Callum Roberts is the author of The Unnatural History of the Sea, a Washington Post Book of the Year and winner of the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. A professor of marine conservation at the University of York, he consulted on the Blue Planet series and the IMAX film The Wild Ocean and is a frequent keynote speaker at environmental conferences (including Mission Blue, TED and the Skoll foundation). He advised and was featured in The End of the Line, a documentary on the global fishing crisis and appeared in the National Geographic documentary America Before Columbus. He is on the board of Seaweb and provided the scientific basis for the creation of the world’s first high seas protected network.
“One of the world’s most prominent and articulate marine
scientists, Callum Roberts gives us an updated, comprehensive, and
engaging account of the ongoing crisis beneath the waves, and how
we humans can turn the situation around. Despite the frightening
litany of problems facing the seas, Roberts is optimistic that we
can and will mend our ways so that marine resources will be there
to help support planet Earth.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“Told with both scientific accuracy and narrative skill. . . . I
know of no other volume that treats such divergent ocean issues as
overfishing, decreasing pH, plastic pollution and biogeographic
shifts with this much accuracy and acumen. Each chapter is edged
with fascinating details about the life of the sea. At the heart of
this book is a deep love of the ocean and a profound concern for
its viability as a resource for us all.”
—Stephen Palumbi, Nature
“Roberts is that precious pearl: a practicing scientist who not
only knows his field inside out, but also understands how to write
compelling, persuasive non-fiction. . . . To use the vernacular of
his book, he has trawled and plundered these experiences to craft
the nearest thing we are ever likely to get to an all-encompassing
manifesto for sustainable marine management.”
—The Guardian
“Callum Roberts has done it again. From showing us the past with
the wisdom of a Dickens character in his earlier book, he now leads
us toward the future in The Ocean of Life. It’s a book so fine, I
wish I’d written it!”
—Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean
“The urgency of Callum Roberts' message - that we have very little
time to save the oceanic environment on which our existence depends
- is in no way undermined by the entertaining and
brilliantly-written nature of his writing. This is simply a
fascinating book, taking in everything from the elemental
formations of the oceans to the denizens that inhabit them; from
minute plankton to the great whales - and everything that threatens
them, and us. Roberts imparts his vast knowledge with a consummate
talent for colorful narrative and devastating facts. His book
will be required reading for anyone who cares about the oceans—not
least because, as well as underlining the scale of the problems, he
offers us the hope of real solutions.”
—Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan, or The Whale
“The enormity of the sea’s troubles, and their implications for
mankind, are mind-boggling. Yet it is remarkable how little this is
recognised. . . . There is a dearth of good and comprehensive books
on a subject that can seem too complicated and depressing for any
single tome. Callum Roberts, a conservation biologist, has now
provided one.”
—The Economist
“The eminent marine biologist Callum Roberts weaves his personal
passion for the oceans through the enchanting story of the
evolution of the planet’s water… Blending science and observation,
he issues a compelling call to move from the catastrophic path we
are on. Like Rachel Carson’s seminal book Silent Spring, which
catalyzed the environmental movement, The Ocean of Life is eloquent
and authoritative.
-- David Suzuki, host of “The Nature of Things”
“Those of us who worry about the future of our oceans could do a
lot worse than take up this single refrain, "Listen to Callum
Roberts!". Shouted in the ears of the world's leaders, it might
just make a difference. Meanwhile we should all read Ocean of Life,
a thrilling narrative of oceanic natural history and a vital call
to action”
--Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef, broadcaster and author of The
River Cottage Cookbook
“An engrossing survey of the relationship between man and the sea
for readers living through the greatest environmental changes in 65
million years. . . . Roberts’s meditation will have readers gasping
aloud with wonder, even as the sobering truth of humans’ profound
interdependence with the sea provokes concern.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'For anyone who loves the sea, Ocean of Life is a wake-up call, an
urgent alert' --Daily Mail
'At the heart of this book is a deep love of the ocean and a
profound concern for its viability as a resource for us all'
--Nature
'An impressive history ... one of this book's strengths is the many
solutions Roberts outlines.'
-- Financial Times
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