The Edge of the Sea

Last updated
The Edge of the Sea
The Edge of the Sea.jpg
Book cover of The Edge of the Sea
Author Rachel Carson
Illustrator Robert W. Hines
Country United States
Language English
SeriesSea trilogy
Subject Marine biology and history
Genre Nature writing
Publisher Houghton Mifflin
Publication date
1955
Media typePrint
Pages304
ISBN 9780395075050
Preceded by The Sea Around Us  

The Edge of the Sea is a best-selling book by the American marine biologist Rachel Carson, first published as a whole by Houghton Mifflin in 1955. The third and final volume of her sea trilogy, The Edge of the Sea, is a scientifically accurate exploration of the ecology of the Eastern Seaboard. [1]

Description

The Edge of the Sea was a passion project for Carson. [2] While working for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, she had the idea of creating a field guide of the Atlantic seashore. [3] The editor-in-chief of Houghton Mifflin, Paul Brooks, had a similar idea following the literary fame achieved by The Sea Around Us , and The Edge of the Sea was released on October 26, 1955. [4]

A scientifically accurate exploration of the ecology of Atlantic seashore, The Edge of the Sea is an account of what one could find at the literal edge of the sea. Within The Edge of the Sea, Carson details her explorations with accounts of a tide pool, an inaccessible cave, and the instance of a lone crab on the shore at midnight. [1] Each is a memorable encounter and works to explore life on the edge of the sea.

Aided by a Guggenheim Fellowship, Carson's research leading up to The Edge of the Sea was produced by the exploration of the rocky coast of New England, the sandy shores of the Mid-Atlantic, and the coral shores of the Southern Atlantic. [1] Each area is described by Carson with immense detail, working to provide people with a glimpse of nature at its core.

The Edge of the Sea was Carson's first collaboration with Bob Hines, an American wildlife artist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, whose drawings accompany Carson's writing. [1]

Rachel Carson. Official photo as a USFWS employee. c. 1940. Rachel-Carson.jpg
Rachel Carson. Official photo as a USFWS employee. c. 1940.
Bob Hines and Rachel Carson on the Atlantic coast. Robert Hines and Rachel Carson.jpg
Bob Hines and Rachel Carson on the Atlantic coast.
A statue of a young Rachel Carson in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Rachel Carson Monument.jpg
A statue of a young Rachel Carson in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental science</span> The integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems.

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Carson</span> American marine biologist and conservationist (1907–1964)

Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book Silent Spring (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.

<i>Silent Spring</i> 1962 book by Rachel Carson on the environment

Silent Spring is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and public officials of accepting the industry's marketing claims unquestioningly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piping plover</span> Species of bird

The piping plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black stripe running along the breast line. This chest band is usually thicker in males during the breeding season, and it is the only reliable way to tell the sexes apart. The bird is difficult to see when it is standing still, as it blends well with open, sandy beach habitats. It typically runs in short, quick spurts and then stops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Earle</span> American marine biologist and lecturer

Sylvia Alice Earle is an American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and was named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Littoral zone</span> Part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore

The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark, to coastal areas that are permanently submerged — known as the foreshore — and the terms are often used interchangeably. However, the geographical meaning of littoral zone extends well beyond the intertidal zone to include all neritic waters within the bounds of continental shelves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pauly</span> French-born marine biologist (born 1946)

Daniel Pauly is a French-born marine biologist, well known for his work in studying human impacts on global fisheries and in 2020 was the most cited fisheries scientist in the world. He is a professor and the project leader of the Sea Around Us Project at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia. He also served as Director of the UBC Fisheries Centre from November 2003 to October 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm Islands</span> Artificial islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Palm Islands consist of three artificial islands, Palm Jumeirah, Deira Island and Palm Jebel Ali, on the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Palm Islands were created around the same time as The World. Nakheel is the real estate developer of these artificial islands on the Palm Islands. The creation of the islands started in 2001 ending in year 2006 - 2007. These islands have had a significant impact on ocean sediments and wildlife in the surrounding area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolutionary neuroscience</span> Study of the evolution of nervous systems

Evolutionary neuroscience is the scientific study of the evolution of nervous systems. Evolutionary neuroscientists investigate the evolution and natural history of nervous system structure, functions and emergent properties. The field draws on concepts and findings from both neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Historically, most empirical work has been in the area of comparative neuroanatomy, and modern studies often make use of phylogenetic comparative methods. Selective breeding and experimental evolution approaches are also being used more frequently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theo Colborn</span> Mother of Endocrine Disruptive Chemicals

Theodora Emily Colborn was Founder and President Emerita of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX), based in Paonia, Colorado, and Professor Emerita of Zoology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She was an environmental health analyst, and best known for her studies on the health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals. She died in 2014.

Joel Walker Hedgpeth was a marine biologist, environmentalist and author. He was an expert on the marine arthropods known as sea spiders (Pycnogonida), and on the seashore plant and animal life of southern and northern California. He was a spokesperson for care for the floral and faunal diversity of the California coastline.

<i>Tonna galea</i> Species of gastropod

Tonna galea, commonly known as the giant tun, is a species of marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tonnidae. This very large sea snail or tun snail is found in the North Atlantic Ocean as far as the coast of West Africa, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

<i>Under the Sea Wind</i>

Under the Sea Wind: A Naturalist's Picture of Ocean Life (1941) is the first book written by the American marine biologist Rachel Carson. Her book was published by Simon & Schuster in 1941; it received very good reviews, but sold poorly. After the great success of a sequel The Sea Around Us, it was reissued by Oxford University Press; that edition was an alternate Book-of-the-Month Club selection and became another bestseller, and has never gone out of print. It is recognized today as one of the "definitive works of American nature writing," and is in print as one of the Penguin Nature Classics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep scattering layer</span> Layer of small animals in the ocean

The deep scattering layer, sometimes referred to as the sound scattering layer, is a layer in the ocean consisting of a variety of marine animals. It was discovered through the use of sonar, as ships found a layer that scattered the sound and was thus sometimes mistaken for the seabed. For this reason it is sometimes called the false bottom or phantom bottom. It can be seen to rise and fall each day in keeping with diel vertical migration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact On European Seas</span> International multidisciplinary project that studies deep-sea ecosystems

Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact On European Seas (HERMIONE) is an international multidisciplinary project, started in April 2009, that studies deep-sea ecosystems. HERMIONE scientists study the distribution of hotspot ecosystems, how they function and how they interconnect, partially in the context of how these ecosystems are being affected by climate change and impacted by humans through overfishing, resource extraction, seabed installations and pollution. Major aims of the project are to understand how humans are affecting the deep-sea environment and to provide policy makers with accurate scientific information, enabling effective management strategies to protect deep sea ecosystems. The HERMIONE project is funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, and is the successor to the HERMES project, which concluded in March 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laguna Madre (United States)</span> Hypersaline lagoon in Texas, US

The Laguna Madre is a long, shallow, hypersaline lagoon along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy and Cameron Counties in Texas, United States. It is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas. The roughly 20-mile (32 km) long Saltillo Flats land bridge divides it into Upper and Lower lagoons joined by the Intracoastal Waterway, which has been dredged through the lagoon. Cumulatively, Laguna Madre is approximately 130 miles (210 km) long, the length of Padre Island in the US. The main extensions include Baffin Bay in Upper Laguna Madre, Red Fish Bay just below the Saltillo Flats, and South Bay near the Mexican border. As a natural ecological unit, the Laguna Madre of the United States is the northern half of the ecosystem as a whole, which extends into Tamaulipas, Mexico approximately 144 miles (232 km) south of the US border, to the vicinity of the Rio Soto La Marina and the town of La Pesca, extending approximately 275 miles (443 km) through USA and Mexico in total.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Rappaport Clark</span>

Jamie Rappaport Clark is an American conservationist and former government official working as the president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. She joined the organization as executive vice president in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Elton Sette</span> American fisheries scientist

Oscar Elton Sette, who preferred to be called Elton Sette, was an influential 20th-century American fisheries scientist. During a five-decade career with the United States Bureau of Fisheries, United States Fish and Wildlife Service and its Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sette pioneered the integration of fisheries science with the sciences of oceanography and meteorology to develop a complete understanding of the physical and biological characteristics of the ocean environment and the effects of those characteristics on fisheries and fluctuations in the abundance of fish. He is recognized both in the United States and internationally for many significant contributions he made to marine fisheries research and for his leadership in the maturation of fisheries science to encompass fisheries oceanography, defined as the "appraisal or exploitation of any kind of [marine] organism useful to Man" and "the study of oceanic processes affecting the abundance and availability of commercial fishes." Many fisheries scientists consider him to be the "father of modern fisheries science."

<i>Exocoetus volitans</i> Species of fish

Exocoetus volitans, commonly known as the tropical two-wing flyingfish or blue flyingfish, is a species of ray-finned fish native to tropical and subtropical seas. It can glide above the surface of the sea to escape predators.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Edge of the Sea". The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  2. Harris, Patricia; Lyon, David. "Rachel Carson's Maine: Wonders at the edge of the sea never grow old". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  3. Popova, Maria. "The Ocean and the Meaning of Life". The Marginalian. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  4. "The Edge of the Sea". Kirkus. Retrieved 18 November 2021.