The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans — Paperback
An NPR Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Library Journal Best Science Book of the Year
Named the Best Natural History Book of the Year by the Tampa Bay Times
A compelling history of seashells and the animals that make them, revealing what they have to tell us about nature, our changing oceans, and ourselves.
Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas.
In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world's most iconic seashells. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas.
From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature's wisdom - and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.
If you’d like your copy inscribed, please note to whom on the next screen—and any special occasion such as a birthday gift, or special connection to freshwater, rain or the sea that would allow her to personalize the inscription.
An NPR Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Library Journal Best Science Book of the Year
Named the Best Natural History Book of the Year by the Tampa Bay Times
A compelling history of seashells and the animals that make them, revealing what they have to tell us about nature, our changing oceans, and ourselves.
Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas.
In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world's most iconic seashells. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas.
From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature's wisdom - and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.
If you’d like your copy inscribed, please note to whom on the next screen—and any special occasion such as a birthday gift, or special connection to freshwater, rain or the sea that would allow her to personalize the inscription.
An NPR Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Library Journal Best Science Book of the Year
Named the Best Natural History Book of the Year by the Tampa Bay Times
A compelling history of seashells and the animals that make them, revealing what they have to tell us about nature, our changing oceans, and ourselves.
Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas.
In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world's most iconic seashells. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas.
From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature's wisdom - and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.
If you’d like your copy inscribed, please note to whom on the next screen—and any special occasion such as a birthday gift, or special connection to freshwater, rain or the sea that would allow her to personalize the inscription.
Praise for The Sound of the Sea
"Will have you marveling at nature…Barnett’s account remarkably spirals out, appropriately, to become a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation."― John Williams, New York Times Book Review
"For anyone who's ever admired the ocean's most beautiful objects, this is a literal 'beach read' to treasure." ― Ron Charles, CBS Sunday Morning
“An instant classic of nature history--a science-driven work of seaside grandeur.” —Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior
“The Sound of the Sea is as exquisite, many-chambered, and luminous as the shells Cynthia Barnett describes in her wild and hybrid book. It is a travelogue, a finely argued indictment of colonization and capitalism, a reanimation of scientists lost to the official narrative, and, most ringingly, the story of the way shells and the soft and vulnerable animals within them reflect back both the greatness of human ingenuity and the equally immense and rippling effect of human harm to the natural world. This song of mingled praise and warning left me shell-shocked, wonder-struck, utterly delighted.” —Lauren Groff, author of Florida
“The Sound of the Sea is one of those rare, knockout books that has you gasping in surprise on every page. From the prehistoric to the present, seashells have suffused human life, from giving voice to ancient gods to spurring climate solutions today.” —Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of An Octopus