Watson and the Shark, by John Singleton Copley, 1778.

Watson and the Shark, by John Singleton Copley, 1778. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

The Sea

Volume VI, Number 3 | summer 2013

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Preamble

Sea Change

By Lewis H. Lapham

The sea offers a particular kind of freedom, though it’s one that comes at a price.

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Open Waters

By Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester muses on what it means to be truly at sea.

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Map

Water World

From radioactive waste to underwater cables, the world under the sea.

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Miscellany

Waves generated by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 reached the shores of Peru and Nova Scotia.

c. 1856 | Louisiana

Liquid Eternity

Lafcadio Hearn on the shore and the “infinite blue ghost” beyond.More

1834 | Pacific Ocean

Committed to Davy Jones’ Locker

Richard Henry Dana Jr. mourns a loss. More

1929 | Caribbean Sea

Securing the Hatches

Richard Hughes braves a hurricane and lives to tell the tale. More

Charts & Graphs

Deep Sea

What lurks beneath?

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Photograph of English literary historian and critic Edmund Gosse.

Image of Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Bashō.

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Ocean. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man—who has no gills.

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

Painting of Benjamin Franklin reading a batch of papers next to a classical bust.

Color image of English novelist Charlotte Brontë with book in hand.

Benjamin Franklin & Charlotte Brontë

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