Flotsametrics and the Floating World
How One Man's Obsession Revolutionized Ocean Science
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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eric Michael Summerer
About this listen
Curtis Ebbesmeyer is no ordinary scientist. He's been a consulting oceanographer for multinational firms and a lead scientist on international research expeditions, but he's never held a conventional academic appointment. He seized the world's imagination as no other scientist could when he and his worldwide network of beachcomber volunteers traced the ocean's currents using thousands of sneakers and plastic bath toys spilled from storm-tossed freighters.
Now, for the first time, Ebbesmeyer tells the story of his lifelong struggle to solve the sea's mysteries while sharing his most surprising discoveries. He recounts how flotsam has changed the course of history - leading Viking mariners to safe harbors, Columbus to the New World, and Japan to open up to the West - and how it may even have made the origin of life possible. He chases icebergs and floating islands; investigates ocean mysteries from ghost ships to a spate of washed-up severed feet on Canadian beaches; and explores the enormous floating "garbage patches" and waste-heaped "junk beaches" that collect the flotsam and jetsam of industrial society.
Finally, Ebbesmeyer reveals the rhythmic and harmonic order in the vast oceanic currents called gyres - "the heartbeat of the world " - and the threats that global warming and disintegrating plastic waste pose to the seas...and to us.
©2009 Curtis Ebbesmeyer (P)2009 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Sixth Extinction
- An Unnatural History
- By: Elizabeth Kolbert
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
-
-
Lifts you out of the ordinary
- By Regina on 04-28-14
-
Tides
- The Science and Spirit of the Ocean
- By: Jonathan White, Peter Matthiessen - Foreward
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes listeners across the globe to discover the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the Silver Dragon, a 25-foot tidal bore that crashes 80 miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power generation.
-
-
1/3 Science and Spirit- 2/3 meaningless details
- By Buddy on 06-06-18
By: Jonathan White, and others
-
Isaac's Storm
- A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the dawn of the 20th century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.
-
-
Two versions on Audible
- By stephiemav42 on 03-10-21
By: Erik Larson
-
In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
-
-
Superb tale that unravels at an iceburg's pace
- By Mel on 03-19-15
By: Hampton Sides
-
Sinkable
- Obsession, the Deep Sea, and the Shipwreck of the Titanic
- By: Daniel Stone
- Narrated by: Daniel Stone
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a frigid April night in 1912, the world’s largest—and soon most famous—ocean liner struck an iceberg and slipped beneath the waves. She had scarcely disappeared before her new journey began, a seemingly limitless odyssey through the world’s fixation with her every tragic detail. Plans to find and raise the Titanic began almost immediately. Yet seven decades passed before it was found. Why? And of some three million shipwrecks that litter the ocean floor, why is the world still so fascinated with this one?
-
-
Not worth it.
- By Alisa Kester on 09-12-22
By: Daniel Stone
-
The Log from the Sea of Cortez
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Log from the Sea of Cortez is the exciting day-by-day account of Steinbeck's trip to the Gulf of California with biologist Ed Ricketts. Drawn from the longer Sea of Cortez, it is a wonderful combination of science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure.
-
-
Beautiful Book
- By Stuart on 10-07-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
The Sixth Extinction
- An Unnatural History
- By: Elizabeth Kolbert
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
-
-
Lifts you out of the ordinary
- By Regina on 04-28-14
-
Tides
- The Science and Spirit of the Ocean
- By: Jonathan White, Peter Matthiessen - Foreward
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes listeners across the globe to discover the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the Silver Dragon, a 25-foot tidal bore that crashes 80 miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power generation.
-
-
1/3 Science and Spirit- 2/3 meaningless details
- By Buddy on 06-06-18
By: Jonathan White, and others
-
Isaac's Storm
- A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the dawn of the 20th century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.
-
-
Two versions on Audible
- By stephiemav42 on 03-10-21
By: Erik Larson
-
In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
-
-
Superb tale that unravels at an iceburg's pace
- By Mel on 03-19-15
By: Hampton Sides
-
Sinkable
- Obsession, the Deep Sea, and the Shipwreck of the Titanic
- By: Daniel Stone
- Narrated by: Daniel Stone
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a frigid April night in 1912, the world’s largest—and soon most famous—ocean liner struck an iceberg and slipped beneath the waves. She had scarcely disappeared before her new journey began, a seemingly limitless odyssey through the world’s fixation with her every tragic detail. Plans to find and raise the Titanic began almost immediately. Yet seven decades passed before it was found. Why? And of some three million shipwrecks that litter the ocean floor, why is the world still so fascinated with this one?
-
-
Not worth it.
- By Alisa Kester on 09-12-22
By: Daniel Stone
-
The Log from the Sea of Cortez
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Log from the Sea of Cortez is the exciting day-by-day account of Steinbeck's trip to the Gulf of California with biologist Ed Ricketts. Drawn from the longer Sea of Cortez, it is a wonderful combination of science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure.
-
-
Beautiful Book
- By Stuart on 10-07-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
Krakatoa
- The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa - the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster - was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly 40,000 people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round die planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light.
-
-
Great subject, great writing, great voice
- By rwise on 01-26-04
By: Simon Winchester
-
Last Train to Paradise
- Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Del Roy
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The paths of the great American robber barons were paved with riches, and though ordinary citizens paid for them, they also profited. Les Standiford, author of the John Deal thrillers, tells how the man who turned Florida's swamps into the playgrounds of the rich performed the almost superhuman feat of building a railroad from the mainland to Key West at the turn of the century.
-
-
A Pleasant Surprise
- By Roy on 04-05-09
By: Les Standiford
-
The Curse of Oak Island
- The Story of the World's Longest Treasure Hunt
- By: Randall Sullivan
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Curse of Oak Island is a fascinating account of the strange, rich history of the island and the intrepid treasure hunters who have driven themselves to financial ruin, psychotic breakdowns, and even death in pursuit of answers. And as Michigan brothers Marty and Rick Lagina become the latest to attempt to solve the mystery, as documented on the History Channel’s television show The Curse of Oak Island, Sullivan takes listeners along to follow their quest firsthand.
-
-
The ultimate Osk Island show add on
- By Amazon Customer on 03-27-19
By: Randall Sullivan
-
Plastic Ocean
- By: Capt. Charles Moore, Cassandra Phillips
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A prominent seafaring environmentalist and researcher shares his shocking discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, which inspired a fundamental rethinking of the Plastic Age and a growing global health crisis.
-
-
Informative
- By Paul on 01-30-23
By: Capt. Charles Moore, and others
-
The Secret Life of Lobsters
- By: Trevor Corson
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the listener onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.
-
-
Uninteresting and poorly written
- By Alexandra DuSablon on 01-10-20
By: Trevor Corson
-
Atlantic
- Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues profoundly to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Spanning the ocean's story, from its geological origins to the age of exploration, from World War II battles to today's struggles with pollution and overfishing, Winchester's narrative is epic, intimate, and awe inspiring.
-
-
Starts Better Than it Finishes
- By Ray on 12-18-10
By: Simon Winchester
-
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
- By: Dan Egan
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Lakes - Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior - hold 20 percent of the world's supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan's engaging portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes.
-
-
So Crucial, Get it! Then Enjoy Your Water
- By Meg on 08-05-19
By: Dan Egan
-
Ice Ghosts
- The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
- By: Paul Watson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 - whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice - with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship's wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure story: Sir John Franklin and the crew of the HMS Erebus and Terror setting off in search of the fabled Northwest Passage.
-
-
Flawed Writing Dashes High Hopes :(
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Paul Watson
-
The Great Quake
- How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet
- By: Henry Fountain
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in North American recorded history - the 1964 Alaska earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and swept away the island village of Chenega - and the geologist who hunted for clues to explain how and why it took place.
-
-
Fascinating to hear the full story
- By Debby A Davis on 08-18-17
By: Henry Fountain
-
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
-
The Gulf
- The Making of an American Sea
- By: Jack E. Davis
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When painter Winslow Homer first sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was struck by its "special kind of providence." Indeed, the Gulf presented itself as America's sea - bound by geography, culture, and tradition to the national experience - and yet, there has never been a comprehensive history of the Gulf until now. And so, in this rich and original work that explores the Gulf through our human connection with the sea, environmental historian Jack E. Davis finally places this exceptional region into the American mythos in a sweeping history that extends from the Pleistocene age to the 21st century.
-
-
Decolonize gulf history
- By Jesse Carr on 05-02-18
By: Jack E. Davis
-
Becoming a Marine Biologist
- Masters at Work Series
- By: Virginia Morell
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Choosing a profession begins with imagining yourself in a career. Now New York Times best-selling author Virginia Morell dives into the adventures of a marine biologist team, allowing a much needed, in-depth look into the field. Becoming a Marine Biologist explores how successful marine biologists curated their careers and what they suggest to young people today who feel called to protect our oceans by studying the sea and its inhabitants.
-
-
Loved it
- By Kristen Brown on 08-19-22
By: Virginia Morell
Critic reviews
"With a whimsical mood overlaying serious science, Ebbesmeyer's work will appeal to the environmentally minded." (Booklist)
Related to this topic
-
Plastic Ocean
- By: Capt. Charles Moore, Cassandra Phillips
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A prominent seafaring environmentalist and researcher shares his shocking discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, which inspired a fundamental rethinking of the Plastic Age and a growing global health crisis.
-
-
Informative
- By Paul on 01-30-23
By: Capt. Charles Moore, and others
-
The Secret Life of Lobsters
- By: Trevor Corson
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the listener onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.
-
-
Uninteresting and poorly written
- By Alexandra DuSablon on 01-10-20
By: Trevor Corson
-
Atlantic
- Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues profoundly to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Spanning the ocean's story, from its geological origins to the age of exploration, from World War II battles to today's struggles with pollution and overfishing, Winchester's narrative is epic, intimate, and awe inspiring.
-
-
Starts Better Than it Finishes
- By Ray on 12-18-10
By: Simon Winchester
-
Ice Ghosts
- The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
- By: Paul Watson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 - whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice - with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship's wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure story: Sir John Franklin and the crew of the HMS Erebus and Terror setting off in search of the fabled Northwest Passage.
-
-
Flawed Writing Dashes High Hopes :(
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Paul Watson
-
The Great Quake
- How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet
- By: Henry Fountain
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in North American recorded history - the 1964 Alaska earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and swept away the island village of Chenega - and the geologist who hunted for clues to explain how and why it took place.
-
-
Fascinating to hear the full story
- By Debby A Davis on 08-18-17
By: Henry Fountain
-
The Gulf
- The Making of an American Sea
- By: Jack E. Davis
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When painter Winslow Homer first sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was struck by its "special kind of providence." Indeed, the Gulf presented itself as America's sea - bound by geography, culture, and tradition to the national experience - and yet, there has never been a comprehensive history of the Gulf until now. And so, in this rich and original work that explores the Gulf through our human connection with the sea, environmental historian Jack E. Davis finally places this exceptional region into the American mythos in a sweeping history that extends from the Pleistocene age to the 21st century.
-
-
Decolonize gulf history
- By Jesse Carr on 05-02-18
By: Jack E. Davis
-
Plastic Ocean
- By: Capt. Charles Moore, Cassandra Phillips
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A prominent seafaring environmentalist and researcher shares his shocking discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, which inspired a fundamental rethinking of the Plastic Age and a growing global health crisis.
-
-
Informative
- By Paul on 01-30-23
By: Capt. Charles Moore, and others
-
The Secret Life of Lobsters
- By: Trevor Corson
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the listener onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.
-
-
Uninteresting and poorly written
- By Alexandra DuSablon on 01-10-20
By: Trevor Corson
-
Atlantic
- Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues profoundly to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Spanning the ocean's story, from its geological origins to the age of exploration, from World War II battles to today's struggles with pollution and overfishing, Winchester's narrative is epic, intimate, and awe inspiring.
-
-
Starts Better Than it Finishes
- By Ray on 12-18-10
By: Simon Winchester
-
Ice Ghosts
- The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
- By: Paul Watson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 - whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice - with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship's wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure story: Sir John Franklin and the crew of the HMS Erebus and Terror setting off in search of the fabled Northwest Passage.
-
-
Flawed Writing Dashes High Hopes :(
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Paul Watson
-
The Great Quake
- How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet
- By: Henry Fountain
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in North American recorded history - the 1964 Alaska earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and swept away the island village of Chenega - and the geologist who hunted for clues to explain how and why it took place.
-
-
Fascinating to hear the full story
- By Debby A Davis on 08-18-17
By: Henry Fountain
-
The Gulf
- The Making of an American Sea
- By: Jack E. Davis
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When painter Winslow Homer first sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was struck by its "special kind of providence." Indeed, the Gulf presented itself as America's sea - bound by geography, culture, and tradition to the national experience - and yet, there has never been a comprehensive history of the Gulf until now. And so, in this rich and original work that explores the Gulf through our human connection with the sea, environmental historian Jack E. Davis finally places this exceptional region into the American mythos in a sweeping history that extends from the Pleistocene age to the 21st century.
-
-
Decolonize gulf history
- By Jesse Carr on 05-02-18
By: Jack E. Davis
-
Pacific
- Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature. Winchester's personal experience is vast and his storytelling second to none. And his historical understanding of the region is formidable, making Pacific a paean to this magnificent sea of beauty, myth, and imagination that is transforming our lives.
-
-
Political Asides Have Become Bombastic Didactic
- By Mark Patterson on 12-25-15
By: Simon Winchester
-
Raising the Hunley
- The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine
- By: Brian Hicks, Schuyler Kropf
- Narrated by: Harry Chase
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Forget the Titanic; this sub wreck is hot," says the Wall Street Journal. Award-winning journalists Hicks and Kropf offer new insights into the dramatic history and mysterious disappearance of the Hunley, the first submersible to sink another ship. The Hunley represented one of the major technological breakthroughs of the Civil War, and it has fascinated many to the point of obsession ever since its disappearance.
-
-
Great Civil War history
- By Randall E. on 11-10-03
By: Brian Hicks, and others
-
War of the Whales
- A True Story
- By: Joshua Horwitz
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
War of the Whales is the gripping tale of a crusading attorney who stumbles on one of the US Navy’s best-kept secrets: a submarine detection system that floods entire ocean basins with high-intensity sound - and drives whales onto beaches. As Joel Reynolds launches a legal fight to expose and challenge the Navy program, marine biologist Ken Balcomb witnesses a mysterious mass stranding of whales near his research station in the Bahamas.
-
-
Legal Drama - better than fiction
- By W. P. Brown on 08-23-14
By: Joshua Horwitz
-
The Last Fish Tale
- The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester
- By: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fishing at sea, an ancient trade and a way of life that has defined coastal towns throughout history, may be coming to an end. The culture and traditions of coastal Britain and of seagoing nations everywhere are now threatened with extinction. Celebrated author Mark Kurlansky explores the fate of our oceans and the decline of our most ancient coastal enterprise.
-
-
Love me some Kurlansky!
- By Eric Walden on 09-08-15
By: Mark Kurlansky
-
Sealab
- America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor
- By: Ben Hellwarth
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sealab is the underwater Right Stuff: the compelling story of how a U.S. Navy program sought to develop the marine equivalent of the space station - and forever changed man's relationship to the sea. While NASA was trying to put a man on the moon, the U.S. Navy launched a series of daring experiments to prove that divers could live and work from a sea-floor base.
-
-
An excellent story of adventure and discovery.
- By R. Smith on 08-11-15
By: Ben Hellwarth
-
In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
-
-
Superb tale that unravels at an iceburg's pace
- By Mel on 03-19-15
By: Hampton Sides
-
Brilliant Beacons
- A History of the American Lighthouse
- By: Eric Jay Dolin
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, Brilliant Beacons traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system, highlighting the political, military, and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation's hardscrabble coastlines.
-
-
Great book about Lighthouses
- By Anastasia on 04-25-21
By: Eric Jay Dolin
-
The Secret Token
- Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke
- By: Andrew Lawler
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina to establish the first English settlement in the New World. But when the new colony's leader returned to Roanoke from a resupply mission, his settlers had vanished, leaving behind only a single clue - a "secret token" etched into a tree. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke? That question has consumed historians, archeologists, and amateur sleuths for 400 years. In The Secret Token, Andrew Lawler sets out on a quest to determine the fate of the settlers.
-
-
trying to capitalize on race relations
- By Phil on 07-16-19
By: Andrew Lawler
-
Last Train to Paradise
- Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Del Roy
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The paths of the great American robber barons were paved with riches, and though ordinary citizens paid for them, they also profited. Les Standiford, author of the John Deal thrillers, tells how the man who turned Florida's swamps into the playgrounds of the rich performed the almost superhuman feat of building a railroad from the mainland to Key West at the turn of the century.
-
-
A Pleasant Surprise
- By Roy on 04-05-09
By: Les Standiford
-
Erebus
- One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Palin brings the fascinating story of the Erebus and its occupants to life, from its construction as a bomb vessel in 1826 through the flagship years of James Clark Ross’s Antarctic expedition and finally to Sir John Franklin’s quest for the holy grail of navigation - a route through the Northwest Passage, where the ship disappeared into the depths of the sea for more than 150 years. It was rediscovered under the arctic waters in 2014.
-
-
Engrossing story
- By Anonymous User on 10-01-24
By: Michael Palin
-
Deep Descent
- Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria
- By: Kevin F. McMurray
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a foggy July evening in 1956, the Italian cruise liner Andrea Doria, bound for New York, was struck broadside by another vessel. In eleven hours, she would sink nearly 250 feet to the murky Atlantic Ocean floor. Thanks to a daring rescue operation, only 51 of more than 1,700 people died in the tragedy. But the Andrea Doria is still taking lives. Considered the Mt. Everest of diving, the Andrea Doria is the ultimate deepwater wreck challenge.
-
-
A must read for every deep diver
- By DocYinYang on 10-20-19
-
The Curse of Oak Island
- The Story of the World's Longest Treasure Hunt
- By: Randall Sullivan
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Curse of Oak Island is a fascinating account of the strange, rich history of the island and the intrepid treasure hunters who have driven themselves to financial ruin, psychotic breakdowns, and even death in pursuit of answers. And as Michigan brothers Marty and Rick Lagina become the latest to attempt to solve the mystery, as documented on the History Channel’s television show The Curse of Oak Island, Sullivan takes listeners along to follow their quest firsthand.
-
-
The ultimate Osk Island show add on
- By Amazon Customer on 03-27-19
By: Randall Sullivan
What listeners say about Flotsametrics and the Floating World
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Doug
- 01-22-19
Painful to listen to
Between the author adding a bunch of unnecessary information, and the narrator's robotic voice, as much as I tried I couldn't get more than three chapters into this book before I decided cut my losses and stop listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Jo
- 01-27-11
Interesting flotsam on the waves
This books is rather like his subject matter - full of fascinating tidbits floating on a undulating sea of interesting and less interesting backstory, autobiography, self-promotion and gentle rant. It would be better if it had slimmed down on the autobiography (particularly in the opening chapters) and increased some of the background hard science, with more reference to, and explanation of, the work of other oceanographers. The stories of following the flotsam, such as the sneakers and tub toys were fascinating, and the talk of beach comber fairs made me want to get out there and beachcomb, but I felt that the overall there was a much better book inside here somewhere.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julie Thomas
- 06-11-12
Great science education, humorous, fascinating
What made the experience of listening to Flotsametrics and the Floating World the most enjoyable?
This book presents Ebbesmeyer's research on the ocean with great humor, making it enjoyable to get this piece of science education. I plan to listen to the book again.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Flotsametrics and the Floating World?
The use of accidently dumped floating Nike tennis shoes and rubber tub toys to reveal ocean current dynamics.
What about Eric Michael Summerer’s performance did you like?
Summerer's performance was "invisible", i.e., we weren't conscious of the narration as we listened during a two-day drive. No distracting or annoying quirks. So his presentation was great for this type of book.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. Fascinating and entertaining, while addressing profoundly worrisome issues such as the great garbage patches in the ocean.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!