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| View Larger Image | The Octopus's Garden: Hydrothermal Vents and Other Mysteries of the Deep Sea (Helix Books) | Hardcoverby Cindy Lee Van Dover (Author)
| List Price: | $20.00 | |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Perseus Books | | Edition: | First Printing.th Edition | | Page Count: | 183 Pages | | Publication Date: | January 01, 1996 | | Sales Rank: | 939,627th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
An introduction to deep-sea life explains how hydrothermal vents have given way to a thriving population of unique creatures, profiles several members of the geyser community, and considers the threat of underwater landslides and earthquakes. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 5 reviews)
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Great! by S. Herrera (Washington, DC)  5 Stars
April 15, 2008
Good general-public introduction to deep sea ecosystems from the point of view and experiences of one of the most recognized specialists in this field. Easy reading and entertaining.
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Scientist and adventurer by wiredweird (Earth, or somewhere nearby)  4 Stars
October 21, 2006
Of course, science is itself an adventure, but Van Dover went far beyond the usual. Among other things, she became one of the few dozen people on earth rated to pilot Alvin, the deep-sea submarine. That elite group is almost as small as the cadre of space shuttle pilots, and Van Dover was the first woman to enter that group.
This isn't directly about her science or her adventure, though. It's a bit harder to nail down, but I think it answers a question that many people don't think to ask of scientists: why do you do it? The pay isn't great, the bureaucracy can be crushing, and the rigors of career-building often conflict with family-building. And, I hate to say it, but it's not always a friendly world for a woman - especially the hairy-chested world of piloting the deep-sea submersibles. Some abstraction like "love of knowledge" can't really explain why someone does it.
Van Dover conveys parts of it, though. Science, if you're doing it right, gives a daily experience of awe that defies description. There's an added excitement in the physical challenge of deep sea exploration, and a marvellous freedom in stepping outside the map of what is known. She manages to convey that about as well as words can hope to. Sometimes, her writing doesn't rise to the level of her inspiration. That might be asking too much of any mere mortal, though. She does well enough, and speaks clearly to a non-scientific reader about what it is that keeps her going.
//wiredweird
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Chorus of Tubeworms by flying squid (New Jersey, USA) 5 Stars
September 19, 2006
Although no longer in print, I found a used copy of this captivating book. Join oceanographer Cindy Lee Van Dover, pilot of the Alvin, on an adventure to the deep-sea floor. The book is rich in detail with evocative black and white drawings. Especially enjoyable is the chapter: "A Chorus of Tubeworms" - "crimson plumes bloom atop long white tubes that emerge from cracks in glossy black lava...each worm a prize specimen arranged in a formal garden."
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Now available in paperback! 5 Stars
November 24, 2001
This is an excellent book on deep sea exploration! If you can find it, the hardcover version is definitely a keeper for future reference. In response to the review above...I believe that "Deep-Ocean Journeys" by Cindy Lee Van Dover is the paperback version of "Octopus's Garden" ("Deep-Ocean" is still available in-print). Also, if you enjoyed this book, read William Broad's "The Universe Below".
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great book on the deep sea by Tim F. Martin (Madison, AL United States) 5 Stars
March 01, 2001
Too bad this book out of print! It is a neat little book on deep sea life, not just (but mainly) hydrothermal vent life. Very readable and while not too technical was very informative, with nice black and white illustrations. It added a very human touch to deep sea exploration, but was professional at the same time. It is truly an amazing world beneath the surface of the sea, which by some counts makes up something like 97 percent of the biosphere of this planet. Great books help bring this alien but important realm to life. Recommended.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Deep Ocean Journeys: Discovering New Life At The Bottom Of The Sea (Helix Book)
by Cindy Lee Van Dover (Author)
Scientist and submersible pilot Cindy Lee Van Dover has travelled to the bottom of the sea. In this book she gives voice to the scientific passion that motivates her while taking us along with her as she reveals the wonders of the ocean floor.
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| The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents
by Cindy Lee Van Dover (Author)
Teeming with weird and wonderful life--giant clams and mussels, tubeworms, "eyeless" shrimp, and bacteria that survive on sulfur--deep-sea hot-water springs are found along rifts where sea-floor spreading occurs. The theory of plate tectonics predicted the existence of these hydrothermal vents, but they were discovered only in 1977. Since then the sites have attracted teams of scientists seeking to understand how life can thrive in what would seem to be intolerable or extreme conditions of...
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| The Universe Below : Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea
by William Broad (Author), Dimitry Schidlovsky (Illustrator)
Pulitzer Prize winner William J. Broad takes us on an adventure to the planet's last and most exotic frontier -- the depths of the sea. The Universe Below examines how we are illuminating its dark recesses as a wave of advanced technology quietly opens the Earth's largest and most mysterious environment. Broad takes us on breathtaking dives and expeditions -- to the Azores, to the Titanic, to hot springs teeming with bizarre life, to icy fissures aswarm with gulper eels, vampire...
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| The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific
by Julia Whitty (Author)
In The Fragile Edge, the documentary filmmaker and deep-sea diver Julia Whitty paints a mesmerizing, scientifically rich portrait of teeming coral reefs and sea life in the South Pacific. She takes us literally beneath the surface of the usual travel narrative, in an underwater equivalent of an African big-game safari. Hammerhead sharks rule a cascading chain of extraordinary creatures, from eagle rays to reef sharks, as the sound of courting humpback whales reverberates through the deep.
...
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| The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss
by Claire Nouvian (Author)
On dry land, most organisms are confined to the surface, or at most to altitudes of a hundred meters—the height of the tallest trees. In the oceans, though, living space has both vertical and horizontal dimensions: with an average depth of 3800 meters, the oceans offer 99% of the space on Earth where life can develop. And the deep sea, which has been immersed in total darkness since the dawn of time, occupies 85% of ocean space, forming the...
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