
Below the Edge of Darkness
A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Allyson Ryan
-
By:
-
Edith Widder
About this listen
A pioneering marine biologist takes us down into the deep ocean to understand bioluminescence - the language of light that helps life communicate in the darkness - and what it tells us about the future of life on Earth in this “thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure” (The New York Times Book Review).
Named One of the Best Books of the Year by Booklist
“Edith Wilder's story is one of hardscrabble optimism, two-fisted exploration, and groundbreaking research. She’s done things I dream of doing.” (James Cameron)
Edith Widder’s childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist was almost derailed in college, when complications from a surgery gone wrong caused temporary blindness. A new reality of shifting shadows drew her fascination to the power of light - as well as the importance of optimism.
As her vision cleared, Widder found the intersection of her two passions in oceanic bioluminescence, a little-explored scientific field within Earth’s last great unknown frontier: the deep ocean. With little promise of funding or employment, she leaped at the first opportunity to train as a submersible pilot and dove into the darkness.
Widder’s first journey into the deep ocean, in a diving suit that resembled a suit of armor, took her to a depth of 800 feet. She turned off the lights and witnessed breathtaking underwater fireworks: explosions of bioluminescent activity. Concerns about her future career vanished. She only wanted to know one thing: Why was there so much light down there?
Below the Edge of Darkness takes listeners deep into our planet’s oceans as Widder pursues her questions about one of the most important and widely used forms of communication in nature. In the process, she reveals hidden worlds and a dazzling menagerie of behaviors and animals, from microbes to leviathans, many never before seen or, like the legendary giant squid, never before filmed in their deep-sea lairs. Alongside Widder, we experience life-and-death equipment malfunctions and witness breakthroughs in technology and understanding, all set against a growing awareness of the deteriorating health of our largest and least understood ecosystem.
A thrilling adventure story as well as a scientific revelation, Below the Edge of Darkness reckons with the complicated and sometimes dangerous realities of exploration. Widder shows us how when we push our boundaries and expand our worlds, discovery and wonder follow. These are the ultimate keys to the ocean’s salvation - and thus to our future on this planet.
©2021 Edith Widder, PhD (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Brilliant Abyss
- Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It
- By: Helen Scales
- Narrated by: Helen Scales
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary, interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more—good or bad, depending on how it is exploited. Currently, the fantastic creatures that live in the deep—many of them incandescent in a world without light—and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere, and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines.
-
-
Amazing facts about the deep
- By Austin F. on 11-18-22
By: Helen Scales
-
Emperors of the Deep
- Sharks - The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians
- By: William McKeever
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this remarkable, groundbreaking audiobook, a documentarian and conservationist, determined to dispel misplaced fear and correct common misconceptions, explores in-depth the secret lives of sharks - magnificent creatures who play an integral part in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans and ultimately the planet.
-
-
I wanted to like this book, but...
- By Lissa on 08-05-19
By: William McKeever
-
The Underworld
- Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean
- By: Susan Casey
- Narrated by: Susan Casey
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susan Casey is our premiere chronicler of the aquatic world. For The Underworld she traversed the globe, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet, interviewing the marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers who are searching for knowledge in this vast unseen realm. She takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the myths and legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom.
-
-
narrator ruined it
- By Amazon Customer on 05-12-24
By: Susan Casey
-
Spineless
- The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone
- By: Juli Berwald
- Narrated by: Juli Berwald
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jellyfish are an enigma. They have no centralized brain, but they see and feel and react to their environment in complex ways. They look simple, yet their propulsion systems are so advanced that engineers are just learning how to mimic them. They produce some of the deadliest toxins on the planet and still remain undeniably alluring. Long ignored by science, they may be a key to ecosystem stability. Juli Berwald's journey into the world of jellyfish is a personal one.
-
-
Very Little Jellyfish Science
- By Xangle on 06-13-19
By: Juli Berwald
-
Life on the Rocks
- Building a Future for Coral Reefs
- By: Juli Berwald
- Narrated by: Juli Berwald
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. When they’re thriving, these fairy gardens hidden beneath the ocean’s surface burst with color and life. They sustain bountiful ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. Corals themselves are evolutionary marvels that build elaborate limestone formations from their collective skeletons, broker symbiotic relationships with algae, and manufacture their own fluorescent sunblock.
-
-
Get the print version
- By Kiana P. on 07-15-22
By: Juli Berwald
-
Other Minds
- The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
- By: Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared.
-
-
Mischief and Craft
- By Darwin8u on 08-10-17
-
The Brilliant Abyss
- Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It
- By: Helen Scales
- Narrated by: Helen Scales
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary, interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more—good or bad, depending on how it is exploited. Currently, the fantastic creatures that live in the deep—many of them incandescent in a world without light—and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere, and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines.
-
-
Amazing facts about the deep
- By Austin F. on 11-18-22
By: Helen Scales
-
Emperors of the Deep
- Sharks - The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians
- By: William McKeever
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this remarkable, groundbreaking audiobook, a documentarian and conservationist, determined to dispel misplaced fear and correct common misconceptions, explores in-depth the secret lives of sharks - magnificent creatures who play an integral part in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans and ultimately the planet.
-
-
I wanted to like this book, but...
- By Lissa on 08-05-19
By: William McKeever
-
The Underworld
- Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean
- By: Susan Casey
- Narrated by: Susan Casey
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susan Casey is our premiere chronicler of the aquatic world. For The Underworld she traversed the globe, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet, interviewing the marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers who are searching for knowledge in this vast unseen realm. She takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the myths and legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom.
-
-
narrator ruined it
- By Amazon Customer on 05-12-24
By: Susan Casey
-
Spineless
- The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone
- By: Juli Berwald
- Narrated by: Juli Berwald
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jellyfish are an enigma. They have no centralized brain, but they see and feel and react to their environment in complex ways. They look simple, yet their propulsion systems are so advanced that engineers are just learning how to mimic them. They produce some of the deadliest toxins on the planet and still remain undeniably alluring. Long ignored by science, they may be a key to ecosystem stability. Juli Berwald's journey into the world of jellyfish is a personal one.
-
-
Very Little Jellyfish Science
- By Xangle on 06-13-19
By: Juli Berwald
-
Life on the Rocks
- Building a Future for Coral Reefs
- By: Juli Berwald
- Narrated by: Juli Berwald
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. When they’re thriving, these fairy gardens hidden beneath the ocean’s surface burst with color and life. They sustain bountiful ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. Corals themselves are evolutionary marvels that build elaborate limestone formations from their collective skeletons, broker symbiotic relationships with algae, and manufacture their own fluorescent sunblock.
-
-
Get the print version
- By Kiana P. on 07-15-22
By: Juli Berwald
-
Other Minds
- The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
- By: Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared.
-
-
Mischief and Craft
- By Darwin8u on 08-10-17
-
How Far the Light Reaches
- A Life in Ten Sea Creatures
- By: Sabrina Imbler
- Narrated by: Sabrina Imbler
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fascinating tour of creatures from the surface to the deepest ocean floor: How Far the Light Reaches invites us to envision wilder, grander, and more abundant possibilities for the way we live. Conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, and care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms and colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals and heat throbbing from the core of the Earth.
-
-
THIS IS A MEMOIR
- By Joseph Gee on 03-17-23
By: Sabrina Imbler
-
An Immense World
- How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Ed Yong
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.
-
-
If you’ve never read about the wonder of animal sensory capabilities this is for you
- By MediaBaron on 06-27-22
By: Ed Yong
-
Otherlands
- A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds
- By: Thomas Halliday
- Narrated by: Adetomiwa Edun
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The past is past, but it does leave clues, and Thomas Halliday has used cutting-edge science to decipher them more completely than ever before. In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life.
-
-
Great book brilliantly read
- By Dipam on 04-06-22
By: Thomas Halliday
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy
- What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens - and Ourselves
- By: Arik Kershenbaum
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Yet rather than taking a realistic approach to what aliens might be like, we imagine that life on other planets is the stuff of science fiction. The time has come to abandon our fantasies of space invaders and movie monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing. But short of alien's landing in New York City, how do we know what they are like?
-
-
A zoologist looks at what aliens we might meet
- By Elisabeth Carey on 04-06-21
By: Arik Kershenbaum
-
Into the Planet
- My Life as a Cave Diver
- By: Jill Heinerth
- Narrated by: Jill Heinerth
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More people have died exploring underwater caves than climbing Mount Everest, and we know more about deep space than we do about the depths of our oceans. From one of the top cave divers working today - and one of the very few women in her field - Into the Planet blends science, adventure, and memoir to bring listeners face-to-face with the terror and beauty of Earth’s remaining unknowns and the extremes of human capability.
-
-
The Story of the World's Premier Woman Cave Diver
- By Peakbagger on 02-24-20
By: Jill Heinerth
-
Metazoa
- Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind
- By: Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Narrated by: Mitch Riley, Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dip below the ocean’s surface and you are soon confronted by forms of life that could not seem more foreign to our own: sea sponges, soft corals, and serpulid worms, whose rooted bodies, intricate geometry, and flower-like appendages are more reminiscent of plant life or even architecture than anything recognizably animal. Yet these creatures are our cousins. As fellow members of the animal kingdom — the Metazoa— they can teach us much about the evolutionary origins of not only our bodies, but also our minds.
-
-
Philosophy Meets Biology
- By aaron on 01-22-21
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Underland
- A Deep Time Journey
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.
-
-
Wonderful book, disappointing narrator
- By Clare Woods on 07-05-19
-
The Secret Lives of Bats
- My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals
- By: Merlin Tuttle
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A lifetime of adventures with bats around the world reveals why these special and imperiled creatures should be protected rather than feared.
-
-
Very Disappointing
- By R. Klein on 07-31-23
By: Merlin Tuttle
-
What an Owl Knows
- The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.
-
-
The dedication and fierce commitment of the author
- By Michael G. T. Thompson on 12-17-24
-
Deep
- Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves
- By: James Nestor
- Narrated by: James Nestor
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deep is a voyage from the ocean's surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving - in which competitors descend to great depths on a single breath - James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena.
-
-
More than I expected!
- By P. Wilson on 11-13-17
By: James Nestor
Critic reviews
“Gripping...Widder’s voice is in turns jaunty, precise and nerdily quippy.... The prose glints.... Widder [has] worked hard to bring the abyss to light. It is our duty, as clumsy land-bound dwellers of a water planet, to look, and to remember.” (The New York Times Book Review)
“Edith Widder’s story is one of hardscrabble optimism, two-fisted exploration, and groundbreaking research. She’s done things I dream of doing. I’d have wrapped my submersible, the Deepsea Challenger, in bacon if it would have lured the elusive giant squid from the depths. In Below the Edge of Darkness, Widder tells you how she did it.” (James Cameron)
“My experience of exploring the deep ocean and its alien life with Edie Widder was fabulous. She enthralls us with many such stories in her book. I recommend it.” (Ray Dalio)
Featured Article: Dive Deep on Our Blue Planet This World Ocean Day
Earth’s oceans and the many ecosystems housed within them are foundational to all life, on sea and land alike. And yet, international waterways face greater threats than ever, imperiled by factors including climate change, pollution and plastic debris, offshore drilling, and destructive fishing practices. We’ve curated a collection of listens to inspire you to learn more and take action to recognize, restore, and protect the sea and all its inhabitants.
What listeners say about Below the Edge of Darkness
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JohninMaine
- 01-26-22
Glad I gave it a try - it was a real pleasure
I know (knew) nothing about the subject matter but I liked the sample audio so I gave this audiobook a try. Wow, I really enjoyed it! The writing is quite good, entertaining, informative and well paced. She brings the reader behind the scenes to where scientists struggle with mechanical failures, lightning strikes, grant funding, and the occasional complete failure of Plan A. Still, her scientific zeal for exploring & understanding life in the deepest depths of the ocean keeps her going.
For me this was the perfect nonfiction experience: a book that brings me into a world I knew nothing about and tells an interesting (and true) story. Very enjoyable.
The narrator, Allyson Ryan, did an excellent job too. She brought the prose to life and also the moments of humor. Just right, I thought.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon customer
- 06-24-23
A must read!
I got this book because I had an extra token and wasn't sure what to read. it seemed interesting. I am glad I got his book. This book offers a compelling story about the deep sea, bioluminescence, and the perseverance of humans and other animals. it warns of the negative impact humans have but also offers a new perspective on how to see the problem. It gave me a new perspective of optimism.
What I enjoyed the most was how everything is balanced in this book. You have Dr. Widder's mini biography, bioluminescence, fascinating facts about sealive, and the struggles of deep sea exploration. It blends scientific facts and data with relatable references. This book is definitely worth a listen/read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex Mercier
- 09-27-22
Interesting and entertaining.
From her life changing medical situation to deep sea submarine exploration, this is a memoir of the incredible adventures and life of marine biologist Edith Widder. There is not a dull moment to be had!
Narrator was also solid enough to keep me engaged.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pen Name
- 03-14-23
Great book for all aspiring marine biologists!
This book was a true beacon during hard times, it made me believe that I could do everything I’m trying to do as an undergrad student. A perfect mix of hope, triumph, and struggle associated with the field. Uses a combination of realism and wonder associated with scientific research. Follows the story of an amazing biologist, and what it took to get to where she is. Additionally, allows a first person view of the career and it’s complexity’s.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!