The deep sea is the last, vast wilderness on the planet. This is the story of how we imagine, explore and exploit it.

For centuries, myth-makers and storytellers have concocted imaginary monsters of the deep, and now scientists are looking there to find bizarre, unknown species, chemicals to make new medicines, and to gain a greater understanding of how this world of ours works. With an average depth of 12,000 feet and chasms that plunge much deeper, it forms a frontier for new discoveries.

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WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION

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A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR

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Mudlark (/'mAdla;k/) noun A person who scavenges for usable debris in the mud of a river or harbour

Lara Maiklem has scoured the banks of the Thames for over fifteen years, in pursuit of the objects that the river unearths: from Neolithic flints to Roman hair pins, medieval buckles to Tudor buttons, Georgian clay pipes to ...

A groundbreaking and state-of-the-art guide to the Universe and how our latest deep space discoveries are forcing us to revisit what we know, and what we don't.