Sylvia Earle: Guardian Of The Sea (Lerner Biographies)

Sylvia Earle: Guardian of the Sea (Lerner Biographies)

From School Library JournalGrade 5-9-A readable, reasonably detailed biography of the marine biologist and deep-sea diver who, like Jacques Cousteau, has been a major guardian voice for our planetary ocean. Baker's rather staid text accurately follows Earle's career, from her childhood fascination with a backyard pond to her many projects and expeditions, and ends in 1998, when she was named Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. Numerous black-and-white and full-color photographs document Earle's life, from writing letters to Santa Claus with her brothers to exploring the Persian Gulf after the Gulf War. This book conveys the subject's enthusiasm for diving and her daring in undertaking dangerous projects, but for an exposure to her personal keenness, team it with Earle's own simpler Dive! My Adventures in the Deep Frontier (National Geographic, 1999).Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NYCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.Describes the life of this groundbreaking marine biologist and diver, from her childhood in New Jersey and Florida to her deep sea explorations of the 1980s and 1990s.From BooklistGr. 4-7. This readable, nonformulaic biography in the Lerner Biographies series discusses the life of Earle, who began her career as a marine scientist in the late 1950s, a time when women were not so easily accepted into the scientific world. She was among the team of women of NASA's Tektite II mission, the first in which women scientists lived and worked in an underwater laboratory. Working with a filmmaker from National Geographic, she was one of the first humans to swim with whales, later becoming a champion of the antiwhaling movement. She was the first explorer to walk the ocean floor, and she wore the famous "Jim" suit to explore depths of the ocean previously unseen. Excellent photos depict her various work environments as well as some of the beautiful sea creatures she encountered. Appendixes include a glossary, index, bibliography, and resource list. Helen RosenbergCopyright