Capsule Reviews

By Bob Grant Capsule Reviews The Great Sperm Whale: A Natural History of the Ocean’s Most Magnificent and Mysterious Creature by Richard Ellis University Press of Kansas, April 6, 2011 Related Articles Cleaning Up After OurselvesLike an aesthetic Ahab chasing his quarry through the inky depths, author, marine naturalist, conservationist, and painter Richard Ellis sets out to capture the mighty Physeter macrocephalus by laying bare i

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The Great Sperm Whale:
A Natural History of the Ocean’s Most Magnificent
and Mysterious Creature
by Richard Ellis
University Press of Kansas,
April 6, 2011

Cleaning Up After Ourselves

Like an aesthetic Ahab chasing his quarry through the inky depths, author, marine naturalist, conservationist, and painter Richard Ellis sets out to capture the mighty Physeter macrocephalus by laying bare its secrets in his latest book, The Great Sperm Whale. But unlike the tragic hero of Herman Melville’s American masterpiece, Ellis succeeds in capturing his muse—alive. The author explores virtually every fascinating aspect of the species: its evolutionary roots as a terrestrial carnivore, its mysterious diving physiology and unique anatomy, its place in literature and popular culture, and the uncertain future of today’s surviving sperm whales. As well as a deep dive into the sperm whale’s evolutionary history, physiology, anatomy, behavior, and ecology, the book is also part autobiography, serving as ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
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From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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