Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone

in Ocean Science from the University of Southern California. . A science textbook writer and editor, she has written for a number of publications, including The New York Times, Nature, National Geographic, and Slate. Juli Berwald received her Ph.D

Every page contains some astonishing treasure. If you cherish the sea, if you care about the environment, if you relish life on this sweet, blue planet, you will love this book.” —Sy Montgomery, New York Times–bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus. “Spineless is as mesmerizing, surprising, and beautiful as the jellyfish itself

What was unclear was whether these incidents were symptoms of a changing planet or part of a natural cycle.Berwald's desire to understand jellyfish takes her on a scientific odyssey. They have no centralized brain, but they see and feel and react to their environment in complex ways. They look simple, yet their propulsion systems are so advanced engineers are just learning how to mimic them. She travels the globe to meet the scientists who devote their careers to jellies, hitches rides on Japanese fishing boats to see giant jellyfish in the wild, raises jellyfish in her dining room, and throughout it all marvels at the complexity of these alluring and ominous biological wonders. Gracefully blending personal memoir with cr