Water Explorations

Set against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration, Black Flags, Blue Waters reveals the dramatic and surprising history of American piracy's "Golden Age" when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond. Best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin illustrates how American colonists at first supported these outrageous pirates in an early display of solidarity against the Crown, and then violently opposed them. Upending popular misconceptions and cartoonish stereotypes, Dolin provides this wholly original account of these seafaring outlaws.

A powerfully built man more than six feet tall, Amundsen’s career of adventure began at the age of fifteen (he was born in Norway in 1872 to a family of merchant sea captains and rich ship owners); twenty-five years later he was the first man to reach both the North and South Poles. Lynne Cox, adventurer and swimmer, author of Swimming to Antarctica (“gripping”—Sports Illustrated) and Grayson (“wondrous, and unforgettable”—Carl Hiaasen), gives us in South with the Sun a full-scale account of the explorer’s life and expeditions.

Sailing to Newfoundland documents a solo journey on a 40' sailboat from Florida to the remote and uninhabited fjords of the south coast of Newfoundland, one of the few places in the world where raw, unspoiled nature meets the ocean and provides sheltered anchorages. From the author of Becoming a Sailor, Journey to the Ragged Islands, and Chasing the Nomadic Dream, this book puts you in the cockpit, and in the fjords, and on top of glacier-cut mountains in the remote backcountry of Newfoundland.

In a memoir remarkable for its quiet confidence and acute natural observation, the author of Paddling Hawaii and Paddling My Own Canoe begins with her decision, at age 60, to undertake a solo, summer-long voyage along the southeast coast of Alaska in an inflatable kayak. Paddling North is a compilation of Sutherland's first two (of more than 20) such annual trips and her day-by-day travels through the Inside Passage from Ketchikan to Skagway. In 22 years, she encountered more than 30 bears, four wolves, and hundreds of whales.

What’s in a cloud? Did you know that water vapor is invisible and actually lighter than dry air? What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard? And what exactly is El Niño? Elliot Rappaport, a professional captain of traditional sailing ships, has spent three decades at sea, where understanding weather is crucial to the safety of vessels and their crews. In Reading the Glass, he offers a sailor’s-eye view of the moving parts of our atmosphere and unveils the larger patterns it holds: global winds, storms, air masses, jet streams, and the longer arc of our climate.

Mankind’s wanderlust will eventually carry our species to the stars. Earth’s pioneers have always risen to the challenge of exploring our planet’s remote rain forests, highest mountain peaks, deepest ocean abysses, and deadly frozen polar caps. Answering the wanderlust deep within us is exactly what motivated the colonists of Byanntia to brave the dangers of space travel. Their reward is the opportunity to test their mettle against an alien planet - to explore an unknown environment and attempt to survive on their own terms.

In 1958, while flying from one island to another, Audrey Sutherland sees the remote and roadless northeast side of Molokai, with its spectacular sea cliffs and waterfalls. Always an adventurer, she decides that she must find a way to explore this then inaccessible area. After much study, she determines that the best way for her to navigate these treacherous sea walls is to swim while towing an inflatable kayak. This is the story of fulfilling her dream, of planning then implementing, of launching and advancing, of retreating and reconnoitering, of challenge and success.

Explore the great mystery and wonder of life under the sea and meet the different creatures that live there and learn how they survive. It's a grand adventure you don't want to miss, so join us on this Underwater Exploration.

Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable. It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within 20 years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen.

Five years ago, a group of human researchers and their mercenary friends helped evacuate 26 cetaceans from Earth just ahead of their arrest. The world government didn't approve of their giving the cetaceans pinplants, and it wanted to euthanize the dolphins and orcas in their care. After finding a home on the distant ice-covered ocean world of Hoarfrost, the humans and cetaceans settled in. Less than a year later, they were attacked when the planet's previous owners, the aquatic Selroth, tried to regain possession of it.

Embark on an extraordinary journey beyond the ordinary with Sailing Beyond the Horizon: Captivating Facts About Cruise Ships. Get ready to dive into the alluring world of maritime leisure, as this captivating book unveils the fascinating stories, hidden wonders, and mesmerizing facts beneath cruise ships' glossy surfaces. Whether you're a seasoned cruise enthusiast or a curious traveler yearning to explore new horizons, this literary odyssey is your passport to unlocking the secrets of the high seas.

When Tara Roberts first caught sight of a photograph at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History depicting the underwater archaeology group Diving With a Purpose, it called out to her. Here were Black women and men strapping on masks, fins, and tanks to explore Atlantic Ocean waters along the coastlines of Africa, North America, and Central America, seeking the wrecks of slave ships long lost in time. Inspired, Roberts joined them—and started on a path of discovery more challenging and personal than she could ever have imagined.

In the late 1990s, John Pollack was working as a Washington speechwriter when, frustrated by the cynicism and hypocrisy on Capitol Hill, he quit his job to pursue a boyhood dream: to build a boat made entirely of wine corks and take it on an epic journey. Cork Boat tells the story of Pollack's improbable quest. Overcoming one obstacle after another, he convinces skeptical bartenders to save their corks, corrals a brilliant but disorganized partner, and eventually cajoles more than one hundred volunteers who help build the boat until their fingers bleed.

On a distant planet, xenobiologist Janine Meriwether finds herself haunted by a recurring dream: being dragged to her death by the Nartressan seaweed. Soon, she learns of three others - a traumatized emergency responder, a troubled seafood mogul, and a high-priced escort - who share the same nightmare.

Did you know that women once wore corsets under their bathing suits? Or that "semi-drowning" - the strip and plunge practice - was thought to be good for one's health? Or that Pudgy Stockton, the body-building queen of Muscle Beach, California, opened the country's first gym for women? From the bathhouses of the ancient Greeks to Venice Beach and Coney Island, Let's Go to the Beach takes a multifaceted and well-researched look at beaches and their attendant customs.

Vivi loves science—and experimenting! In this Level 3 I Can Read! title, Vivi volunteers to help with the clean-up efforts at the beach after a big storm hits her town. But why does the beach look so different than before? Vivi and her friends will have to ask a lot of questions, learn about erosion, and conduct experiments to find out!