Choice Review

This anthology is an intriguing collection of writings by a diverse group of authors, including Benjamin Franklin, William Beebe, Joseph Conrad, Rachel Carson, Loren Eisley, Farley Mowat, and John McPhee. The excerpts are grouped under four topics: "Visions of the Sea," "Seafarers," "Discovery," and "Oceans in Peril." Each of these sections is introduced by essayist, novelist, and reporter Benchley. Numerous photographs illustrate the complexity of the problems impacting the ocean environment and the interdependence of all forms of life. Editor Gradwohl is curator of the traveling exhibition on ocean conservation, "Ocean Planet." The publication of this volume coincided with the opening of the exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. General; undergraduate; two-year technical program students. M. H. Sickels; emerita, Montgomery College--Takoma Park Campus