Logbook for Grace
Author: Robert Cushman Murphy
Publisher: Time Life Medical
Published: 1965
Total Pages: 371
ISBN-13: 9780809438334
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Logbook for Grace
Author: Robert Cushman Murphy
Publisher:
Published: 1965
Total Pages: 412
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLooking For Grace is one of those rare books that are published to the applause and admiration of critics and then unaccountably sink out of sight. It deserves a far better fate. Logbook is the fascinating chronicle, in diary form, of a voyage of one of the last Yankee whaleships in the twilight days of sail. More than that, it is an adventure story, a travelogue, a naturalist's notebook and a charming love story all rolled into one - written, it must be added, by a man whose profession is not writing, although he ha written scientific works. Robert Cushman Murphy is a naturalist - one of the world's great authorities on birds. During one of these expeditions Murphy begins to detail the life, sounds, sights, adversities, struggles, adventure, and survival of the whalers on the whaleship Daisy. Daisy herself, being an out of date vessel, takes on a life of her own. Combined with touching notes penned to his recent bride this book offers something for everyone. -- Amazon.
A New Guide to the Collections in the Library of the American Philosophical Society
Author: American Philosophical Society
Publisher: American Philosophical Society
Published: 1987
Total Pages: 460
ISBN-13: 9780871696601
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRev. ed. of: Guide to the archives and manuscript collections of the American Philosophical Society. 1966.
The Albatross and the Fish
Author: Robin W. Doughty
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2012-01-20
Total Pages: 337
ISBN-13: 0292742142
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBreeding on remote ocean islands and spending much of its life foraging for food across vast stretches of seemingly empty seas, the albatross remains a legend for most people. And yet, humans are threatening the albatross family to such an extent that it is currently the most threatened bird group in the world. In this extensively researched, highly readable book, Robin W. Doughty and Virginia Carmichael tell the story of a potentially catastrophic extinction that has been interrupted by an unlikely alliance of governments, conservation groups, and fishermen. Doughty and Carmichael authoritatively establish that the albatross's fate is linked to the fate of two of the highest-value table fish, Bluefin Tuna and Patagonian Toothfish, which are threatened by unregulated commercial harvesting. The authors tell us that commercial fishing techniques are annually killing tens of thousands of albatrosses. And the authors explain how the breeding biology of albatrosses makes them unable to replenish their numbers at the rate they are being depleted. Doughty and Carmichael set the albatross's fate in the larger context of threats facing the ocean commons, ranging from industrial overfishing to our habit of dumping chemicals, solid waste, and plastic trash into the open seas. They also highlight the efforts of dedicated individuals, environmental groups, fishery management bodies, and governments who are working for seabird and fish conservation and demonstrate that these efforts can lead to sustainable solutions for the iconic seabirds and the entire ocean ecosystem.
The Sounding of the Whale
Author: D. Graham Burnett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2013-09-24
Total Pages: 824
ISBN-13: 022610057X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKExplores how humans' view of whales changed from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, looking at how the sea mammals were once viewed as monsters but evolved into something much gentler and more beautiful.
Whaling Captains of Color
Author: Skip Finley
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2022-02-15
Total Pages: 304
ISBN-13: 1682478335
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe history of whaling as an industry on this continent has been well-told in books, including some that have been bestsellers, but what hasn’t been told is the story of whaling’s leaders of color in an era when the only other option was slavery. Whaling was one of the first American industries to exhibit diversity. A man became a captain not because he was white or well connected, but because he knew how to kill a whale. Along the way, he could learn navigation and reading and writing. Whaling presented a tantalizing alternative to mainland life. Working with archival records at whaling museums, in libraries, from private archives and interviews with people whose ancestors were whaling masters, Finley culls stories from the lives of over 50 black whaling captains to create a portrait of what life was like for these leaders of color on the high seas. Each time a ship spotted a whale, a group often including the captain would jump into a small boat, row to the whale, and attack it, at times with the captain delivering the killing blow. The first, second, or third mate and boat steerer could eventually have opportunities to move into increasingly responsible roles. Finley explains how this skills-based system propelled captains of color to the helm. The book concludes as facts and factions conspire to kill the industry, including wars, weather, bad management, poor judgment, disease, obsolescence, and a non-renewable natural resource. Ironically, the end of the Civil War allowed the African Americans who were captains to exit the difficult and dangerous occupation—and make room for the Cape Verdean who picked up the mantle, literally to the end of the industry.
Vast Expanses
Author: Helen M. Rozwadowski
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 2018-10-15
Total Pages: 269
ISBN-13: 1789140293
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMuch of human experience can be distilled to saltwater: tears, sweat, and an enduring connection to the sea. In Vast Expanses, Helen M. Rozwadowski weaves a cultural, environmental, and geopolitical history of that relationship, a journey of tides and titanic forces reaching around the globe and across geological and evolutionary time. Our ancient connections with the sea have developed and multiplied through industrialization and globalization, a trajectory that runs counter to Western depictions of the ocean as a place remote from and immune to human influence. Rozwadowski argues that knowledge about the oceans—created through work and play, scientific investigation, and also through human ambitions for profiting from the sea—has played a central role in defining our relationship with this vast, trackless, and opaque place. It has helped us to exploit marine resources, control ocean space, extend imperial or national power, and attempt to refashion the sea into a more tractable arena for human activity. But while deepening knowledge of the ocean has animated and strengthened connections between people and the world’s seas, to understand this history we must address questions of how, by whom, and why knowledge of the ocean was created and used—and how we create and use this knowledge today. Only then can we can forge a healthier relationship with our future sea.
A Whaler at Twilight
Author: Alexander R. Brash
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2023-09-05
Total Pages: 351
ISBN-13: 1493074776
DOWNLOAD EBOOKNestled at the bottom of an old leather trunk for well over a century lay a forgotten manuscript—a long-lost story the author's great-great-grandson has now brought to life. At the heart of A Whaler at Twilight is the true account of an American whaler who embarked on a harrowing adventure in the South Pacific during the mid-nineteenth century in search of absolution and redemption. After the deaths of his parents, young Robert Armstrong lived with a successful uncle—a well-respected Methodist shopkeeper in bustling 1840s Baltimore—and attended the nation’s first dental school. But Armstrong threw his future away, drinking himself into oblivion. Devoured by guilt and shame, in December 1849 he sold his dental instruments, his watch, and all other possessions and signed on for a whaling voyage departing from New Bedford. Decades later, Armstrong wrote an autobiographical account based on his travel logs, chronicling his thrilling, gritty experiences during his ten years overseas. His memoirs describe his encounters with other whalers, beachcombers, Peruvian villagers, Pacific Islanders, Maori warriors in New Zealand, cannibals on Fiji, and the impacts of American expansionism. He also recounted his struggles with drink, his quest for God, and his own redemption. Armstrong’s gripping personal account is bookended by thoroughly researched contextual background compiled by Alexander Brash, a noted professional conservationist. Brash fills out Armstrong’s intimate and timeless tale by shedding further light on whaling and its impacts, his ancestor’s religious milieu, and the importance of marine conservation today. A Whaler at Twilight is a fascinating dive into both human morality and American history.
The Empty Ocean
Author: Richard Ellis
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2013-03-19
Total Pages: 385
ISBN-13: 1597265993
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn The Empty Ocean, acclaimed author and artist Richard Ellis tells the story of our continued plunder of life in the sea and weighs the chances for its recovery. Through fascinating portraits of a wide array of creatures, he introduces us to the many forms of sea life that humans have fished, hunted, and collected over the centuries, from charismatic whales and dolphins to the lowly menhaden, from sea turtles to cod, tuna, and coral. Rich in history, anecdote, and surprising fact, Richard Ellis’s descriptions bring to life the natural history of the various species, the threats they face, and the losses they have suffered. Killing has occurred on a truly stunning scale, with extinction all too often the result, leaving a once-teeming ocean greatly depleted. But the author also finds instances of hope and resilience, of species that have begun to make remarkable comebacks when given the opportunity. Written with passion and grace, and illustrated with Richard Ellis’s own drawings, The Empty Ocean brings to a wide audience a compelling view of the damage we have caused to life in the sea and what we can do about it. "
Albatross
Author: Graham Barwell
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 2013-10-15
Total Pages: 210
ISBN-13: 1780232144
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“At length did cross an Albatross, / Through the fog it came; / As if it had been a Christian soul, / We hailed it in God’s name.” The introduction of the albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” remains one of the most well-known references to this majestic seabird in Western culture. In Albatross, Graham Barwell goes beyond Coleridge to examine the role the bird plays in the lives of a wide variety of peoples and societies, from the early views of north Atlantic mariners to modern encounters by writers, artists, and filmmakers. Exploring how the bird has been celebrated in proverbs, folk stories, art, and ceremonies, Barwell shows how people marvel at the way the albatross soars through the air, covering awe-inspiring distances with little effort thanks to its impressive wingspan. He surveys the many approaches people have taken to thinking about the albatross over the past two hundred years—from those who devoted their lives to these birds to those who hunted them for food and sport—and discusses its place in the human imagination. Concluding with a reflection on the bird’s changing significance in the modern world, Barwell considers threats to its continued existence and its prospects for the future. With one hundred illustrations from nature, film, and popular culture, Albatross is an absorbing look at these beautiful birds.
