Sign-In
Cart
The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths
Paperback
Biographies GeneralEnvironmental Studies
Publisher Price: $21.00
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 1662603258
ISBN13: 9781662603259
Publisher: Astra House
Published: Oct 7 2025
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.85
Height: 0.90 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781662603259
Publisher: Astra House
Published: Oct 7 2025
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.85
Height: 0.90 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Winner of the 2024 National Book Foundation's Science + Literature Award A Washington Post top 10 best book of 2023 A Publishers Weekly best nonfiction book of 2023 Hypnotic . . . Beautifully written and beautifully made.
--W. M. Akers, The New York Times Book Review one of the most beautiful books-as-objects of the year
--W. M. Akers, The New York Times Book Review one of the most beautiful books-as-objects of the year
--The Globe and Mail
...one of the most fascinating and unusual new books I've read in some time.
--Benjamin Shull, The Wall Street Journal
...a weird and often beautiful fusion of science writing, history and poetry that explores our own relationship with the unknown...
--Edward Posnett, The Guardian Mesmerizing . . . Original and often profound, [The Bathysphere Book] is a moving testament to the wonders of exploration.
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review Imbued with the adventurous spirit of science and exploration . . . [The Bathysphere Book is] an enchanting cabinet of curiosities.
--Kirkus Reviews
A wide ranging, philosophical, and sensual account of early deep sea exploration and its afterlives, The Bathysphere Book begins with the first ever voyage to the deep ocean in 1930 and expands to explore the adventures and entanglements of its all-too-human participants at a time when the world still felt entirely new.
In the summer of 1930, aboard a ship floating near the Atlantic island of Nonsuch, marine biologist Gloria Hollister sat on a crate, writing furiously in a notebook with a telephone receiver pressed to her ear. The phone line was attached to a steel cable that plunged 3,000 feet into the sea. There, suspended by the cable, dangled a four-and-a-half-foot steel ball called the bathysphere. Crumpled inside, gazing through three-inch quartz windows at the undersea world, was Hollister's colleague William Beebe. He called up to her, describing previously unseen creatures, explosions of bioluminescence, and strange effects of light and color. From this momentous first encounter with the unknown depths, The Bathysphere Book widens its scope to explore a transforming and deeply paradoxical America, as the first great skyscrapers rose above New York City and the Great Plains baked to dust. In prose that is magical, atmospheric, and entirely engrossing, Brad Fox dramatizes new visions of our planetary home, delighting in tales of the colorful characters who surrounded, supported, and participated in the dives--from groundbreaking scientists and gallivanting adventurers to eugenicist billionaires. The Bathysphere Book is a hypnotic assemblage of brief chapters along with over fifty full-color images, records from the original bathysphere logbooks, and the moving story of surreptitious romance between Beebe and Hollister that anchors their exploration. Brad Fox blurs the line between poetry and research, unearthing and rendering a visionary meeting with the unknown.
...one of the most fascinating and unusual new books I've read in some time.
--Benjamin Shull, The Wall Street Journal
...a weird and often beautiful fusion of science writing, history and poetry that explores our own relationship with the unknown...
--Edward Posnett, The Guardian Mesmerizing . . . Original and often profound, [The Bathysphere Book] is a moving testament to the wonders of exploration.
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review Imbued with the adventurous spirit of science and exploration . . . [The Bathysphere Book is] an enchanting cabinet of curiosities.
--Kirkus Reviews
A wide ranging, philosophical, and sensual account of early deep sea exploration and its afterlives, The Bathysphere Book begins with the first ever voyage to the deep ocean in 1930 and expands to explore the adventures and entanglements of its all-too-human participants at a time when the world still felt entirely new.
In the summer of 1930, aboard a ship floating near the Atlantic island of Nonsuch, marine biologist Gloria Hollister sat on a crate, writing furiously in a notebook with a telephone receiver pressed to her ear. The phone line was attached to a steel cable that plunged 3,000 feet into the sea. There, suspended by the cable, dangled a four-and-a-half-foot steel ball called the bathysphere. Crumpled inside, gazing through three-inch quartz windows at the undersea world, was Hollister's colleague William Beebe. He called up to her, describing previously unseen creatures, explosions of bioluminescence, and strange effects of light and color. From this momentous first encounter with the unknown depths, The Bathysphere Book widens its scope to explore a transforming and deeply paradoxical America, as the first great skyscrapers rose above New York City and the Great Plains baked to dust. In prose that is magical, atmospheric, and entirely engrossing, Brad Fox dramatizes new visions of our planetary home, delighting in tales of the colorful characters who surrounded, supported, and participated in the dives--from groundbreaking scientists and gallivanting adventurers to eugenicist billionaires. The Bathysphere Book is a hypnotic assemblage of brief chapters along with over fifty full-color images, records from the original bathysphere logbooks, and the moving story of surreptitious romance between Beebe and Hollister that anchors their exploration. Brad Fox blurs the line between poetry and research, unearthing and rendering a visionary meeting with the unknown.
1 different editions
Also available
Also in
Environmental Studies
Wildly Successful Farming: Sustainability and the New Agricultural Land Ethic
DeVore, Brian
Hardcover
$26.95
The Darkness Manifesto: On Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms That Sustain Life
Eklöf, Johan
Hardcover
$12.99
Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal
Cummins, Ronnie
Paperback
From $10.99
The Return of Collective Intelligence: Ancient Wisdom for a World Out of Balance
Dyer, Dery
Paperback
From $9.99
Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World
McNeill, J. R.
Paperback
$10.99
Without Reservation: Awakening to Native American Spirituality and the Ways of Our Ancestors
Kritkausky, Randy
Paperback
$19.00
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paperback
$19.80
The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth
Schlanger, Zoë
Paperback
$17.99
The Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris
Wulf, Andrea
Hardcover
$34.20
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
Sheldrake, Merlin
Paperback
$18.00
Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail
Swift, Earl
Hardcover
$28.80
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Hardcover
$38.00
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discoveries from a Secret World
Wohlleben, Peter
Hardcover
From $14.99
Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities and Reshaping the Natural World
Werb, Dan
Hardcover
$27.00
The Ghost of the Mountains: Unraveling the Secrets of the Snow Leopard
Suryawanshi, Kulbhushansingh
Hardcover
$28.80
Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization
McKibben, Bill
Hardcover
$28.49
The Earth Said Remember Me: How to Revive Our Memories and Restore the Planet
Mark, Jason Dove
Hardcover
$22.49
Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the Fbi, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage
Wolfe, Matthew
Hardcover
$27.90
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Likes to Walk Outside
Offerman, Nick
Paperback
$18.00
The Summer of Death: The Great Heat Wave of 1936 and the Making of Modern-Day America
Williams, Geoff
Hardcover
$33.25
Polar War: Submarines, Spies, and the Struggle for Power in a Melting Arctic
Rosen, Kenneth R.
Hardcover
$27.55
We Will Be Jaguars (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Memoir of My People
Anderson, Mitch
Nenquimo, Nemonte
Paperback
$16.20
Plastic Inc.: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil's Biggest Bet
Gardiner, Beth
Hardcover
$28.80
The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late
Mahoney, Adam
Beyond Plastics
Enck, Judith
Hardcover
From $17.99
Where the Earth Meets the Sky: A Story of Penguins, People, and Place in Antarctica
Blight, Louise K.
Hardcover
$30.40
Frostlines: A Journey Through Entangled Lives and Landscapes in a Warming Arctic
Shea, Neil
Hardcover
$25.20
Romp!: A Journey Through the Natural History of Otters and Why They Matter
Island, Heide, PhD
Hardcover
$27.55
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
Egan, Timothy
Paperback
From $10.99
Pests & Other Friends: Discover the True Nature of the Most Maligned Animals
Berryman, Halsey
Hardcover
$23.74
Otherworldly America: Explore the Most Unique Natural Wonders of the United States
Guzman, Jake
Hardcover
$38.00
Torched: How a City Was Left to Burn, and the Olympic Rush to Rebuild L.A.
Vigliotti, Jonathan
Hardcover
$27.00
Natural Habitats and Wildlife Gardening: Inviting Nature Into Your Backyard
McCoshum, Shaun
Paperback
$28.45
Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard
Tallamy, Douglas W.
Hardcover
$28.50
The World Beneath Our Feet: The Hidden Life of Soil and Why It Matters to Us All
Ashwood, Frank
Hardcover
$28.50
Compost After Reading: A Practical Manifesto for Purposeful Decomposition
Marketos, Cassandra
Paperback
$18.99
Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers
Ritchie, Hannah
Hardcover
$25.16
Leave the Lights on: How Joyful Decisions Can Save Our Species
Dunn, Elizabeth
Zhao, Jiaying
Hardcover
$27.90
5 Steps to a 5: AP Environmental Science 2027: Practice AP Tests + AP Content Review + Digital Exams
Mayer, Courtney
Paperback
$27.85
Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World
Mann, Michael E.
Hotez, Peter J.
Hardcover
$28.80
How to Fall in Love with the Future: A Time Traveller's Guide to Changing the World
Hopkins, Rob
Hardcover
$28.45
Alaska Literary Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry
Grace Moler, Shaelene
Holleman, Marybeth
Lord, Nancy
Paperback
$28.45
Bird Talk: Hilariously Accurate Ways to Identify Birds by the Sounds They Make
Rowland, Becca
Paperback
$16.14
Wildlife Anatomy: The Curious Lives & Features of Wild Animals Around the World
Rothman, Julia
Paperback
$18.04
Tigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and China
Slaght, Jonathan C.
Hardcover
$29.70
Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have
Schlossberg, Tatiana
Paperback
$18.99
Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
Lankford, Andrea
Paperback
$18.99
Brought to You by: How Corporations Warped the Truth, Conned the Public, and Broke Democracy
Westervelt, Amy
Hardcover
$28.50
Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It
McDonald, Samuel Miller
Hardcover
$30.60
A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: A Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times
Aktipis, Athena
Paperback
$17.09
On Island Time: A Traveler's Atlas: Illustrated Adventures on and Around the Islands of Washington and British Columbia
O'Leary, Chandler
Paperback
$23.70
Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey Into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon
Rosolie, Paul
Paperback
$18.99
Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
Henion, Leigh Ann
Hardcover
$28.50
Nature's Echo: Harnessing Ancient Feedback Loops to Heal a Changing Planet
Crowther, Thomas
Hardcover
$28.49
Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie
Hage, Dave
Marcotty, Josephine
Hardcover
$28.80
Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities
Weiner, Kate Rose
Loften, Kailea Rose
Paperback
$26.60
The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us about How to Live Well with the Rest of Life
Dunn, Rob
Hardcover
$28.80
AP Environmental Science Premium, 2027: Prep Book with 5 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Thorpe, Gary S., M. S.
Paperback
$25.64
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness
Kloos, Scott
Paperback
$26.59
The Secret Life of a Cemetery: The Wild Nature and Enchanting Lore of Père-Lachaise
Gallot, Benoît
Paperback
$17.05
The New Beachcomber's Guide to the Pacific Northwest: Second Revised Edition
Sept, J. Duane
Paperback
$28.45
The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World
Brannen, Peter
Hardcover
From $19.99
Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science
Hernandez, Jessica
Paperback
$19.90
Pacific Northwest Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Alaska Blueberries to Wild Hazelnuts
Deur, Douglas
Paperback
$24.69
Let's Become Fungal!: Mycelium Teachings and the Arts: Based on Conversations with Indigenous Wisdom Keepers, Artists, Curators, Feminists and Mycolog
Ostendorf-Rodríguez, Yasmine
Paperback
$28.45
The Secret World of Weather: How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop
Gooley, Tristan
Paperback
$18.00
The Ultimate Shell Seeker's Guide: Building a Better Beachcombing Strategy
Oliphant, Ashley
Paperback
$28.45
Warden Force: The Worst of the Worst and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 101-114
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
$14.95
Winter Tree Finder: Identifying Deciduous Trees of Eastern North America by Their Bark and Twigs
Watts, May Theilgaard
Paperback
$7.16
Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization
McKibben, Bill
Paperback
$17.99
Shelter from the Storm: How Climate Change Is Creating a New Era of Migration
Hattem, Julian
Hardcover
$25.19