Edited by Phaidon Editors, with an introduction by Anne-Marie Melster, this hardback survey brings together ocean science and visual culture in a single, image-led volume. It’s endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

More than 300 images shape the book’s pace and structure. Underwater photography, oceanographic maps, and scientific illustrations sit alongside painting, sculpture, and moments from popular film.

The timeline spans more than 3,000 years. It moves from early nautical cartography to mapped ocean floors, then across ancient Roman mosaics and Japanese woodblock prints, with pop-culture ephemera placed in the same visual story.

Full-page spreads shift between prehistoric marine fossils and deep-sea life, then into mythic creatures and modern surfing icons. The result is a wide view of the ocean as both a physical world and a cultural idea.

Sections focus on ecosystems and extremes. The fish and coral of the Great Barrier Reef appear as a reference point, while jellyfish from the deepest ocean location and the polar waters of the Arctic and Antarctic expand the range.

The book addresses present-day risks with the same clarity. Climate change is covered directly, alongside the work of conservationists and the realities of protecting ocean life.

Developed with a panel of marine biologists, research scientists, conservationists, photographers, and museum curators, it draws on voices and imagery linked to Mary Anning, Jacques Cousteau, Sylvia Earle, Brian Skerry, David Doubilet, Katsushika Hokusai, Claude Monet, and NASA.

Hardback; 352 pages; 290 × 250 mm.

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