Just for Fun: Nonfiction, Literature, Art and Music Inspired by the Sea

Compiled by
Donna L. Witter and Joseph D. Ortiz
Department of Geology
Kent State University
 
The sea has mesmerized, enticed, and challenged humanity throughout our brief history. The echoes of crashing waves can be found in our vocabulary, literature, art, religion and mythology. While the sources below are not required for the course, we've listed some titles that have either influenced us personally or which we think you may find rewarding. 

At left: "Ouragan", a sailing vessel laboring under hurricane conditions In: "Les Meteores", Margolle et Zurcher, 3rd Edition, 1869 Page 140. Image courtesy of the NOAA Photo Library (http://www.photolib.noaa.gov). Click on the image for a larger version.

 
A number of the written and musical works are available at the Kent State Main Library or through interlibrary loan. Click on "availability" to see current status.
Nonfiction:
The Crest of the Wave: Adventures in Oceanography, by Willard Bascom
Under the Sea Wind, by Rachel L. Carson and Bob Hines
The Edge of the Sea, by Rachel Carson and Sue Hubbell
The Sea Around Us, by Rachel L. Carson, et al.
The Sea, by John Crompton
The Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin
The Hungry Ocean : A Swordboat Captain's Journey, by Linda Greenlaw
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, by Mark Kurlansky
Arctic Dreams, by Barry Lopez
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, by James Lovelock
The Ages of Gaia : A Biography of Our Living Earth, by James Lovelock
Between Pacific Tides, by Edward F. Ricketts and Jack Calvin
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time,
by Dava Sobel
The Log from the Sea of Cortez, by John Steinbeck
A View of the Sea, by Henry Stommel
Living Fossil: The Story of the Coelacanth, by Keith Stewart Thomson
A Scientist at the Seashore, by James S. Trefil
Literature and Fiction:
The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry, Jr.
The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne

 
Links to Works of Art (Use the link at the right to enter the collection and it item's name to search for it at each Museum's website):
Bacino di San Marco, by Giovanni Antonio Canel (Caneletto) (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Eight Bells, by Winslow Homer (Addison Gallery of American Art)
The Fog Warning, by Winslow Homer (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, Katushika Hokusai (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The Gulf Stream, by Winslow Homer (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Gyotaku, Japanese Fish Printing (Empreintes De Poissons Online Gallery)
The Herring Net, by Winslow Homer (Art Institute of Chicago)
Owl's Head, Penobscot Bay, Maine, by Fritz Hugh Lane (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Port of Saint-Cast, Paul Signac (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Starting Out After Rail, Thomas Eakins (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Artcyclopedia - Artists specializing in maritime scenes
 
Music:
La Mer, Claude Debussy
Sea Shanties (lyrics available on Andrew Draskóy's site)
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