"A palaeontological howdunnit...[Spying on Whales] captures the
excitement of...seeking answers to deep questions in cetacean science."
--Nature
Called "the best of science writing" (Edward O. Wilson) and named a
best book by Popular Science, a dive into the secret lives of whales,
from their four-legged past to their perilous present.
Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species
to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming,
dog-sized creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us,
can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years and travel entire ocean
basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and affection--yet there is
still so much we don't know about them. Why did it take whales over 50
million years to evolve to such big sizes, and how do they eat enough to
stay that big? How did their ancestors return from land to the sea--and
what can their lives tell us about evolution as a whole? Importantly, in
the sweepstakes of human-driven habitat and climate change, will whales
survive?
Nick Pyenson's research has given us the answers to some of our biggest
questions about whales. He takes us deep inside the Smithsonian's
unparalleled fossil collections, to frigid Antarctic waters, and to the
arid desert in Chile, where scientists race against time to document the
largest fossil whale site ever found. Full of rich storytelling and
scientific discovery, Spying on Whales spans the ancient past to an
uncertain future--all to better understand the most enigmatic creatures
on Earth.
