Open Sea: Pelagic Plankton World

The world of plankton is a mystical place of the open ocean, called the "Pelagic" realm by marine biologists. The classic book on plankton and the open sea is by Alister Hardy, called The Open Sea. Joel Hedgpeth, the senior dean of marine biology of the United States, now in his 90s, has written that this book by Alister Hardy is: "A splendid book, written for layman and professional. If you ever had a college education, and a book like this is beyond you, you have wasted four years. However, it is doubtful that such persons get this deep into a bibliography." Now that I've put this into print in 2002, as a marine biology instructor following in the footsteps of Joel Hedgpeth, I must admit that I was never exposed to this book in my college education. I will therefore endeavor to use this out-of-print book to use in my classroom of students. I just purchased the book on 4 May 2002, after being on a marine biology field trip with students. After seeing the students reactions to the plankton that was brought up from the deep waters, I decided to look for this book in a used book store. I had recalled that I browsed the book a few months ago. And "lo and behold," the book was still there on the shelf. I hope to put the book and its knowledge to good use, so students in the future, at least, from my class, won't go through a college education with having seen, read, and be exposed to this great book.