Oceans under Glass

At long last, a book dedicated to the nonstandard art of tinkering with oceans. Skillfully moving from one tank type to the next, Oceans under Glass traces the multiple networks, disciplines, and methods involved in producing situated knowledges about marine life. No wonder, then, that author Samantha Muka is herself brilliantly adept in the art of tinkering. Engaging a variety of methodologies, from ethnography to archival research, and working across multiple disciplines, including science and technology studies and biological and environmental history, Muka sketches a loving bricolage of tank crafters and their work in shaping future oceans. Kudos to Muka, and kudos also to the University of Chicago Press for putting out a much-needed interdisciplinary series on oceans. -- Irus Braverman, author of Coral Whisperers: Scientists on the Brink In Oceans under Glass, Muka reveals in vivid and loving detail how the 'tank craft' of aquarium keepers has illuminated life under the ocean's surface, while she also celebrates the diverse network of aquarists, past and present, who have developed that craft. She shows how these little-known technical tinkerers, caregivers to delicate marine organisms, hobbyists, and professional researchers have shared their hard-won fingertip knowledge across social divides in order to make aquariums habitable for their denizens and gain knowledge otherwise inaccessible to us land dwellers. The project innovatively brings together historical, technical, ethnographic, and sociological information and analysis to point to the fundamental importance of aquarium craft to our understanding of life in the ocean, which is ultimately essential to save it from human-caused destruction. The message is important and timely, the book a promising launch for Chicago's new Oceans in Depthseries. -- Lynn K. Nyhart, University of Wisconsin-Madison Samantha Muka's lively and thoughtful account of twentieth-century aquaria teaches us about everything from 'tank craft' maker culture to the politics of ocean simulations. Bring your childhood field trip memories and leave with a richer historical appreciation of the tinkering, the unlikely collaborations, and the artistic and scientific visions and tensions necessary to put marine life convincingly and usefully under glass. -- Karen Rader, Virginia Commonwealth University