Publisher's Synopsis
This book gives a down-in-the-trenches view of how knowledge of the biological world increased. It deals with science, but in a way that does not presume that the reader is versed in that area of human knowledge. The goal is to explain one example of the scientific process, when and where it was done, who did it, what they did, why they did it that way, the circumstances under which they did it, and what the results and interpretations were. The true tale of marine biology told in this book is not about well financed science. It was basically a bootstrap effort throughout. This book is pointedly written with a non-scientist in mind, though it might equally be of interest to someone with a science background. Most of the terms used in scientific discourse have been avoided and where unavoidable, they have been explained in terms available to any interested reader. Necessary concepts have been handled the same way. The result is a book that treats science in a way that is friendly to anyone interested in learning more about how science gets done. The author relates not only what discoveries were made, but the people, the conditions, adventures, and misadventures encountered along the way.
