Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
0 0
Download high-resolution image Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio play button
0:00
0:00

The Ocean's Menagerie

How Earth's Strangest Creatures Reshape the Rules of Life

Author Drew Harvell
Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio play button
0:00
0:00
Hardcover
$32.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Viking
On sale Apr 22, 2025 | 288 Pages | 9780593654286
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

See Additional Formats
An elegantly written exploration of the cutting edge science of the strangest and most remarkable creatures on our planet by a leading marine biologist

Hundred-year-old giant clams, coral kingdoms that rival human cities, and jellyfish that glow in the dark: ocean invertebrates are among the oldest and most diverse organisms on earth, seeming to bend the “rules” of land-based biology. Although sometimes unseen in the deep, the spineless creatures contain 600 million years of adaptation to problems of disease, energy consumption, nutrition, and defense.

In The Ocean’s Menagerie, world-renowned marine ecologist Dr. Drew Harvell takes us diving from Hawaii to the Salish Sea, from St. Croix to Indonesia, to uncover the incredible underwater “superpowers” of spineless creatures: we meet corals many times stronger than steel or concrete, sponges who create potent chemical compounds to fight off disease, and sea stars that garden the coastlines, keeping all the other nearby species in balance. As our planet changes fast, the biomedical, engineering, and energy innovations of these wonderous creatures inspire ever more important solutions to our own survival.

The Ocean’s Menagerie is a tale of biological marvels, a story of a woman’s passionate connection to an adventurous career in science, and a call to arms to protect the world’s most ancient ecosystems.
Drew Harvell is Professor Emerita of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, Affiliate Faculty at University of Washington and a Science Envoy to the US State Department. She is the author of Ocean Outbreak and A Sea of Glass which were, variously, the winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature, the Prose Award, and the Sustainable Science Award, among others. She has written for The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Hill, and CNN, and she has authored over 180 academic articles in Science, Nature, Science Advances, and more. Dr. Harvell featured in the award-winning film Fragile Legacy, narrated by Ted Danson about the Blaschka Glass Invertebrates museum collection. She is currently a science adviser on various ocean conservation boards, including Fabien Cousteau’s Proteus Ocean Group, working to build the Underwater Space Station. View titles by Drew Harvell

About

An elegantly written exploration of the cutting edge science of the strangest and most remarkable creatures on our planet by a leading marine biologist

Hundred-year-old giant clams, coral kingdoms that rival human cities, and jellyfish that glow in the dark: ocean invertebrates are among the oldest and most diverse organisms on earth, seeming to bend the “rules” of land-based biology. Although sometimes unseen in the deep, the spineless creatures contain 600 million years of adaptation to problems of disease, energy consumption, nutrition, and defense.

In The Ocean’s Menagerie, world-renowned marine ecologist Dr. Drew Harvell takes us diving from Hawaii to the Salish Sea, from St. Croix to Indonesia, to uncover the incredible underwater “superpowers” of spineless creatures: we meet corals many times stronger than steel or concrete, sponges who create potent chemical compounds to fight off disease, and sea stars that garden the coastlines, keeping all the other nearby species in balance. As our planet changes fast, the biomedical, engineering, and energy innovations of these wonderous creatures inspire ever more important solutions to our own survival.

The Ocean’s Menagerie is a tale of biological marvels, a story of a woman’s passionate connection to an adventurous career in science, and a call to arms to protect the world’s most ancient ecosystems.

Author

Drew Harvell is Professor Emerita of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, Affiliate Faculty at University of Washington and a Science Envoy to the US State Department. She is the author of Ocean Outbreak and A Sea of Glass which were, variously, the winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature, the Prose Award, and the Sustainable Science Award, among others. She has written for The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Hill, and CNN, and she has authored over 180 academic articles in Science, Nature, Science Advances, and more. Dr. Harvell featured in the award-winning film Fragile Legacy, narrated by Ted Danson about the Blaschka Glass Invertebrates museum collection. She is currently a science adviser on various ocean conservation boards, including Fabien Cousteau’s Proteus Ocean Group, working to build the Underwater Space Station. View titles by Drew Harvell

Additional formats

Related Articles

Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month
Psychology

Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month

For National Depression Education and Awareness Month in October, we are sharing a collection of titles that educates and informs on depression, including personal stories from those who have experienced depression and topics that range from causes and symptoms of depression to how to develop coping mechanisms to battle depression.

Read more

Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month

Psychology
Literature

Horror Titles for the Halloween Season

In celebration of the Halloween season, we are sharing horror books that are aligned with the themes of the holiday: the sometimes unknown and scary creatures and witches. From classic ghost stories and popular novels that are celebrated today, in literature courses and beyond, to contemporary stories about the monsters that hide in the dark, our list

Read more

Horror Titles for the Halloween Season

Literature
Gender and Sexuality Studies History

Books for LGBTQIA+ History Month

For LGBTQIA+ History Month in October, we’re celebrating the shared history of individuals within the community and the importance of the activists who have fought for their rights and the rights of others. We acknowledge the varying and diverse experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community that have shaped history and have led the way for those

Read more

Books for LGBTQIA+ History Month

Gender and Sexuality Studies History
Subscribe

Penguin Random House Higher Education

© 2025 Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Wish List (0)