Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells - Softcover

Scales, Helen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1472916700 ISBN 13: 9781472916709

Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma, 2015

Synopsis

Seashells are the sculpted homes of a remarkable group of animals: the molluscs. These are some of the most ancient and successful animals on the planet. But watch out. Some molluscs can kill you if you eat them. Some will kill you if you stand too close. That hasn't stopped people using shells in many ways over thousands of years. They became the first jewelry and oldest currencies; they've been used as potent symbols of sex and death, prestige and war, not to mention a nutritious (and tasty) source of food. Spirals in Time is an exuberant aquatic romp, revealing amazing tales of these undersea marvels. Helen Scales leads us on a journey into their realm, as she goes in search of everything from snails that 'fly' underwater on tiny wings to octopuses accused of stealing shells and giant mussels with golden beards that were supposedly the source of Jason's golden fleece, and learns how shells have been exchanged for human lives, tapped for mind-bending drugs and inspired advances in medical technology. Weaving through these stories are the remarkable animals that build them, creatures with fascinating tales to tell, a myriad of spiralling shells following just a few simple rules of mathematics and evolution. Shells are also bellwethers of our impact on the natural world. Some species have been overfished, others poisoned by polluted seas; perhaps most worryingly of all, molluscs are expected to fall victim to ocean acidification, a side-effect of climate change that may soon cause shells to simply melt away. But rather than dwelling on what we risk losing, Spirals in Time urges you to ponder how seashells can reconnect us with nature, and heal the rift between ourselves and the living world.

About this title

Review:

A rewarding glimpse of another world, filled with strange and reclusive creatures ... There is rich detail in all directions. One does not know what will come next. Often the descriptions made me see shafts of sunlight underwater, irradiating extraordinary places and creatures. That is just what the book does itself. * The Guardian * Splendid ... Scales clearly loves snails - she has done an elegant, excellent job of explaining her passion ... she is a most able modern champion of molluscs. * New Scientist * Helen Scales ... punctures assumptions with the power of a cone snail dart. * The Spectator * The stories in Spirals in Time - which range from slaves being bought for bags of shells in west Africa in the 1770s to ground-breaking medical uses of cone-snail venom - are gripping and unimaginable. * The Telegraph * A zoological and anthropological tour-de-force. -- Melissa Harrison * The Times * Helen Scales ... takes us on a fascinating journey into the strange and captivating world of mollusks. Carefully researched and entertaining throughout ... Scales's book is relentlessly interesting. * Science * Insights, and the author's enthusiasm for them, fill every page of this book ... molluscs include just about everything with a shell, such as snails and mussels, and a few familiar things without, such as slugs and squid. Scales finds the magic in each. * The Economist * With the soul of a poet and a talent for finding the most intriguing trivia about familiar seaside sights, marine biologist Scales turns the mundane into the magical * Discover * Scales is a charming raconteur with boundless enthusiasm and an eye for detail that make her subject glow with life. Combining biology, history and ecology, this is nature writing at its most engaging. * Sunday Express * ...an informed introduction to this fascinating group. The author's enthusiasm shines through the prose...This is an ideal book for a summer holiday, and beach finds will take on a new dimension because of it. * Times Literary Supplement *

Book Description:

The beautifully written story of shells and their makers, and our relationships with them

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1472916700
• ISBN 13: 9781472916709
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304