Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales | eBook

Seashells are the sculpted homes of a remarkable group of animals: the molluscs. These are some of the most ancient and successful animals on the planet.

But watch out. Some molluscs can kill you if you eat them. Some will kill you if you stand too close. That hasn't stopped people using shells in many ways over thousands of years. They became the first jewelry and oldest currencies; they've been used as potent symbols of sex and death, prestige and war, not to mention a nutritious (and tasty) source of food.

Spirals in Time is an exuberant aquatic romp, revealing amazing tales of these undersea marvels. Helen Scales leads us on a journey into their realm, as she goes in search of everything from snails that 'fly' underwater on tiny wings to octopuses accused of stealing shells and giant mussels with golden beards that were supposedly the source of Jason's golden fleece, and learns how shells have been exchanged for human lives, tapped for mind-bending drugs and inspired advances in medical technology. Weaving through these stories are the remarkable animals that build them, creatures with fascinating tales to tell, a myriad of spiralling shells following just a few simple rules of mathematics and evolution.

Shells are also bellwethers of our impact on the natural world. Some species have been overfished, others poisoned by polluted seas; perhaps most worryingly of all, molluscs are expected to fall victim to ocean acidification, a side-effect of climate change that may soon cause shells to simply melt away. But rather than dwelling on what we risk losing, Spirals in Time urges you to ponder how seashells can reconnect us with nature, and heal the rift between ourselves and the living world.

Publishers Weekly

05/25/2015
Scales (Poseidon’s Steed), a freelance researcher and science reporter, brings a marine biologist’s eye and aficionado’s heart to these musings on seashells, the diversity of mollusks that inhabit them, and the human fascination with them, dancing across a variety of fields of study in her zeal. Scales addresses the mathematics of chambered shell construction, which is theoretically controllable with a small number of rules, and explores sociology through the history of shells as pure ornamentation, markers of social class, and fodder for museums and collectors. She also highlights the social complexities within shellfish-collecting communities such as Gambia’s Try Oyster Women’s Association. Scales covers biology from several angles, investigating the poorly understood history of mollusk evolution as well as oddities such as the strange Pinna nobilis, which produces sea silk; the recent rediscovery of argonauts, the only shell-dwelling cephalopods; and the deadly venom produced by cone snails. Even materials science gets its due as Scales shares research on the composition of mussel glue and the surprising strength of nacre. Conservationism is not a major theme, but she does raise concerns about marine pollution and the impact of pH shifts on mollusk populations. Scales’s eclectic approach to this ancient bridge between the human and natural worlds conveys her curiosity and appreciation, which readers will share. Color insert. (July)

From the Publisher

“Marine biologist Helen Scales sees a vast and complicated universe inside a shell . . . [A] wide-ranging natural history . . . surprising and shocking.” —Washington Post

“Helen Scales delivers accessible answers . . . It's a history and catalog not just of what those little animals do, but what humans do with them . . . riveting.” —The Seattle Times

“Scales demonstrates her encyclopedic knowledge . . . an enchanting, accessible tour of the seashell and its place and purpose within the natural world.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Scales . . . brings a marine biologist's eye and aficianado's heart to these musings on seashells . . . [her] eclectic approach to this ancient bridge between the human and natural worlds conveys her curiosity and appreciation.” —Publishers Weekly

“Helen Scales, a marine biologist-turned-science writer, makes an impassioned and convincing case . . . insights, and [Scales's] enthusiasm for them, fill every page of this book.” —The Economist

“Carefully researched and entertaining throughout . . . relentlessly interesting.” —Science Magazine

“With the soul of a poet and a talent for finding the most intriguing trivia about familiar seaside sights, marine biologist Scales turns the mundane into the magical.” —Discover Magazine

Library Journal

06/01/2015
With a light narrative style, Scales's book on seashells and their inhabitants draws on earlier scientific research, recent examinations, and her own investigations. The marine biologist, diver, broadcaster, and author of Poseidon's Steed covers the shell and the mollusk inside at the macro and microscopic levels, discussing evolution, behavior, predators and prey, legends, and ecology. She also emphasizes ocean changes, offers commentary on the future of mollusks, and features a brief call to action. Entertaining, thought provoking, and at times frustrating, this welcome tome brings to light some lesser-known shell specialists, such as Jeanne Power and Hugh Cuming. Illustrations would have made some discussions easier to follow, as not everyone is familiar with the geologic time scale or has a mental image of an Argonaut or a Noble Pen Shell. This title is broader in scope than both Geerat Vermeij's Natural History of Shells (which is stronger on the science) and Hans Meinhardt's Algorithmic Beauty of Seashells (which covers the shape and mathematical design of shells). Compared to Scales's previous work, it is simultaneously less personal and not as formal, lacking an overall bibliography and index but equipped with chapter references. VERDICT Recommended for readers of marine science and nature books.—Jean E. Crampon, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, Lib.

Kirkus Reviews

2015-04-21
British marine biologist Scales (Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, from Myth to Reality, 2009) reinvigorates conchology and the lost art of seashell appreciation. Appalled that their reputation for enigmatic splendor as "glorious objects" has become tarnished, replaced with modern, kitschy "inelegant clutter" on counters and shelves, the author diligently explores the purpose and allure of seashells and introduces a selection of scientists and artists who study and create art from them. Uninterested in creating just another comprehensive shell guide, Scales skillfully focuses her narrative primarily on mollusks and how, living or dead, they connect with the human world. Through stories and personal experiences, beginning with her fascination with them as a girl on the beaches of Cornwall, England, and later, sea diving as an adult, she demonstrates her encyclopedic knowledge of Conchifera through absorbing chapters reaching back to the mollusk's primitive relatives: "all manner of shrimpy, crabby, wormy creatures that look very little like any living species" slithering across a Cambrian seabed. Scales spins spellbinding science throughout, introducing readers to carnivorous cone snails that spit out paralytic darts, the "vacancy chains" of hermit crabs, the lacquered luster of the prized cowry shell, and the fluttery sex lives of sea butterflies and bivalves. Astutely referencing the work of a variety of biologists, fishery scientists, and passionate beachcombers, Scales examines how these chalky exoskeletons and their spiraled patterns are strategically produced by their hosts, considers their symbolism, and ponders the mannerisms in which humans collect once-living objects: "They appeal to the hoarder in us all, the part of us that wants to have and keep things, especially those mementos that remind us of a different time and place." From a cautionary perspective, however, the author would prefer that admirers "resist temptation and leave them all alone." An enchanting, accessible tour of the seashell and its place and purpose within the natural world.

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells

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