Vendor
	Foundry Claire Harris
Original language
English

SPINELESS

Juli Berwald

The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone

A former ocean scientist goes in pursuit of the slippery story of jellyfish, rediscovering her passion for marine science and the sea’s imperiled ecosystems.

Jellyfish are an enigma. They have no centralized brain, but they see and feel and react to their environment in complex ways. They look simple, yet their propulsion systems are so advanced that engineers are just learning how to mimic them. They produce some of the deadliest toxins on the planet and still remain undeniably alluring. Long ignored by science, they may be a key to ecosystem stability.

Juli Berwald’s journey into the world of jellyfish is a personal one. More than a decade ago, she left the sea and her scientific career behind to raise a family in landlocked Austin, Texas. Increasingly dire headlines drew her back to jellies, as unprecedented jellyfish blooms toppled ecosystems and collapsed the world’s most productive fisheries. What was unclear was whether these incidents were symptoms of a changing planet or part of a natural cycle.
Berwald’s desire to understand jellyfish takes her on a scientific odyssey. She travels the globe to meet the scientists who devote their careers to jellies; hitches rides on Japanese fishing boats to see giant jellyfish in the wild; raises jellyfish in her dining room; and throughout it all marvels at the complexity of these fascinating and ominous biological wonders. Gracefully blending personal memoir with crystal-clear distillations of science, Spineless reveals that jellyfish are a bellwether for the damage we’re inflicting on the climate and the oceans and a call to realize our collective responsibility for the planet.

Dr. Juli Berwald never meant to study Jellyfish. After leaving her job building mathematical algorithms to interpret satellite imagery of the ocean, she followed her husband to landlocked Texas. In Austin, she found herself personally and professionally stuck, turning to scientific writing to put her research background to some use. It was one of these assignments that set her out on the quest that would take her from the seas of Japan (where she chased the echizen kurage—the Godzilla of jellyfish) to Israel (where she met with entrepreneurs exploring the molecular innovations behind the jellyfish stinging cell.) As she interviewed experts (ranging from a young entrepreneur hoping to make jellyfish the next pet rock, to an astronaut who reared jellyfish in orbit on the Columbia Space Shuttle) she discovered that the story of jellyfish is also the story of the world’s ocean. They became the muse that taught her how to break free of the paralysis that was holding her back in her own life, and that has been preventing all of us from tackling climate change.

Available products
Book Published 2017-11-07 by Riverhead
Book Published 2017-11-07 by Riverhead

Comments

In this memoir/science-reporting mash-up, [Berwald] profiles one of the ocean's most intriguing creatures - the unique contractions it uses to propel through water, its acidifying habitat and its booming populations.

Berwald's clear, delectable prose is accessible... The book forces the reader to reconsider the future of our planet, and of our role in it. It will, at the very least, leave you with a newfound appreciation of the translucent, spineless jellies.

Berwald offers an engrossing look at the enigmatic sea creature most easily recognised in its swimming 'medusa' form. . . . A revelatory science memoir.

An astonishingly gorgeous book... Science enthusiasts, curious animal lovers, and those who want to educate themselves more on climate change's effect on our oceans will find this book irresistible.

Unexpected and uniquely delightful.

With lucid, gorgeous, arresting language, Juli Berwald opens a rare window on the adventures of scientists at work, capturing the fabulously ingenious ways they make sense of our world. Spineless will leave you awestruck, revering the ever-more fragile brilliance of life on Earth.

It morphs with disarming ease from memoir complete with wacky characters, sharp dialogue, and unexpectedly touching moments to natural history infused with curiosity and no small degree of wonder... The 'jellyfish journey' of Spinelessi s strange and ultimately quite charming.

Fascinating... Readers can't help but be swept away with enthusiasm... Full of humor and intrigue,Spinelessis a seaworthy saga brimming with information about not only jellyfish but also about the health and future of the oceans and our planet.

Captivating and informative.

It's a story of personal discovery, rediscovery of the underwater world, and an earth-spanning journey to study these complex creatures, all the while throwing into stark relief the importance of understanding and protecting our increasingly endangered marine ecosystems.

Part travelogue, part memoir, part deep-dive (literally) into the world of jellyfish... Spineless can serve as inspiration for any of us to reclaim a creative space in the midst of family life.

In this lovely exploration of the mysterious jellyfish, Berwald both entrances and sounds a warning: pay attention to the messages sent by ocean life, and act to protect their environment, and ours.

Berwald excels at depicting the wonder and appreciation she has gained for the strange, gelatinous creatures and the ocean that sustains them... Jellyfish are fascinating in part because there's so much more to find out about them. In Spineless, Berwald demonstrates that our oceans represent a scientific frontier at least as exciting and promising as space, and posits jellyfish as a prime candidate for study and appreciation.

More than a mere look at jellyfish... [Spineless] provides plenty of food for thought for those seeking to make different choices in their treatment of the environment and in their own lives.

Australia: Black, Inc.

A wandering, compelling mixture of memoir and nature writing... [written with] clear, strong prose, a welcome help when dealing with the complex stew of biomechanics, chemistry and evolutionary theory that the subject entails.

Spineless is as mesmerizing, surprising, and beautiful as the jellyfish itself. Every page contains some astonishing treasure. If you cherish the sea, if you care about the environment, if you relish life on this sweet, blue planet, you will love this book.

She swam with jellies, watched how quickly they disintegrate in fishers' nets, ate them in Japan, and kept them in a home aquarium, and as she revels in these spineless animals, she teaches us to delight in them, too.

[Spineless is] fascinating... This combination of insider and outsider perspective is uniquely suited to a book on creatures whose internal organs are visible through transparent outer layers.

Spineless explores not only jellies' suffering ecoysystem and our responsibility to the planet but also how Berwald strengthened her own backbond.

Excerpt on LitHub by Juli Berwald. Read more...

[Berwald's] sense of wonder is infectious and the book is a heartfelt plea for humans to fulfill their responsibilities toward nature.

Like Bernd Heinrich, Juli Berwald illuminates an entire ecosystem through the lens of one remarkable group of creatures. I learned something from every page, not only about jellyfish but about the crucial role of marine scientists and their studies.

...a really great balance of scientific nonfiction that will teach you something really interesting while also having a compelling storyline throughout... Approachable and interesting.

In Paste Magazine's "10 Most Anticipated Books of November," Frannie Jackson writes, "Berwald blends memoir and science into a compelling read that will make you rethink everything you know about jellyfish."

In this astonishing adventure of a book, Juli Berwald takes us on a personal journey into the enchanting and mystifying aqueous world of jellyfish, and in so doing, sheds light on the vital ecological balances upon which our own survival depends.