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Chasing Science at Sea: Racing Hurricanes, Stalking Sharks, and Living Undersea with Ocean Experts
To the average office-dweller, marine scientists seem to have the good life: cruising at sea for weeks at a time, swimming in warm coastal waters, living in tropical paradises. But ocean scientists who go to sea will tell you that it is no vacation. Creature comforts are few and the obstacles seemingly insurmountable, yet an abundance of wonder and discovery still awaits those who take to the ocean. Chasing Science at Sea immerses readers in the world of those who regularly go to sea—aquanauts living underwater, marine biologists seeking unseen life in the deep ocean, and the tall-ship captains at the helm, among others—and tells the fascinating tale of what life—and science—is like at the mercy of Mother Nature.
With passion and wit, well-known marine scientist Ellen Prager shares her stories as well as those of her colleagues, revealing that in the field ingenuity and a good sense of humor are as essential as water, sunblock, and GPS. Serendipity is invaluable, and while collecting data is the goal, sometimes just getting back to shore means success. But despite the physical hardship and emotional duress that come with the work, optimism and adventure prompt a particularly hardy species of scientist to return again and again to the sea.
Filled with firsthand accounts of the challenges and triumphs of dealing with the extreme forces of nature and the unpredictable world of the ocean, Chasing Science at Sea is a unique glimpse below the water line at what it is like and why it is important to study, explore, and spend time in one of our planet’s most fascinating and foreign environments.
With passion and wit, well-known marine scientist Ellen Prager shares her stories as well as those of her colleagues, revealing that in the field ingenuity and a good sense of humor are as essential as water, sunblock, and GPS. Serendipity is invaluable, and while collecting data is the goal, sometimes just getting back to shore means success. But despite the physical hardship and emotional duress that come with the work, optimism and adventure prompt a particularly hardy species of scientist to return again and again to the sea.
Filled with firsthand accounts of the challenges and triumphs of dealing with the extreme forces of nature and the unpredictable world of the ocean, Chasing Science at Sea is a unique glimpse below the water line at what it is like and why it is important to study, explore, and spend time in one of our planet’s most fascinating and foreign environments.
178 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2008
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84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 20, 2011
This is a little gem of a book, detailing what it is like to be an ocean scientist. It is filled with short anecdotes of experiences and adventures of working in the field, above and below the water. Ellen Prager describes plenty of her own experiences, as well as those of other scientists. Some of the anecdotes tell, quite openly, of the pitfalls of bad luck or poor planning. Many of these pitfalls seem unavoidable, and must be accompanied by a healthy dose of humor. Other anecdotes tell of wonderful discoveries--sometimes serendipitous--with major impacts on our understanding of the ocean and its inhabitants. Most importantly, Prager makes a case for the continuation of field work, that is, "getting one's hands dirty" to advance ocean science.
By reading this book, you won't learn a lot about the ocean. Instead, you will be engaged by the humor, enthusiasm, excitement, and the sense of wonder and discovery that ocean scientists bring to their work.
By reading this book, you won't learn a lot about the ocean. Instead, you will be engaged by the humor, enthusiasm, excitement, and the sense of wonder and discovery that ocean scientists bring to their work.
June 1, 2009
I thought it would be interesting, but found that it was pretty unexciting or engaging. I like science of all kinds and I like what people who do it think and write. I picked it up off the library shelf based solely on the cover & topic, but after the first few pages I just kept thinking, "Where's the Beef?"
Maybe I'm being unfair and the author just intended it to be a skimming of the topic and her (and other's) experiences during the past two decades. But if the goal was to present her field as one that is interesting, vital, and rewarding for those that are in it, it missed the boat. No one looking for a possible career will be swayed by this specific volume.
I may be doing the author a disservice because I have not (as far as I can recall) read any of her other works, but did recognize her name on the cover.
Maybe I'm being unfair and the author just intended it to be a skimming of the topic and her (and other's) experiences during the past two decades. But if the goal was to present her field as one that is interesting, vital, and rewarding for those that are in it, it missed the boat. No one looking for a possible career will be swayed by this specific volume.
I may be doing the author a disservice because I have not (as far as I can recall) read any of her other works, but did recognize her name on the cover.
June 3, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's basically a collection of interesting anecdotes from the experiences of marine scientists working in the field. It felt like I was having lunch with Ellen Prager and she was telling me about the adventures and experiences of herself and her friends. Don't expect to learn a whole bunch about marine science from this, and remember she is a scientist who writes rather than a writer who does science. With this in mind, the writing was of a higher caliber than I expected but at times it can be general and not as vivid as I would prefer. If you're interested in marine science and looking for a light,fun read, this one is worth your while.
April 23, 2020
Son zamanlarda okumaktan en çok zevk aldığım kitaplardandı. Kitap 8 tane ana başlıktan oluşuyor ve içerisinde denizle ilgili bir çok konuya denk geliyor. Benim en çok ilgimi çekenler denizlerde karşılaştıkları olağanüstü anları anlattıkları, kasıragalar ve atmosfer sayesinde tabiatın ne kadar güçlü olduğunu bir kez daha anladıkları ve derin denizlerde yaptıkları çalışmalarla ilgili Titanik'ten bile bahsedildiği bölümdü.
Kitap her şeyiyle çok güzel bence. Kitabı okurken yazarın ne kadar çok kitap yazmış olabileceğini düşünmeden edemedim çünkü gerçekten çok güzel bir dili var, hem rahat okunuyor hem de bunu yaparken bir çok bilgiyi size aşılıyor.
Tek canımı sıkan yer kitapta yer alan fotoğrafların siyah beyaz olmasıydı. Kitap çok ucuz ve kaliteli basılmış evet ama o fotoğrafları internette aramak yerine kitapta yazarın göstermek istedikleri ile daha net görmek iyi olurdu. Keşke daha çok okunsa demekten de kendimi alamıyorum. Herkesin okuyabileceği türde yazılmış çünkü. İlk baskından 13 yıl geçmiş olsa da çoğunlukla deneyimlerden ve geçmişten bahsettiği içinde hala güncel bir kitap bence. Neyse, iyiki okumuşum.
Kitap her şeyiyle çok güzel bence. Kitabı okurken yazarın ne kadar çok kitap yazmış olabileceğini düşünmeden edemedim çünkü gerçekten çok güzel bir dili var, hem rahat okunuyor hem de bunu yaparken bir çok bilgiyi size aşılıyor.
Tek canımı sıkan yer kitapta yer alan fotoğrafların siyah beyaz olmasıydı. Kitap çok ucuz ve kaliteli basılmış evet ama o fotoğrafları internette aramak yerine kitapta yazarın göstermek istedikleri ile daha net görmek iyi olurdu. Keşke daha çok okunsa demekten de kendimi alamıyorum. Herkesin okuyabileceği türde yazılmış çünkü. İlk baskından 13 yıl geçmiş olsa da çoğunlukla deneyimlerden ve geçmişten bahsettiği içinde hala güncel bir kitap bence. Neyse, iyiki okumuşum.
May 16, 2011
Prager has a noble purpose in this book: to convey the excitement and adventure of doing science, and specifically of doing ocean science fieldwork, through telling the stories of the experiences of ocean-going scientists. To a fair degree she succeeds, but not entirely. This feels more like a collection of anecdotes than a collection of stories--but some of them are, no question, great anecdotes! I'm reminded of Randy Olson's Don't Be Such a Scientist, in the sense that I would wonder if she had read it, and were working at applying his advice, except that her book was published first.
The book is arranged in thematic chapters, highlighting the challenges of ocean-going shipboard research, diving in coastal waters, the effects of weather in making hay of the best-laid plans, the benefits of serendipity and of direct observation in making critical discoveries that would elude remote observation using ROVs and AUVs (remotely-operated vessels and autonomous underwater vessels) to do deep ocean exploration and research, the joys and challenges of life in underwater habitats, and the sheer delight and wonder of seeing the undersea world first-hand.
Prager was previously the chief scientist for the Aquarius Reef Base program in Key Largo, Florida, which includes what is currently the world's only undersea research station. Some of her best tales include the challenges, dangers, and rewards of living in an undersea research station, able to dive and do active research for eight or nine hours a day. She also shares her own and other scientists' stories of surviving dangerous weather at sea on the ocean-going research ships of the Sea Education Association--hurricanes, waterspouts, sudden squalls, and even an encounter with pirates. There's a disarming honesty about the role played by simply human mistakes and errors in judgment in contributing to dangerous situations, as well as human ingenuity in surviving the dangers and recovering and doing useful research anyway. She seems to take a special glee in describing her own early experiences, including her own mistakes that sometimes placed herself and others in danger. Prager learned the hard way to check everything twice, including whether or not colleagues had actually done their part in the preparations.
On the other hand, she also learned the joy of making unexpected discoveries for herself, whether or not those discoveries proved to be ones that would move the science forward in a big way, and she talks about her passion for sharing that joy with students who may yet become scientists themselves. This is one of the two major things Prager is seeking to convey in this book: the joy, delight, and pure satisfaction of doing real fieldwork at sea.
The other major point she wants to convey is the importance of real fieldwork, the vital necessity of doing direct fieldwork to build a real understanding of the ocean that is three-quarters of the surface of our planet, a major source of both food and weather affecting us all. She and her colleagues are deeply worried about what essential knowledge we might miss, if the difficulties, expense, and dangers of underwater fieldwork cause us to cease doing it, and she returns again and again to this issue.
Recommended despite my reservations.
I received this ebook as a free download from the University of Chicago Press.
The book is arranged in thematic chapters, highlighting the challenges of ocean-going shipboard research, diving in coastal waters, the effects of weather in making hay of the best-laid plans, the benefits of serendipity and of direct observation in making critical discoveries that would elude remote observation using ROVs and AUVs (remotely-operated vessels and autonomous underwater vessels) to do deep ocean exploration and research, the joys and challenges of life in underwater habitats, and the sheer delight and wonder of seeing the undersea world first-hand.
Prager was previously the chief scientist for the Aquarius Reef Base program in Key Largo, Florida, which includes what is currently the world's only undersea research station. Some of her best tales include the challenges, dangers, and rewards of living in an undersea research station, able to dive and do active research for eight or nine hours a day. She also shares her own and other scientists' stories of surviving dangerous weather at sea on the ocean-going research ships of the Sea Education Association--hurricanes, waterspouts, sudden squalls, and even an encounter with pirates. There's a disarming honesty about the role played by simply human mistakes and errors in judgment in contributing to dangerous situations, as well as human ingenuity in surviving the dangers and recovering and doing useful research anyway. She seems to take a special glee in describing her own early experiences, including her own mistakes that sometimes placed herself and others in danger. Prager learned the hard way to check everything twice, including whether or not colleagues had actually done their part in the preparations.
On the other hand, she also learned the joy of making unexpected discoveries for herself, whether or not those discoveries proved to be ones that would move the science forward in a big way, and she talks about her passion for sharing that joy with students who may yet become scientists themselves. This is one of the two major things Prager is seeking to convey in this book: the joy, delight, and pure satisfaction of doing real fieldwork at sea.
The other major point she wants to convey is the importance of real fieldwork, the vital necessity of doing direct fieldwork to build a real understanding of the ocean that is three-quarters of the surface of our planet, a major source of both food and weather affecting us all. She and her colleagues are deeply worried about what essential knowledge we might miss, if the difficulties, expense, and dangers of underwater fieldwork cause us to cease doing it, and she returns again and again to this issue.
Recommended despite my reservations.
I received this ebook as a free download from the University of Chicago Press.
August 24, 2019
My high school marine biology teacher gave me a signed copy of this book as an award for being on of the best students in his class. That was 10 years ago. I finally got around to reading Ellen Prager’s ode to life in the field this summer. I enjoyed the anecdotes and observations from Ellen’s decades at sea, and appreciated that she also included insights from her colleagues. However, the overall style and organization of the writing didn’t appeal to me. Each chapter or subsection reads like a blog post, and has some (often repetitive, sometimes condescending) framing language about how challenging yet rewarding science in the field is. At times I wasn’t sure if I was reading a how-to manual, a book aimed at children, or a blog post. There is a lot of telling vs showing, and I would have loved to get more details from some of the other scientists that Ellen interviewed from the book other than a quick anecdote about their boat nearly capsizing. I bet that Ellen gives incredible talks to inspire young people to pursue science, and she certainly would be a fascinating person to talk to at a cocktail party. But it’s hard to convey that conversational, anecdotal style successfully to a book form. That being said, I did still enjoy the occasional glimpses of vivid imagery in the book that paint a picture of chasing science at sea.
November 7, 2010
My expectations for the book were a bit high particularly since I was a biology major with an interest in marine biology never to be pursued (Ironically, I went to undergrad school in the midwest).
With this book, I was hoping to read detailed and exciting stories about marine adventures. The books tagline is "Racing Hurricanes, Stalking Sharks and Living Undersea With Ocean Experts".
The stories were written like a scientific blog. I was hoping to experience and feel more about the tension, anger, and excitement of her research.
The book is perfect for a budding scientist to learn what it's like to be a marine biologist. The paragraph at the end of each chapter sums up each chapter (which only a scientist and educator would do).
So I highly recommend that science students read it.
But for a fun read and to "experience" the thrills and chills of underwater adventure ... this may not be for you.
With this book, I was hoping to read detailed and exciting stories about marine adventures. The books tagline is "Racing Hurricanes, Stalking Sharks and Living Undersea With Ocean Experts".
The stories were written like a scientific blog. I was hoping to experience and feel more about the tension, anger, and excitement of her research.
The book is perfect for a budding scientist to learn what it's like to be a marine biologist. The paragraph at the end of each chapter sums up each chapter (which only a scientist and educator would do).
So I highly recommend that science students read it.
But for a fun read and to "experience" the thrills and chills of underwater adventure ... this may not be for you.
April 5, 2016
This book was a great way to get a look at what marine biologists really DO, written simply and to-the-point, without lots of confusing scientific words that few people can understand. For someone interested in marine biology like myself, I recommend this book! Chasing Science at Sea is not a thriller novel with suspenseful pages and cliff-hanger chapters, though, so if that's what you're looking for, this book isn't it. If you want a book that gives you lots of information about the marine world and interesting fieldwork experiences, however, than this is the book for you! In real life, science isn't always exciting, but it's almost always intriguing. Ellen Prager did a great job with this book.
February 29, 2012
My interest in this book was because I am a marine science educator in South Florida and I was hoping to use some of the information from this book in my classes; however, I was very disappointed while reading because the stories about science in the sea are too short and too giddy to actually use in my class. This book is great as a read for those starting to undertand science and the sea and would increase their knowledge of the ocean as well as how ocean science works, but sadly for my class it is too much story and not enough detail.
August 1, 2011
This book had a TON of potential, and I was really hoping that there would be pretty exciting stories in here about life as an oceanographer and researcher.
It just didn't pan out. The stories were dry, even the one about racing a hurricane...that SHOULD have been exciting...but it was more like reading a lecture than about an exciting piece of Oceanic Exploration.
Even the bit about the Hammerhead Sharks....it was just kind of like "We discovered this.." next story.
It just didn't pan out. The stories were dry, even the one about racing a hurricane...that SHOULD have been exciting...but it was more like reading a lecture than about an exciting piece of Oceanic Exploration.
Even the bit about the Hammerhead Sharks....it was just kind of like "We discovered this.." next story.
September 10, 2013
I feel a little guilty rating this so poorly, because I'm certain that the author is not only a stellar scientist but has a thousand thrilling stories to tell. But gosh, she is a clunky writer. I don't even understand how it's possible to make such a fascinating topic dull, unless it's the complete lack of narrative or cohesive storytelling.
If she came out with a ghostwritten memoir, though, I'd read it in a heartbeat!
If she came out with a ghostwritten memoir, though, I'd read it in a heartbeat!
May 3, 2011
Could have been fascinating, but somehow wasn't. Felt as though I was being talked down to all the time and got very tired of reading the phrase 'in the field' (which seems particularly inappropriate for oceanographic research). The author is obviously very proud of being a scientist, but doesn't convey her enthusiasm well to a non-specialist.
I gave up on it in the end.
I gave up on it in the end.
July 9, 2023
I really had high hopes for this, but it was blah. I thought that it was going to be fluid and interesting, and while it was well written, I found that it didn't interest me as much as I had wanted. The overall experiences the author had would be better if I had more interested in plankton etc.
July 14, 2011
This book had some great stories, but the prose was never terribly engaging. That's the hard part of good nonfiction--hard because it's intangible. I can't put my finger on what was missing, but it was.
April 2, 2018
Provides general insight of the challenges scientists have to face and overcome with fieldwork at sea. Some interesting stories from various research projects. I enjoyed reading about Aquarius the most.
Want to read
May 3, 2011This month's free book from University of Chicago Press, Chasing Science At Sea, sounds fascinating. http://bit.ly/gYbWD3 And also, did I mention? FREE! P.S. It's free this month. Free. Free. Free
June 1, 2011
A facinating read.
June 21, 2011
A collection of reminiscences of Prager. Not engaging reading, but sometimes interesting.
Free from University of Chicago Press in 2011.
Free from University of Chicago Press in 2011.
July 12, 2017
perhaps aimed at a younger audience, entertaining anecdotes but lighter on actual science
March 14, 2014
Great book! It's a perfect source for the ones who are curious about oceans and marine sciences.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews