2006-08-24 Sensuous Seas: Prawnography at its best?

If Miss Jean Brodie was a marine biologist she would, after reading the first page, dismiss this book with its discussion of the attributes of 'Miss Nubile' and hormone laden young men as soft porn. In doing so she would miss out on a distillation of over 30 years experience from a committed, slightly eccentric educationalist and respected academic with a passion for tropical marine ecology. For anyone teaching biology or marine science this engagingly written book is a marvellous toolbox of anecdotes and examples that will stimulate even the most cynical of students.

Each chapter follows a roughly similar pattern with a lyrical initial paragraph and an anecdotal introduction to set the scene followed by a series of easily digestible sections on the same theme. The subject matter for each section, drawn from his years of experience on the field, ranges from the dangers of eating fugu (puffer fish) through to the disproportionate size of the humble barnacles penis. Through a colourful and often humorous approach to each topic, the reader is given a toe-hold grasp of some fairly chewy areas of biology (e.g. honest signalling, evolution, symbiosis, behaviour).

I showed this book to my mother-in-law (not a biologist) who was impressed by the ease with which she could understand the subjects and concepts explored. Having had her interest stimulated by the book she proceeded to bombard me with more questions - how I wish my own students would react similarly to my delivery! I will be using much of the material presented in Sensuous Seas to spice up my own lectures to marine biology undergraduates but this book will also be of interest to armchair and amateur field naturalists.