Life Between the Tides
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-03-04 03:19:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Adam Nicolson
- ISBN：0374251436
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Summary
Adam Nicolson explores the marine life inhabiting seashore rockpools with a scientist's curiosity and a poet's wonder in this beautifully illustrated book。
The sea is not made of water。 Creatures are its genes。 Look down as you crouch over the shallows of a rockpool and you will find a periwinkle or a prawn， a claw-displaying crab or a cluster of anemones ready to meet you。 Go to the rocks and the living will say hello。
Inside each rockpool， tucked into one of the infinite crevices of the tidal coastline， lies a rippling， silent， unknowable universe。 Below the stillness of the surface course different currents of endless motion--the ebb and flow of the tide， the steady forward propulsion of the passage of time， and the tiny lifetimes of its creatures， all of which coalesce into the grand narrative of evolution。
In The Sea Is Not Made of Water， Adam Nicolson investigates one of the most revelatory habitats on earth。 Under his microscope， we see a prawn's head become a medieval helmet and a group of "winkles" transform a Dickensian social scene， with mollusks munching on Stilton and glancing at their pocket watches。 Or， rather， is a winkle more like Achilles， an ancient hero， throwing himself toward death for the sake of glory？ For Nicolson， who writes "with scientific rigor and a poet's sense of wonder" （The American Scholar）， the world of the rockpools is infinite and as intricate as our own。
As Nicolson journeys between the tides， both in the pools he builds along the coast of Scotland and through the timeline of scientific discovery， he is accompanied by great thinkers--no one can escape the pull of the sea。 We meet Virginia Woolf and her Waves; a young T。 S。 Eliot peering into his own rockpool in Massachusetts; even Nicolson's father-in-law， a classical scholar who would hunt for amethysts along the shoreline， his mind on Heraclitus and the Hellenists。 And， of course， scientists populate the pages; not only their discoveries， but also their doubts and errors， their moments of quiet observation and their thrilling realizations。
It is all within the rockpools， where you can look beyond your own reflection and find the miraculous an inch beneath your nose。 "The soul wants to be wet，" Heraclitus said in Ephesus twenty-five hundred years ago。 This marvelous book demonstrates why it is so。
Includes Color and Black-and-White Photographs
The sea is not made of water。 Creatures are its genes。 Look down as you crouch over the shallows of a rockpool and you will find a periwinkle or a prawn， a claw-displaying crab or a cluster of anemones ready to meet you。 Go to the rocks and the living will say hello。
Inside each rockpool， tucked into one of the infinite crevices of the tidal coastline， lies a rippling， silent， unknowable universe。 Below the stillness of the surface course different currents of endless motion--the ebb and flow of the tide， the steady forward propulsion of the passage of time， and the tiny lifetimes of its creatures， all of which coalesce into the grand narrative of evolution。
In The Sea Is Not Made of Water， Adam Nicolson investigates one of the most revelatory habitats on earth。 Under his microscope， we see a prawn's head become a medieval helmet and a group of "winkles" transform a Dickensian social scene， with mollusks munching on Stilton and glancing at their pocket watches。 Or， rather， is a winkle more like Achilles， an ancient hero， throwing himself toward death for the sake of glory？ For Nicolson， who writes "with scientific rigor and a poet's sense of wonder" （The American Scholar）， the world of the rockpools is infinite and as intricate as our own。
As Nicolson journeys between the tides， both in the pools he builds along the coast of Scotland and through the timeline of scientific discovery， he is accompanied by great thinkers--no one can escape the pull of the sea。 We meet Virginia Woolf and her Waves; a young T。 S。 Eliot peering into his own rockpool in Massachusetts; even Nicolson's father-in-law， a classical scholar who would hunt for amethysts along the shoreline， his mind on Heraclitus and the Hellenists。 And， of course， scientists populate the pages; not only their discoveries， but also their doubts and errors， their moments of quiet observation and their thrilling realizations。
It is all within the rockpools， where you can look beyond your own reflection and find the miraculous an inch beneath your nose。 "The soul wants to be wet，" Heraclitus said in Ephesus twenty-five hundred years ago。 This marvelous book demonstrates why it is so。
Includes Color and Black-and-White Photographs
Reviews
Brenda
，
Life Between the Tides is an in-depth exploration into the life and death in tidal pools in the beautiful Oban/Mull area in Scotland as water ebbs and flows。 The author includes natural science information about many sea creatures themselves， refers to related myths and legends with cultural perspectives， gives philosophical viewpoints on humans and our relationships with nature， discusses Darwin's natural selection， knock-on effect and fractal lines， to name a few。 Examining tidal pools is like Life Between the Tides is an in-depth exploration into the life and death in tidal pools in the beautiful Oban/Mull area in Scotland as water ebbs and flows。 The author includes natural science information about many sea creatures themselves， refers to related myths and legends with cultural perspectives， gives philosophical viewpoints on humans and our relationships with nature， discusses Darwin's natural selection， knock-on effect and fractal lines， to name a few。 Examining tidal pools is like observing another world entirely。 I often do this when at the sea and am always amazed at what I see and experience。 As the author says， we enjoy the peace and calm of the sea。 But for the tiny creatures living in tidal pools it is anything but！ Tiny creatures jump and scatter to avoid capture。 Heat can melt others。 Sandhoppers are capable of shredding plastic， inadvertently adding to pollution。 That limpets can detect danger two feet away while stuck onto a rock is amazing to me。 Conches can jump！ And I had no idea that is how crabs copulate。 For ages I have wondered whether these animals have emotions or sense pain。。。yet another topic in this book。 My favourite aspects of this book are the location （I know that area of Scotland） and the information on the habits of hermit crabs， winkles， whelks， anemones， coralline， various wracks， dabs， sandpipers， shrimps and kelp and others。 The writing is beautifully descriptive， as I had hoped。 My sincere thank you to Farrar， Straus and Giroux for the privilege of reading this absorbing book。 I learned a lot！ 。。。more
Beth
，
I think this may be one of the most bizarre books I have ever read。 I can only describe it as a ‘brain dump’ by the author。 The book jumps around from the author’s handmade rock pool， to authors， to fairies， to Ancient Greece。 There’s also random portraits of authors thrown in。 If I had just read the first part of this book， I would have given it five stars。 Sadly， the rest of the book pulled my rating down。
Emily
，
Super interesting - loved the pictures and maps of the tide pools。 My only complaint is the book tended to meander and get distracted and off topic which I found didn't work very well。 Super interesting - loved the pictures and maps of the tide pools。 My only complaint is the book tended to meander and get distracted and off topic which I found didn't work very well。 。。。more
Julian Walker
，
An enjoyable read which meanders between the physical and the spiritual - covering natural and real history， scientific discovery， archaeology and local legends。This could have been a disjointed read， but I really got into the flow and liked his approach。 His writing is always good to read and this is no exception。I liked it。
Lizzie
，
Not as interesting as I hoped。 I found myself skim-reading a lot of it！
Maggies_lens
，
Absolutely loved the concept of building the rockpools and watching the eco system develop， and the science etc made for fascinating reading。 The segues into philosophy and art etc were really irritating tho！！！！ Nature is interesting and amazing in and of itself without needing comparison to the significantly paler， boring endeavors of humanity。
Sophy H
，
By all accounts I should have loved this book， outdoors， check， nature， check， the sea， check， creatures， check check check！ But something just felt off here and the title never resonated with me at all。 There seemed to be some indecision over whether to be a biology textbook （the section on creatures was pretty in depth and pseudo-scientific to the point of being tedious）， an oceanography book， a philosophy text， a history book？ Usually， nature journals with a mix of the personal and science fa By all accounts I should have loved this book， outdoors， check， nature， check， the sea， check， creatures， check check check！ But something just felt off here and the title never resonated with me at all。 There seemed to be some indecision over whether to be a biology textbook （the section on creatures was pretty in depth and pseudo-scientific to the point of being tedious）， an oceanography book， a philosophy text， a history book？ Usually， nature journals with a mix of the personal and science fascinate me， but I think the bizarre， erratic nature of this book just baffled and disinterested me。 And I still don't understand why Nicolson felt it necessary to rearrange/dig/decimate parts of the local coastline to make artificial rock pools！ Why not just visit an existing rock pool？！！ Leave the sea shore alone man！ Majorly disappointed with this one。 。。。more
Anne-Marie
，
Reading this book felt akin to some sort of sacred act - it left me reeling with awe at the thinking therein。 The sense of suddenly understanding things I knew I had， at some level， known to be true but not yet fully perceived。 I eked it out， over several months， because I didn’t want it to end and felt the need to savour various moments and roll them around my mind with relish。 If you believe that we humans are just another species and part of a rich tapestry of life and existence （rather than Reading this book felt akin to some sort of sacred act - it left me reeling with awe at the thinking therein。 The sense of suddenly understanding things I knew I had， at some level， known to be true but not yet fully perceived。 I eked it out， over several months， because I didn’t want it to end and felt the need to savour various moments and roll them around my mind with relish。 If you believe that we humans are just another species and part of a rich tapestry of life and existence （rather than in charge of it， or entitled to profit from it） then this is book will warm your heart。 And if you don’t， well this book just might persuade you otherwise。 。。。more
Stephen Dunstan
，
The Guardian review of this work says 'the best books are never only， or even mainly， about the subject they claim to be about'。 I understand the sentiment but ultimately I want a book about rockpools and the inter-tidal zone to be about rockpools and the inter-tidal zone， whereas this book ranges very widely and I concur with other reviews on here that it doesn't always hang together convincingly。 That said there's a lot of interesting information and it's thought provoking， and would encourage The Guardian review of this work says 'the best books are never only， or even mainly， about the subject they claim to be about'。 I understand the sentiment but ultimately I want a book about rockpools and the inter-tidal zone to be about rockpools and the inter-tidal zone， whereas this book ranges very widely and I concur with other reviews on here that it doesn't always hang together convincingly。 That said there's a lot of interesting information and it's thought provoking， and would encourage me to take a fresh look at the life of rockpools。A point of detail - for a hardback the quality of some of the illustrations and the quality of the reproduction of them is decidedly mixed。 It looks much nicer on the outside than inside the covers。 。。。more
Jane
，
DNF
Margaret
，
In many ways this is a fascinating book。 Nicolson fashions his own rock pools in Argyllshire in Scotland in order to study， minutely， the life that fetches up there， and his resulting studies of shrimps， crabs， sea anemones and their place in the scheme of things engaged and enthralled me， even though， as a non scientist I struggled a bit to understand every word。 Then he looks more widely at tides， at waves， at geology。 He looks at the philosophical ideas of Heraclitus。 He discusses the bitter In many ways this is a fascinating book。 Nicolson fashions his own rock pools in Argyllshire in Scotland in order to study， minutely， the life that fetches up there， and his resulting studies of shrimps， crabs， sea anemones and their place in the scheme of things engaged and enthralled me， even though， as a non scientist I struggled a bit to understand every word。 Then he looks more widely at tides， at waves， at geology。 He looks at the philosophical ideas of Heraclitus。 He discusses the bitter and harsh social history of Argyllshire。 All of this is interesting， and interestingly accounted for。In the end， I wasn't convinced this book hung together。 I was glad to have read it， but remained unconvinced I knew what was at its heart， beyond the captivating contents of the rockpools。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Life Between the Tides
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Life Between the Tides&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft