Below the Edge of Darkness Quotes

“If we damage our life-support machinery beyond repair, there is no possibility of a resupply ship showing up in the nick of time to save us.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“We believe we see the world as it is. We don’t. We see the world as we need to see it to make our existence possible.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“In metric units, that’s ten microns and thirty centimeters, respectively; in American units, it’s one-tenth the thickness of a dollar bill for the former and one-fifth as tall as Danny DeVito for the latter.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“Just as a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite for democracy, a science-literate citizenry is essential for maintaining the health of the planet.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“Believing that the world was designed to have us in it and therefore everything is going to be all right is a dangerous folly.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“Energy is the currency of life, and it is never spent frivolously.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“One of the remarkable things about eyes is that they are not linear, but rather logarithmic, sensors. In order to allow us to see over an enormous dynamic range, from brilliant sunlight at high noon to the dimmest of starlight on a forest floor, the eye’s measurement scale is compressed. It is a phenomenal capability, but to accomplish it, our eyes must lie to us, reporting a tenfold decrease in light intensity as a mere halving of available light.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“That so much of this bioluminescence is blue helps explain why so many deep-sea animals are red: If the only light to see with is blue, being red is akin to being black. Red pigments absorb blue photons, reflecting nothing back to the eyes of predators.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“Many bioluminescent dinoflagellates are toxic, and being toxic is a good way to deter predators, but only if predators recognize the prey that they need to avoid. If they have to nibble on the prey every time to determine its toxicity, then nobody wins—the prey is damaged or dies and the predator gets sick or dies. Far better for both players if the predator can learn to recognize toxic prey from a distance, through the prey’s advertising its toxicity.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

“A frequently cited feature of NDEs is the sense of peace felt both during and immediately after the experience. All the usual brain chatter related to time and tasks is silenced.”
― Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea