illustrations and ready for sale) by May 11, 1912, less than one month after the ship struck that infamous iceberg. Speed puts this book into a curious genre—the “instant book.” The instant book narrates a contemporaneous event through a collage of sources, like government hearings or embellished descriptions, coalesced by journalists, then sold door-to-door as soon as possible. But why the need for speed?

Legend has it that in 1803 at St. Simons Island, Georgia, a group of 75 Igbo warriors from what is now Nigeria committed mass suicide by drowning rather than begin life in America as slaves. They survived the Middle Passage only to walk willingly into the sea wearing chains. A private land dispute prevents a memorial from being built at the site where this happened. This book was edited by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Nation. This book features beautiful color paintings of Gullah life and history.