Synopses & Reviews
Ask anyone to picture a bird or a fish and a series of clear images will immediately come to mind. Ask the same person to picture plankton and most would have a hard time conjuring anything beyond a vague squiggle or a greyish fleck. This book will change that forever.
Viewing these creatures up close for the first time can be a thrilling experienceandmdash;an elaborate but hidden world truly opens up before your eyes. Through hundreds of close-up photographs, Plankton transports readers into the currents, where jeweled chains hang next to phosphorescent chandeliers, spidery claws jut out from sinuous bodies, and gelatinous barrels protect microscopic hearts. The creaturesandrsquo; vibrant colors pop against the black pages, allowing readers to examine every eye and follow every tentacle. Jellyfish, tadpoles, and bacteria all find a place in the book, representing the broad scope of organisms dependent on drifting currents.
Christian Sardetandrsquo;s enlightening text explains the biological underpinnings of each species while connecting them to the larger living world. He begins with planktonandrsquo;s origins and history, then dives into each group, covering ctenophores and cnidarians, crustaceans and mollusks, and worms and tadpoles. He also demonstrates the indisputable impact of plankton in our lives. Plankton drift through our world mostly unseen, yet they are diverse organisms that form ninety-five percent of ocean life. Biologically, they are the foundation of the aquatic food web and consume as much carbon dioxide as land-based plants. Culturally, they have driven new industries and captured artistsandrsquo; imaginations.
While scientists and entrepreneurs are just starting to tap the potential of this undersea forest, for most people these pages will represent uncharted waters. Plankton is a spectacular journey that will leave readers seeing the ocean in ways they never imagined.
Review
and#8220;A stunningly beautiful work of art that is sure to draw the reader into this world typically missed by all but a few oceanographers and marine biologists.and#8221;
Review
Winner
Review
andquot;When people think of the oceans, they usually think of the coast. But the coasts are just a thin ribbon compared to the vast volume of the open ocean. Christian Sardet does an extraordinary job revealing the world of plankton - the diverse organisms that are carried by the currents in the open ocean. These are utterly foreign organisms to most people, but by showing how beautiful they are and describing some of the biology behind their adaptations he succeeds in making them accessible and familiar. Many of these organisms are gelatinous, clear, and incredibly fragile. They look like blobs when they wash up on the beach, but come to life in the pages ofand#160;Plankton.andquot;
Review
andquot;Wow! Simply splendidly wow! Christian Sardet has found that sweet spot where science meets art. The stunning images are a feast for the eyes and the fascinating information is a feast for the mind.
Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World will appeal to people from all backgrounds, from those whose fondness for marine biology will be stoked by the depth and breadth of content, to those who may dabble curiously and become enchanted by the stories of the creatures that inhabit this strange world of minibeasts.
Sardet brings alive the history of planktonandmdash;both the recent history of the last few hundred years of science, and the deep history of the evolutionary relationships between the incredibly diverse beings that we collectively refer to as plankton. And then chapter by chapter, we get to know these creatures great and small, some spectacularly colored and others as invisible and mysterious as diamonds, the squishy, chewy, and crunchy drifters of the sea. Designed to be a coffee table book, Plankton is also the finest and most comprehensive textbook on the subject. This is a book that will gather no dust -- it is just too beautiful to put down!andquot;
Review
andquot;Striking close-up photos and micrographs take center stage . . . revealing the dazzling diversity of these tiny creaturesandmdash;from microscopic unicellular organisms to complex crustaceans.andquot;
Review
andldquo;Humans are even more indebted to plankton, the organisms that make up 98 per cent of the oceanandrsquo;s living biomass and which are brought vividly to life in Sardetandrsquo;s microscopic images.andrdquo;
Review
Extraordinary.
Review
andquot;In this beautiful book, marine scientist Christian Sardet shows that tiny plankton, not enormous blue whales, are the real stars of the ocean. Macro pictures of the huge variety of plankton forms and short details of their lives force a reconsideration of our view of them as part of an amorphous soup. A celebration of the small, and an unalloyed joy.andquot;
Review
andquot;Beautiful and informative, and written for a broad audience, Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World should be on everyoneandrsquo;s gift list this year.andquot;
Review
andquot;Extraordinary.andquot;
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andquot;A fascinating book that will cause readers to think deeply about plankton and its importance to human and animal life. A biology or general science background is not necessary to read this book; the reader needs only a desire to learn more about these intriguing organisms.andquot;
Synopsis
Plankton are the great drifters of the sea, any creature carried along by ocean currents.and#160; They range in size from the tiniest virus to siphonophores, the longest animals in the world, and also include microscopic algae, krill, and even fish larvae.and#160; This floating world is the foundation of the aquatic food web, without which there would be no fish.and#160; They also consume as much carbon dioxide as all land trees and plants. Plankton also fuel our precious oil beds, as the layers of sediment they form over millions of years fossilized to form this bounty.
These amazing drifters are celebrated in form and function in the pages of book, which brings readers face to face with the most vibrant flotsam imaginable.and#160; Colors and textures belie complex evolutionary adaptation to their marine surroundings, which results in incredible diversity.and#160; Plankton are largely invisible to the human eye, and so for many, the journey in this book is as novel and uncharted as that to the abyss that flowed in the pages of The Deep.
About the Author
Christian Sardet is cofounder and emeritus research director of the Laboratory of Cell Biology at the Marine Station of Villefranche-sur-mer, part of the Centre National de la recherche scientifique and Universitandeacute; Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. He is also cofounder and scientific coordinator of the Tara Oceans Expedition, a global voyage to study plankton, and creator of the Plankton Chronicles project, www.planktonchronicles.org.
Table of Contents
Prologue, by Mark Ohman
Introduction. Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World What Are Plankton?
Plankton and Man
The Origins: Life Shapes the Planet
Explosions, Extinctions, and Evolution of Life in the Ocean
A Chronological History of the Planet and the Tree of Life
Taxonomy and Phylogeny: Hierarchical Categorizations
Organisms of All Sizes, with Different Roles and Behavior
Collecting and Identifying Plankton, Then and NowPlankton of the Worldand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Villefranche-sur-Mer, France: A Bay Famous for Its Plankton
Between Ecuador and Galapagos: Tara Oceans Expedition
South Carolina, United States: Salt Marsh Estuaries
Izu Peninsula and Shimoda, Japan: Autumn PlanktonUnicellular Creatures: From the Origins of Life Bacteria, Archaea, and Viruses: Invisible but Omnipresent
Unicellular Protists: Precursors of Plants and Animals
Phytoplankton
Coccolithophores and Foraminifera: Limestone Architects
Diatoms and Dinoflagellates: Silicate or Cellulose Houses
Radiolarians: Polycystines and Acantharians: Symbiosis at the Ocean Surface
Ciliates, Tintinnids, and Choanoflagellates: Motility and MulticellularityCtenophores and Cnidarians: Ancestral Forms Ctenophores: Carnivorous Comb Jellies
Jellyfish: Equipped to Survive
Siphonophores: The Longest Animals in the World
Velella, Porpita, and Physalia: Planktonic SailorsCrustaceans and Mollusks: Champions of Diversity Crustacean Larvae: Molting and Metamorphosis
Copepods to Amphipods: Variations on a Theme
Phronima: Monster in a Barrel
Pteropods and Heteropods: Mollusks That Swim with Their Feet
Cephalopods and Nudibranchs: Beautiful Colors and CamouflageWorms and Tadpoles: Arrows, Tubes, and Nets Chaetognaths: Arrows in the Oceans
Polychaete Annelids: Worms in the Sea
Salps, Doliolids, and Pyrosomes: Highly Evolved Gelatinous Animals
Larvaceans: Tadpoles That Live in a Net
Embryos and LarvaeEpilogue
Acknowledgments
Bibliography, Websites
Credits
Index