Download or read book A Fascination for Fish written by David C. Powell and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2001-03-27 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engaging memoir presents one man's lifelong love of the ocean and gives a highly personal, behind-the-scenes look at California's magnificent and innovative aquariums. David Powell, for many years curator of the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, tells the story of his life as a pioneering aquarist. From handling great white sharks to transporting delicate fish on bumpy airplanes to night diving for fish in the Indian Ocean, A Fascination for Fish describes many of the mind-boggling challenges that make modern aquariums possible and offers an intriguing glimpse beneath the ocean's surface. Powell's career in diving and aquarium development goes back to the beginning of modern methods in both areas. From the early techniques he devised to get fish into aquariums alive and healthy to his later exploratory dive to a depth of eleven hundred feet in a two-person submarine, Powell's action-packed narrative inspires laughter, wonder, and philosophical reflection. A Fascination for Fish also includes many stories about Powell's diving adventures on the California coast, in the Sea of Cortez, and in many remote and exotic locations around the world.

Download or read book A Fascination for Fish written by David C. Powell and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-04-24 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This autobiography is a charming and accurate telling by a modest man whose brilliant career has allowed millions to venture into the sea and feel what Dave feels when he's underwater—without getting wet!"—John E. McCosker, Director Emeritus, Steinhart Aquarium, San Francisco "Dave Powell is one of the giants in the development of the modern public aquarium. His great talents and skill have come from years of working with the technology of public aquariums, and also from a great love of the sea. This book is a wonderful tale of his adventures (and misadventures) as he worked to capture the essence of the ocean and bring it to public view."—Bruce Carlson, Director, Waikiki Aquarium, Honolulu "Gobies, jellyfish, coelacanth, white sharks—it's all here. A delightfully written book detailing the experiences of the most innovative aquarist of our time. This book is a must read for anyone fascinated by looking through an aquarium viewing window."—Jerry Goldsmith, Vice President, SeaWorld of California

Download or read book The Book of Eels written by Patrik Svensson and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize National Bestseller Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book One of TIME’s 100 Must Read Books of the Year One of The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Nonfiction Books of the Year One of Smithsonian Magazine’s 10 Best Science Books of the Year One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Nonfiction Books of the Year A New York Times Editor’s Choice Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world’s most elusive fish—the eel—and a reflection on the human condition Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery. Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel’s point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea. Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson’s journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant.

Download or read book Swimming with Sharks written by Heather Lang and published by Albert Whitman & Company. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2017 Amelia Bloomer List, Early Readers Nonfiction This picture book biography follows the life of Eugenie Clark, the Japanese-American scientist, researcher, and diver, who became famous as "The Shark Lady" for her groundbreaking discoveries about shark behavior. Before Eugenie Clark's groundbreaking research, most people thought sharks were vicious, blood-thirsty killers. From the first time she saw a shark in an aquarium, Japanese-American Eugenie was enthralled. Instead of frightening and ferocious eating machines, she saw sleek, graceful fish gliding through the water. After she became a scientist—an unexpected career path for a woman in the 1940s—she began taking research dives and training sharks, earning her the nickname "The Shark Lady."

Download or read book The Secret Life of Fish written by Doug Mackay-Hope and published by White Lion Publishing. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration into the untold lives of 50 of the most compelling fish living in our oceans and waterways.

Download or read book The Dragon Behind the Glass written by Emily Voigt and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-05-24 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE 2017 NASW SCIENCE IN SOCIETY JOURNALISM AWARD A FINALIST FOR THE 2017 PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR “[A] curiously edifying book.” —The New York Times Book Review “With the taut suspense of a spy novel, Voigt paints a vivid world of murder, black market deals, and habitat destruction surrounding a fish that's considered, ironically, to be a good-luck charm.” —Discover “[An] immensely satisfying story, full of surprises and suspense....Things get weird fast.” —The Wall Street Journal An intrepid journalist’s quest to find a wild Asian arowana—the world’s most expensive aquarium fish—takes her on a global tour in this “engaging tale of obsession and perseverance…and an enthralling look at the intersection of science, commercialism, and conservationism” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). A young man is murdered for his pet fish. An Asian tycoon buys a single specimen for $150,000. Meanwhile, a pet detective chases smugglers through the streets of New York. With “the taut suspense of a spy novel” (Discover) The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other. Treasured as a status symbol believed to bring good luck, the Asian arowana, or “dragon fish,” is a dramatic example of a modern paradox: the mass-produced endangered species. While hundreds of thousands are bred in captivity, the wild fish as become a near-mythical creature. From the South Bronx to Borneo and beyond, journalist Emily Voigt follows the trail of the arowana to learn its fate in nature. “A fresh, lively look at an obsessive desire to own a piece of the wild” (Kirkus Reviews), The Dragon Behind the Glass traces our fascination with aquarium fish back to the era of exploration when naturalists stood on the cutting edge of modern science. In an age when freshwater fish now comprise one of the most rapidly vanishing groups of animals, Voigt unearths a surprising truth behind the arowana’s rise to fame—one that calls into question how we protect the world’s rarest species. “Not since Candace Millard published The River of Doubt has the world of the Amazon, Borneo, Myanmar, and other exotic locations been so colorfully portrayed as it is now in Emily Voigt’s The Dragon Behind the Glass…a must-read” (Library Journal, starred review).

Download or read book Manfish written by Jennifer Berne and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2012-10-26 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A colorfully illustrated biography of a little French boy who would become an internationally known oceanographer and champion of the seas. Once upon a time in France, a baby was born under the summer sun. His parents named him Jacques. As he grew, Jacques fell in love with the sea. He dreamed of breathing beneath the waves and swimming as gracefully as a fish. In fact, he longed to become a manfish. Jacques Cousteau grew up to become a champion of the seas and one of the best-known oceanographers in the world. In this lovely biography, poetic text and gorgeous paintings come together to create a portrait of Cousteau that is as magical as it is inspiring. Praise for Manfish “Berne offers a luminous picture-book biography about Jacques Cousteau . . . . Puybaret’s smooth-looking acrylic paintings extend the words’ elegant simplicity and beautifully convey the sense of infinite, underwater space.” —Booklist (starred review) “This moving tribute to the great nautical observer and filmmaker is shot through with an authentically childlike sense of adventure and the thrill of discovery . . . . This poetic profile of a doer and a dreamer is certain to inspire fresh interest in discovering, and in caring for, our world’s wonders.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A new generation of children is introduced to the pioneering oceanographer and filmmaker. Beginning with Cousteau’s childhood in France where he marveled at the sea and dreamed of breathing underwater, Berne reveals the unique mix of curiosity, ingenuity, and passion that drove Cousteau to make underwater exploration possible.” —School Library Journal

Download or read book Why Fish Don t Exist written by Lulu Miller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nineteenth-century scientist David Starr Jordan built one of the most important fish specimen collections ever seen, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shattered his life's work.

Download or read book Aquarium written by David Vann and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the award-winning author of Legend of a Suicide: “A kind of modern fairy tale . . . Vann’s novels are striking, uncompromising portraits of American life” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). David Vann’s dazzling debut Legend of a Suicide was reviewed in over a 150 major global publications, won eleven prizes worldwide, was on forty “best books of the year” lists, and established its author as a literary master. Now, in crystalline, chiseled yet graceful prose, Aquarium takes us into the heart of a brave young girl whose longing for love and capacity for forgiveness transforms the damaged people around her . . . Twelve-year-old Caitlin lives alone with her mother—a docker at the local container port—in subsidized housing next to an airport in Seattle. Each day, while she waits to be picked up after school, Caitlin visits the local aquarium to study the fish. Gazing at the creatures within the watery depths, Caitlin accesses a shimmering universe beyond her own. When she befriends an old man at the tanks one day, who seems as enamored by the fish as she, Caitlin cracks open a dark family secret and propels her once-blissful relationship with her mother toward a precipice of terrifying consequence. “A blue-collar parable . . . [The character] looks back on her life as a child looks into a tank, hoping to make sense of the world inside—a theme Vann develops beautifully, creating a mysterious realm of the wintry American city.” —The Guardian

Download or read book Fish Girl written by Donna Jo Napoli and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The triple Caldecott winner David Wiesner brings his rich visual imagination and trademark artistry to the graphic novel format in a unique coming-of-age tale that begins underwater. A young mermaid, called Fish Girl, in a boardwalk aquarium has a chance encounter with an ordinary girl. Their growing friendship inspires Fish Girl's longing for freedom, independence, and a life beyond the aquarium tank. Sparkling with humor and brilliantly visualized, Fish Girl's story will resonate with every young person facing the challenges and rewards of growing up.

Download or read book Gould s Book of Fish written by Richard Flanagan and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Commonwealth Prize New York Times Book Review—Notable Fiction 2002 Entertainment Weekly—Best Fiction of 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Review—Best of the Best 2002 Washington Post Book World—Raves 2002 Chicago Tribune—Favorite Books of 2002 Christian Science Monitor—Best Books 2002 Publishers Weekly—Best Books of 2002 The Cleveland Plain Dealer—Year’s Best Books Minneapolis Star Tribune—Standout Books of 2002 Once upon a time, when the earth was still young, before the fish in the sea and all the living things on land began to be destroyed, a man named William Buelow Gould was sentenced to life imprisonment at the most feared penal colony in the British Empire, and there ordered to paint a book of fish. He fell in love with the black mistress of the warder and discovered too late that to love is not safe; he attempted to keep a record of the strange reality he saw in prison, only to realize that history is not written by those who are ruled. Acclaimed as a masterpiece around the world, Gould’s Book of Fish is at once a marvelously imagined epic of nineteenth-century Australia and a contemporary fable, a tale of horror, and a celebration of love, all transformed by a convict painter into pictures of fish.

Download or read book Shark Biology and Conservation written by Daniel C. Abel and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Feed your fascination with sharks! This complete resource enlightens readers on the biology, ecology, and behavior of sharks with approachable explanations and more than 250 stunning color illustrations. Studies of shark biology have flourished over the last several decades. An explosion of new research methods is leading to a fascinating era of oceanic discovery. Shark Biology and Conservation is an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of the diversity, evolution, ecology, behavior, physiology, anatomy, and conservation of sharks. Written in a style that is detailed but not intimidating by world-renowned shark specialists Dan Abel and Dean Grubbs, it relays numerous stories and insights from their exciting experiences in the field. While explaining scientific concepts in terms that non-specialists and students can understand, Abel and Grubbs reveal secrets that will illuminate even the experts. The text provides readers with a robust and wide range of essential knowledge as it • introduces emerging as well as traditional techniques for classifying sharks, understanding their behavior, and unraveling the mysteries of their evolution; • draws on both established shark science and the latest breakthroughs in the field, from molecular approaches to tracking technologies; • highlights the often-neglected yet fascinating subject of shark physiology, including heart function, sensory biology, digestion, metabolic performance, and reproduction; • addresses big picture ecological questions like "Which habitats do sharks prefer?" and "Where do sharks migrate and for what purpose?"; • describes the astonishing diversity of sharks' adaptations to their environment; • discusses which shark conservation techniques do and don't work; and • comments on the use and misuse of science in the study of sharks. Enhanced by hundreds of original color photographs and beautifully detailed line drawings, Shark Biology and Conservation will appeal to anyone who is spellbound by this wondrous, ecologically important, and threatened group, including marine biologists, wildlife educators, students, and shark enthusiasts.

Download or read book Blue Arabesque written by Patricia Hampl and published by HMH. This book was released on 2007-10-01 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These meditations inspired by a Matisse painting are “a paean to the act of seeing, celebrating our capacity to be transformed by the truths art holds.” —The New York Times Book Review Named a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year and a Los Angeles Times Favorite Nonfiction of the Year Just out of college, Patricia Hampl was mesmerized by a Matisse painting in the Art Institute of Chicago: an aloof woman gazing at goldfish in a bowl, a Moroccan screen behind her. In Blue Arabesque, Hampl explores the allure of this lounging woman, immersed in leisure, so at odds with the rush of the modern era. Hampl’s meditation takes us to the Cote d’Azur and to North Africa, from cloister to harem, pondering figures as diverse as Eugene Delacroix, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Katherine Mansfield. Returning always to Matisse’s portraits of languid women, she discovers they were not decorative indulgences but something much more. Moving with the life force that Matisse sought in his work, Blue Arabesque is Hampl’s dazzling and critically acclaimed tour de force.

Download or read book Owls of the Eastern Ice written by Jonathan C. Slaght and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 Longlisted for the National Book Award Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Minnesota Book Award for General Nonfiction A Finalist for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award Winner of the Peace Corps Worldwide Special Book Award A Best Book of the Year: NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Globe and Mail, The BirdBooker Report, Geographical, Open Letter Review Best Nature Book of the Year: The Times (London) "A terrifically exciting account of [Slaght's] time in the Russian Far East studying Blakiston’s fish owls, huge, shaggy-feathered, yellow-eyed, and elusive birds that hunt fish by wading in icy water . . . Even on the hottest summer days this book will transport you.” —Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk, in Kirkus I saw my first Blakiston’s fish owl in the Russian province of Primorye, a coastal talon of land hooking south into the belly of Northeast Asia . . . No scientist had seen a Blakiston’s fish owl so far south in a hundred years . . . When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Jonathan C. Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts. Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. That first sighting set his calling as a scientist. Despite a wingspan of six feet and a height of over two feet, the Blakiston’s fish owl is highly elusive. They are easiest to find in winter, when their tracks mark the snowy banks of the rivers where they feed. They are also endangered. And so, as Slaght and his devoted team set out to locate the owls, they aim to craft a conservation plan that helps ensure the species’ survival. This quest sends them on all-night monitoring missions in freezing tents, mad dashes across thawing rivers, and free-climbs up rotting trees to check nests for precious eggs. They use cutting-edge tracking technology and improvise ingenious traps. And all along, they must keep watch against a run-in with a bear or an Amur tiger. At the heart of Slaght’s story are the fish owls themselves: cunning hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat. Through this rare glimpse into the everyday life of a field scientist and conservationist, Owls of the Eastern Ice testifies to the determination and creativity essential to scientific advancement and serves as a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.

Download or read book Piscinae written by James Arnold Higginbotham and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 1997 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pisciculture_the process of raising fish_held a lasting fascination for the people of ancient Rome. Whether bred for household consumption, cultivated for sale at market, or simply kept in confinement for reasons of aesthetic appreciation, fish remained a

Download or read book Is That a Fish in Your Ear written by David Bellos and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2011-10-11 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year People speak different languages, and always have. The Ancient Greeks took no notice of anything unless it was said in Greek; the Romans made everyone speak Latin; and in India, people learned their neighbors' languages—as did many ordinary Europeans in times past (Christopher Columbus knew Italian, Portuguese, and Castilian Spanish as well as the classical languages). But today, we all use translation to cope with the diversity of languages. Without translation there would be no world news, not much of a reading list in any subject at college, no repair manuals for cars or planes; we wouldn't even be able to put together flat-pack furniture. Is That a Fish in Your Ear? ranges across the whole of human experience, from foreign films to philosophy, to show why translation is at the heart of what we do and who we are. Among many other things, David Bellos asks: What's the difference between translating unprepared natural speech and translating Madame Bovary? How do you translate a joke? What's the difference between a native tongue and a learned one? Can you translate between any pair of languages, or only between some? What really goes on when world leaders speak at the UN? Can machines ever replace human translators, and if not, why? But the biggest question Bellos asks is this: How do we ever really know that we've understood what anybody else says—in our own language or in another? Surprising, witty, and written with great joie de vivre, this book is all about how we comprehend other people and shows us how, ultimately, translation is another name for the human condition.

Download or read book Like Water is for Fish written by Garth Japhet and published by Pan Macmillan South africa. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soul City and Soul Buddyz series are memorable for the way in which they integrated health topics into compelling storylines on TV, radio and in print, creating stories so popular that they entertained and informed millions of people. And the Heartlines’ ‘What’s Your Story?’ programme and films such as Beyond the River, continue to provide witness to the transformative power of story. As a young boy, Garth Japhet found his life radically shaped by the Jungle Doctor series of books. The stories so enthralled him that, against all advice, he set his heart on medicine. He could see his future – with a backdrop of savannas, golden sunsets, adventure and accolades – as a romantic figure, a healer, a hero. This fantasy sustained Garth through the challenges of medical training, but finally he arrived. He was Dr Japhet, living the dream. Except the dream was a nightmare. The reality of medicine was not the life he had hoped for. There were times when he cursed the power of the story that had so completely messed up his life. Having struggled with anxiety most of his life, he was catapulted into a deep depression. And then it happened. Garth stumbled upon the healing power of story – fictional, factual and his own. What magic was at work here? If stories had changed him, could he use story to change others? This question set him on the journey described in Like Water is for Fish; a journey that led to Garth co-founding Soul City and Heartlines, and to an understanding that story, in its multiple forms, is as essential for our lives as water is for fish. When you share your story with others and they share theirs with you, barriers break down, hardened attitudes shift, and healing begins.