Soundings: The Story of the Remarkable Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor

"Deftly balances the scientific and poetic."Minneapolis Star Tribune "Soundings is an eloquent testament both to Tharps importance and to Felts powers of imagination."The New York Times Book Review Before Marie Tharps groundbreaking work in the 1950s the ocean floor was a mysterythen as now we knew less about the bottom of the sea than we did about outer space. In a time when women were held back by the casually sexist atmosphere of mid-twentieth-century academiaa time when trained geologists and scientists like Tharp were routinely relegated to the role of secretary or assistantTharps work would completely change the worlds understanding of our planets evolution. By transforming dry data into beautifully detailed maps that laid the groundwork for proving the then controversial theory of continental drift Tharp along with her lifelong partner in science Bruce Heezen upended scientific consensus and ushered in a new era in geology and oceanography. "A playful wildly thoughtful writer" (Oprah.com) Hali Felt vividly captures the romance of scientific discovery and brings to life this "strong-willed woman living according to her own rules defying the constraints of her time" (The Washington Post).