Staff Pick
Shortlisted for the 2015 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, James Nestor's Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves is a perfect blend of pop science, personal narrative, and compelling reporting. Beginning at sea level and descending nearly 30,000 feet, Nestor's book delves into the realm of oceanic intrigue, exploring freediving, magnetoreception, echolocation, attempts at inter-species communication, ama divers, origins of terrestrial life, synchronous coral spawning, physiological effects of depth, mammalian dive reflex, and so much more. Always interesting, Deep follows Nestor around the world as he racks up fascinating anecdotes from a variety of colorful characters. Science, adventure, history; Deep's appeal is vast and its rewards many. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
New York Times Book Reviewand#160;Editorsandrsquo; Choiceand#160;andbull;and#160;An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014and#160;andbull;and#160;Scientific Americanand#160;Recommended Read andldquo;Fascinating, informative, exhilarating.andrdquo; andmdash;Wall Street Journal
Deepand#160;is a voyage from the oceanandrsquo;s surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinatedand#160;by the sport of freedivingandmdash;in which competitors descendand#160;great depths on a single breathandmdash;James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potentialandmdash;including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
andldquo;A journey well worth taking.andrdquo; andmdash;David Epstein,and#160;New York Times Book Review
andldquo;Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places.andrdquo; andmdash;Dallas Morning News
and#160;andldquo;This is popular science writing at its best.andrdquo; andmdash;Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
The ocean's depths contain wondrous biology and clues to unimagined human abilities, as intrepid researchers and athletes are now discovering.
Synopsis
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014 - Scientific American Recommended Read
"Fascinating, informative, exhilarating." --Wall Street Journal
Deep is a voyage from the ocean's surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving--in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath--James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potential--including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
"A journey well worth taking." --David Epstein, New York Times Book Review
"Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places." --Dallas Morning News
"This is popular science writing at its best." --Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
"New York Times Book Review"Editors Choice An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014 "Scientific American"Recommended Read
Synopsis
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014 - Scientific American Recommended Read "Fascinating, informative, exhilarating." --Wall Street Journal
Deep is a voyage from the ocean's surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving--in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath--James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potential--including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
"A journey well worth taking." --David Epstein, New York Times Book Review
"Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places." --Dallas Morning News
"This is popular science writing at its best." --Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of Breath, a "fascinating, informative, exhilarating" voyage from the ocean's surface to its darkest trenches (Wall Street Journal)
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014 - Scientific American Recommended Read
Fascinated by the sport of freediving--in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath--James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potential--including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
"A journey well worth taking." --David Epstein, New York Times Book Review
"Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places." --Dallas Morning News
"This is popular science writing at its best." --Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
The deep sea remains Earths final frontier. And as James Nestor reveals, adventurous scientists current quests to solve the mysteries of the ocean are transforming not only our knowledge of the planet and its creatures, but also our understanding of the human body and mind. Over the course of the book, Nestor journeys from the oceans surface — where the extreme sport of freediving pushes the boundaries of human physical endurance — to its greatest, most otherworldly depth, 35,000 feet below sea level at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Along the way he finds “telepathic” corals that synchronize their blooming even though theyre hundreds of miles apart, octopus species that thrive in 300-degree water, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch blackness, and, most illuminating of all, the human pioneers whose discoveries are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
Synopsis
New York Times Book Reviewand#160;Editorsandrsquo; Choiceand#160;andbull;and#160;An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014and#160;andbull;and#160;Scientific Americanand#160;Recommended Read Deepand#160;is a voyage from the oceanandrsquo;s surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinatedand#160;by the sport of freedivingandmdash;in which competitors descendand#160;great depths on a single breathandmdash;James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potentialandmdash;including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
andldquo;A journey well worth taking.andrdquo; andmdash;David Epstein,and#160;New York Times Book Review
andldquo;Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places.andrdquo; andmdash;Dallas Morning News
and#160;andldquo;This is popular science writing at its best.andrdquo; andmdash;Christian Science Monitor
About the Author
JAMES NESTOR has written for Outside Magazine, Menand#39;s Journal, Dwell Magazine, the New York Times, San Francisco Magazine, Interior Design, the San Francisco Chronicle, and numerous other publications. His longform piece andquot;Half-Safe,andquot; about the only around-the-world journey by land and sea in the same vehicle ever attempted (and completed), was published by The Atavist. Nestor lives in San Francisco and is a member of the San Francisco Writersand#39; Grotto.