Ocean Exploring

I don't have to tell you it's hot...and dry. Honestly, all I can think about is the water temperature off of the National Seashore in Cape Cod (in the sixties). But being landlocked in Iowa doesn't mean you can't turn your thoughts to the ocean in less torturous ways by checking out these new books.

Beyond the blue horizon: how the earliest mariners unlocked the secrets of the oceans by Brian Fagan

From the ancient Polynesians to the Vikings, Fagan goes beyond Columbus and Magellan to find the earliest explorers of the oceans and how their jump from the shore changed civilization.

Soundings: the story of the remarkable woman who mapped the ocean floor by Hali Felt.

Soundings explores how Marie Tharp drafted the first comprehensive map of the ocean floor by interpreting sonar pings that measured ocean depths in the 1950's.  Her work provided huge insight into continental drift and plate tectonics.

In pursuit of giants: one man's global search for the last of the great fish by Matt Rigney

On the darker side of the ocean, Rigney travels around the globe to explain why the giant fishes (bluefin tuna, marlin, and swordfish) are disappearing and what is being done to save them.

You can find these and other new nonfiction books at the top of the stairs on the second floor. To see what else is new in nonfiction, check out this week's list.

And remember, oceans may contain water, but as the Mariner says, "Water, water every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."