Alfred A. Knopf Encyclopedia of the Sea

Ellis's research has taken him all over the world, from Nantucket to Patagonia. Now, with more than 450 of his own illustrations, he takes readers from A to Z (abalone to zooxanthelae) in this one unprecedented volume of the sea. of color paintings. 471 illustrations. From the Publisher Richard Ellis is currently recognized as the foremost painter of marine natural history subjects in America and, over the past twenty years, has written extensively on these topics. His research has taken him to Quebec, Baja California, Newfoundland, Hawaii, South Africa, Bermuda, Nantucket, the Azores, Alaska, Patagonia, Japan, the Galapagos, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, India, and the North and South Poles. Now, for the first time, he pulls his vast knowledge together in a single concise, highly readable, and utterly fascinating volume. With more than 450 of the author's own drawings and paintings, the Encyclopedia of the Sea is a masterful and entertaining synthesis of years of investigation and tens of thousands of disparate sources. Ellis takes us on a fantastic journey -- from the amazing diversity of the oceans' creatures, to the little-known realms of marine geography, to the lives of seafarers, to the tools of nautical navigation. The Encyclopedia of the Sea is an ideal gift book, a must for anyone who is interested in the sea, its inhabitants, and the chronicle of man's exploration of its mysteries. Library Journal Ellis, an author (Men and Whales; The Search for the Giant Squid), scientific illustrator and painter of marine natural history, and exhibit designer and consultant to science museums, has compiled a convenient one-volume encyclopedia on the sea. The alphabetically arranged text consists of short paragraphs on topics in marine biology, oceanography, fisheries, geography, and maritime and naval history. Entries on echinoderms, the Kuroshio current, Ferdinand Magellan, the Titanic, and the International Whaling Commission are examples of its broad scope. Most entries have cross references to related topics, but no bibliographical references for further reading are provided. Eight pages of Ellis's color paintings (not seen) and hundreds of his own illustrations enhance the text.