Commercial diver-turned-biologist Bill Streever traces the human pursuit of the unexplored depths of our planet in In Oceans Deep: Courage, Innovation, and Adventure Beneath the Waves. Streever started as an oil pipe diver and, later, as a biologist, he retained his fascination with the exploration of the seas and the technology it took to get there--a field little known in comparison to humanity's pursuit of the stars, though it developed simultaneously.
Streever's entertaining book begins with the first successful dive of a manned submersible to the floor of the Mariana Trench in 1960, and then traces the history of human presence in the ocean. Streever considers the biology of free diving and the many, often unconnected, scientific studies that lead to understanding the effects of pressure on both machines and humans. Through this, and including extensive endnotes worth reading, Streever emphasizes that successful exploration is dependent on a partnership between the depths and the surface--key to conserving the ocean itself. He notes, "This story is not one about one person or one group of people or one organization. It is the story of thousands of players often disconnected in time and geography and culture, men and women who not only didn't know one another but who did not even know of one another." Streever tells a story that captures human fascination with the ocean, and encourages readers to become more interested in what lies beneath the waves. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer