A compelling history of seashells and the animals that make them, revealing what they have to tell us about nature, our changing oceans, and ourselves.Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature’s creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas.InThe Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world’s most iconic seashells. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas.From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature’s wisdom—and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.
About the Author
Cynthia Barnett is the author of four books including "The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans" (WW Norton, 2021). Her most-recent previous book, "Rain: A Natural and Cultural History" (Crown-Random House, 2015), was longlisted for the National Book Award, a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson award for literary science writing, and named a best book of 2015 by NPR's Science Friday, Kirkus Reviews, the Tampa Bay Times, the Miami Herald and the Boston Globe.The Globe has described Ms. Barnett's author persona as "part journalist, part mom, part historian, and part optimist." The Los Angeles Times writes that she "takes us back to the origins of our water in much the same way, with much the same vividness and compassion as Michael Pollan led us from our kitchens to potato fields and feed lots of modern agribusiness."Ms. Barnett is also the author of "Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis" and "Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S." She lives with her family in Gainesville, Florida, where she also teaches journalism at the University of Florida.
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