The Ocean Shelf: Books That Make a Splash

Updated January 22, 2026
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Encyclopedia of earth science
Kusky, Timothy M.
Paper Book
Encyclopedia of Earth Science provides a broad scope of important subjects in the field of Earth science - hydrology, structural geology, petrology, isotope geology, geochemistry, geomorphology, and oceanography. Containing approximately 700 entries, 19 prose essays, 110 line illustrations, and 100...
Isola : a novel
Goodman, Allegra
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history."--Jodi Picoult, author of By Any Other Name "A new generation of survival story . . . an extraordinary book that reads like a...
The riddle of the compass : the invention that changed the world
Aczel, Amir D.
Paper Book
Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. Certainly the mariners in Amalfi in the twelfth century were. Here the compass was first invented and used in navigation, eventually helping to make Italians the world's greatest sailors. But the story of the compass is...
Ships for the Seven Seas Philadelphia Shipbuilding in the Age of Industrial Capitalism
Heinrich, Thomas R.
Paper Book
Thomas R. Heinrich explores American shipbuilding from the workshop level to subcontracting networks spanning the Delaware Valley. Winner of the North American Society for Oceanic History's John Lyman Book Award Originally published in 1996. Sustained by a skilled work force...
The world is blue : how our fate and the ocean's are one
Earle, Sylvia A.
Paper Book
A Silent Spring for our era, this eloquent, urgent, fascinating book reveals how just 50 years of swift and dangerous oceanic change threatens the very existence of life on Earth. Legendary marine scientist Sylvia Earle portrays a planet teetering on the brink of irreversible environmental crisis.
The restless sea : exploring the world beneath the waves
Kunzig, Robert.
Paper Book
A vivid, up-to-date tour of the Earth's last frontier, a remote and mysterious realm that nonetheless lies close to the heart of even the most land-locked reader. The sea covers seven-tenths of the Earth, but we have mapped only a small percentage of it. The sea contains millions of species of...
The wave : in pursuit of the rogues, freaks, and giants of the ocean
Casey, Susan
Paper Book
From Susan Casey, bestselling author of The Devil's Teeth, an astonishing book about colossal,  ship-swallowing rogue waves and the surfers who seek them out. For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently...
Water 4.0 : the past, present, and future of the world's most vital resource
Sedlak, David L.
Paper Book
Turn on the faucet, and water pours out. Pull out the drain plug, and the dirty water disappears. Most of us give little thought to the hidden systems that bring us water and take it away when we’re done with it. But these underappreciated marvels of engineering face an array of...
Water : a natural history
Outwater, Alice B.
Paper Book
An environmental engineer turned ecology writer relates the history of our waterways and her own growing understanding of why our waterways continue to be polluted--and what needs to be done to save this essential natural resourse. Water: A Natural History takes us back to the diaries of...
Water : a biography
Boccaletti, Giulio
Paper Book
Spanning millennia and continents, a revealing history that "tackles the most important story of our time- our relationship with water in a world of looming scarcity" (Kelly McEvers, NPR Host). "Far more than a biography of its nominal subject ... The book stands as a compelling...

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