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Book Salon
The Extreme Life of the Sea

  • This month we're reading The Extreme Life of the Sea by Stephen Palumbi & Anthony Palumbi. Our faculty host is Stephen Palumbi.

    Listen to an interview with our Book Salon host.

    "My son Tony and I wanted to inject scenery, color, action, character, and plot in environmental writing. We worked hard to make it something that would not only be very informative, but something fun to read as well."

    Stephen Palumbi, P '06, '10, director of the Hopkins Marine Station, the Harold A. Miller Professor in Marine Sciences, the Jane and Marshall Steel Jr. Professor of Marine Sciences and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

How to Participate

Read the transcript of the audio interview with Professor Steve Palumbi

Jump into the discussion and connect with Stanford alumni around the world.

About this quarter's book selection

The Extreme Life of the Sea dives into the icy Arctic and boiling hydrothermal vents and reveals the eternal darkness of the deepest undersea trenches—to illustrate how marine life has thrived against the odds. The ocean is packed with lives that flourish under difficult situations in unusual environments. Coauthored by Stephen Palumbi, one of today’s leading marine scientists, the book tells the story of the fastest and deepest, the hottest and oldest creatures of the oceans. Modern science and a narrative style that brings to life the sea’s most extreme species, telling their stories as characters in the drama of the oceans.  This book will give every reader a look at the lives of these extraordinary species. 

Whether you are an experienced diver or a land lover, you will be sure to find a species of interest in this non-fiction. 

The Stanford Book Salon [Seriously Unstuffy]