Overview
Learning marine biology from a textbook is one thing. But take readers to the bottom of the sea in a submarine to discover living fossils or to coral reefs to observe a day in the life of an octopus, and the sea and its splendors come into focus, in brilliant colors and with immediacy. In Sensuous Seas, Eugene Kaplan offers readers an irresistibly irreverent voyage to the world of sea creatures, with a look at their habitats, their beauty and, yes, even their sex lives. A marine biologist who has built fish farms in Africa and established a marine laboratory in Jamaica, Kaplan takes us to oceans across the world to experience the lives of their inhabitants, from the horribly grotesque to the exquisitely beautiful. In chapters with titles such as ""Fiddler on the Root"" (reproductive rituals of fiddler crabs) and ""Size Does Count"" (why barnacles have the largest penis, comparatively, in the animal kingdom), Kaplan ventures inside coral reefs to study mating parrotfish; dives 740 feet in a submarine to find living fossils; explains what results from swallowing a piece of living octopus tentacle; and describes a shark attack on a friend.The book is a sensuous blend of sparkling prose and 150 beautiful illustrations that clarify the science.Each chapter opens with an exciting personal anecdote that leads into the scientific exploration of a distinct inhabitant of the sea world--allowing the reader to experience firsthand the incredible complexity of sea life. A one-of-a-kind memoir that unfolds in remarkable reaches of ocean few of us can ever visit for ourselves, Sensuous Seas brings the underwater world back to living room and classroom alike. Readers will be surprised at how much marine biology they have learned while being amused.
Full Product Details
Author: Eugene H. Kaplan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.40cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.539kg
ISBN: 9780691125602
ISBN 10: 0691125600
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 23 July 2006
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
General
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language: English
Reviews
Eugene H. Kaplan has been teaching marine biology for half a century, and shares his experience of bringing the subject alive... Each of the 31 chapters opens with either one of Kaplan's own memoirs or a scenario from his imagination, before exploring the marine biology behind the tale... [T]he entertainment seldom flags. Kaplan's book conveys the breadth and excitement of an education in marine biology... [T]here is no stronger recommendation that I could make. -- Jon Copley, Nature Eugene H. Kaplan has a well-developed sense of humor, delving amusingly yet seriously into such topics as the sex life of squids ... and the future of sea horses. -- Martin Levin, Toronto Globe and Mail With vivid writing, a sense of humor and truly fascinating creatures to work with, Kaplan creates a feel for the teeming sea and rouses a sense of wonder in his readers. Line drawings in each chapter illustrate the creatures and their life cycles. This is a book for people with even a small bit of curiosity about the hidden world around them. -- Lynn Harnett, Portsmouth Herald From this collection of short stories, a theme emerges. Kaplan guides readers to appreciate the remarkably diverse web of life that has evolved and continues to evolve in an ever-changing ocean environment... Sensuous Seas informs and challenges, one fascinating tale after another. -- Fred Bortz, Arkansas Democrat Gazette Eugene Kaplan's thirty-one chapters deliver concise and beautifully illustrated accounts of life-form specialization, symbiotic survival techniques, and unique mating rituals... Kaplan gives us the immense diversity of marine life, distinctively expressed in form, coloration, habitat (water, sand, rock, coral), and life patterns (aggressive or passive, independent or parasitic), opening up a universe. -- Peter Skinner, ForeWord This book spells out in evocative yet scientifically accurate ways, the mysteries, the drama, the variations, yes even the day-to-day lives of organisms in the sea... [It presents] a new world of possibilities about how to hook your students into studying the fascinating stories that organisms in the sea have to offer as well as some of the questions for which there are as yet no answers. -- American Biology Teacher All combined, Kaplan's writing appeals to the story lover, the scientist and anyone who just wants to know how crabs get it on. -- Seattle Magazine
Eugene H. Kaplan has been teaching marine biology for half a century, and shares his experience of bringing the subject alive... Each of the 31 chapters opens with either one of Kaplan's own memoirs or a scenario from his imagination, before exploring the marine biology behind the tale... [T]he entertainment seldom flags. Kaplan's book conveys the breadth and excitement of an education in marine biology... [T]here is no stronger recommendation that I could make. -- Jon Copley Nature Eugene H. Kaplan has a well-developed sense of humor, delving amusingly yet seriously into such topics as the sex life of squids ... and the future of sea horses. -- Martin Levin Toronto Globe and Mail With vivid writing, a sense of humor and truly fascinating creatures to work with, Kaplan creates a feel for the teeming sea and rouses a sense of wonder in his readers. Line drawings in each chapter illustrate the creatures and their life cycles. This is a book for people with even a small bit of curiosity about the hidden world around them. -- Lynn Harnett Portsmouth Herald From this collection of short stories, a theme emerges. Kaplan guides readers to appreciate the remarkably diverse web of life that has evolved and continues to evolve in an ever-changing ocean environment... Sensuous Seas informs and challenges, one fascinating tale after another. -- Fred Bortz Arkansas Democrat Gazette Eugene Kaplan's thirty-one chapters deliver concise and beautifully illustrated accounts of life-form specialization, symbiotic survival techniques, and unique mating rituals... Kaplan gives us the immense diversity of marine life, distinctively expressed in form, coloration, habitat (water, sand, rock, coral), and life patterns (aggressive or passive, independent or parasitic), opening up a universe. -- Peter Skinner ForeWord This book spells out in evocative yet scientifically accurate ways, the mysteries, the drama, the variations, yes even the day-to-day lives of organisms in the sea... [It presents] a new world of possibilities about how to hook your students into studying the fascinating stories that organisms in the sea have to offer as well as some of the questions for which there are as yet no answers. American Biology Teacher All combined, Kaplan's writing appeals to the story lover, the scientist and anyone who just wants to know how crabs get it on. Seattle Magazine
Author Information
Eugene H. Kaplan is Axinn Distinguished Professor of Conservation and Ecology at Hofstra University. A recipient of the Herman Melville award for writing on marine subjects, he is the author of nine books, including Problem Solving in Biology and two Peterson Field Guides, one on coral reefs of the Caribbean and the other on seashores of the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean.
