In Juli Berwald’s fascinating “Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone,” jellyfish become a metaphor for what ails us, a kind of watery canary in the oceanic coal mine, and a guide to how little we know about the ocean’s common inhabitants.Ĭopyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. In keeping with this gelatinous set of contradictions, they can be either food or pets.

On the other hand, they are basically blobs of glup, as James Thurber characterized the villainous Todal in his book “The 13 Clocks.” Jellyfish lack the intelligent curiosity of octopuses and the graceful body integrity of snails.

Many species are beautiful, with colorful appendages that dangle in the water like deadly strings of beads. On the one hand, they have a hypnotic elegance as they pulsate through the sea, bringing to mind ballerinas with tentacle tutus, mesmerizing in their repetitive motion. It’s a call to realize our collective responsibility for the planet we all share.Jellyfish hold a peculiar position in the hierarchy of animal charisma. I discover that jellyfish science is more than a quest for answers. Blending personal memoir with crystal-clear distillations of science, Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone tells the story of how I learned to navigate and ultimately embrace my ambition, curiosity, and passion for the natural world. Their sting microscopic spears that pierce with five million times the acceleration of gravity is the fastest known motion in the animal kingdom. They make a venom so toxic it can kill a human in three minutes. Years ago, I left oceanography to raise a family in landlocked Austin, Texas, but jellyfish took me back to the sea. Jellyfish have been swimming in our oceans for well over half a billion years, longer than any other animal that lives on the planet. Jellyfish are a muse both angelic and demonic. Its a call to realize our collective responsibility for the planet we share. In the rhythmic movements of their tentacles that carry the threat of a thousand of toxic stings, jellyfish haunt the space between our own heartbeat and mortal danger. She discovers that jellyfish science is more than just a quest for answers. Made of roughly 95% water, jellyfish are both virtuosos of disguise, nearly imperceptible against their watery background, and the bearers of a luminescence that revolutionized biotechnology. Jellyfish have been swimming in our oceans for over half a billion years-longer than any other animal. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone by Berwald at the best. The story of jellyfish is a slippery one.

Spineless the science of jellyfish