What do you think?
Rate this book
Seven-Tenths: Love, Piracy, and Science at Sea
An engineer whose life is in shambles meets a blind oceanographer who spends her life at sea. In this memoir of their courtship, David Fisichella writes of science, love, adventure, and danger on the ocean. He survives heavy weather, an equator crossing, and a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia. He learns how scientists study ocean physics and why their research is so important, how people live for months on a crowded boat, and what it means to be working for, and dating, the chief scientist. Told with humor, gritty details, and a refreshing sense of wonder about our oceans.
- GenresScienceNonfiction
232 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 5, 2011
Free ARC through netgallery.com
Normally, I love this kind of book: part nautical adventure, part memoir, part romance. What more could one want. The author, an unemployed and disaffected engineer, sets out on a research ship voyage with his girl-friend (she is visually handicapped) in the Gulf of Aden.
In 1992, bored with his job as an engineer for a defense company trying to persuade customers to redesign widgets, he ran across an advertisement looking for people (volunteers) to sail as guides for the blind -- in a regatta. He met Amy, legally blind, who happened to be a physicist working (soft money) for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. They struck up a friendship that blossomed into more and he was invited to volunteer for a trip on the R/V Oceanus. The Oceanus is a rather ungainly looking ship and is known for being "wet," which is why most of the 12 crew and up to 19 scientists stay away from the rail during anything other than calm seas.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8158
Their purpose was to study the NADWBC, the North Atlantic Deep Western Boundary Current, which, in part, replaces water flowing along the Gulf Stream. Amy is a forensic physicist who uses "traces" (pollutants, salinity, etc.) to measure current flow, where water circulates, its properties, and how it might interact with the air to affect climate. Tracers can be bizarre. "In Boston Harbor, scientists studying the dispersal pf treated sewage from a new outfall pipe used caffeine as a tracer. The source of the caffeine? Eastern Massachusetts's morning cup of coffee."
The author notes in passing how the WHOI must struggle with grant funding every year to keep people employed and the research going. They get about $200 million out of an NSF budget of five-and-a-half billion dollars. "The company I had just left helped to build the Peacekeeper (MX) missile. The total cost for this program was more than $20 billion. In the end all fifty missiles produced were scrapped. The entire government funding of ALL scientific research in this country was less than the cost of this one mothballed weapons system."
The amount of water circulating around the globe is immense and can't be measured in gallons so a unit called the Sverdrup was created. It's defined as "one million cubic meters of water passing a given point in one second. That's 265 million gallons every second. . . one Sverdrup would fill the inside of the Empire State Building with water in one second.
In contrast to the calm voyage on the Oceanus, their next trip together was on the WHOI ship Knorr. Again the purpose of the trip was to measure ocean currents and water components, but this time along the east coast of Africa specifically off Somalia. Now, I don’ t know about you, but was it really necessary to measure water currents off Somalia given the unstable political conditions and the constant threat of pirates? This also created a disconnect in my mind, a development of contrasts between the haves and have-nots and how we spend our money and put our resources. Only the well-fed rich can worry about ocean currents while children are starving just onshore of the location of their ship.
If you like books about ships, the ocean, or oceanography, you'll probably enjoy this. I wish the author had decided what kind of book he wanted to write. It’s a little memoir, adventure, social criticism (of the defense industry) all mixed in together, but lacking a focus.
Disclaimer: I received this book free as an advanced reader copy.
Normally, I love this kind of book: part nautical adventure, part memoir, part romance. What more could one want. The author, an unemployed and disaffected engineer, sets out on a research ship voyage with his girl-friend (she is visually handicapped) in the Gulf of Aden.
In 1992, bored with his job as an engineer for a defense company trying to persuade customers to redesign widgets, he ran across an advertisement looking for people (volunteers) to sail as guides for the blind -- in a regatta. He met Amy, legally blind, who happened to be a physicist working (soft money) for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. They struck up a friendship that blossomed into more and he was invited to volunteer for a trip on the R/V Oceanus. The Oceanus is a rather ungainly looking ship and is known for being "wet," which is why most of the 12 crew and up to 19 scientists stay away from the rail during anything other than calm seas.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8158
Their purpose was to study the NADWBC, the North Atlantic Deep Western Boundary Current, which, in part, replaces water flowing along the Gulf Stream. Amy is a forensic physicist who uses "traces" (pollutants, salinity, etc.) to measure current flow, where water circulates, its properties, and how it might interact with the air to affect climate. Tracers can be bizarre. "In Boston Harbor, scientists studying the dispersal pf treated sewage from a new outfall pipe used caffeine as a tracer. The source of the caffeine? Eastern Massachusetts's morning cup of coffee."
The author notes in passing how the WHOI must struggle with grant funding every year to keep people employed and the research going. They get about $200 million out of an NSF budget of five-and-a-half billion dollars. "The company I had just left helped to build the Peacekeeper (MX) missile. The total cost for this program was more than $20 billion. In the end all fifty missiles produced were scrapped. The entire government funding of ALL scientific research in this country was less than the cost of this one mothballed weapons system."
The amount of water circulating around the globe is immense and can't be measured in gallons so a unit called the Sverdrup was created. It's defined as "one million cubic meters of water passing a given point in one second. That's 265 million gallons every second. . . one Sverdrup would fill the inside of the Empire State Building with water in one second.
In contrast to the calm voyage on the Oceanus, their next trip together was on the WHOI ship Knorr. Again the purpose of the trip was to measure ocean currents and water components, but this time along the east coast of Africa specifically off Somalia. Now, I don’ t know about you, but was it really necessary to measure water currents off Somalia given the unstable political conditions and the constant threat of pirates? This also created a disconnect in my mind, a development of contrasts between the haves and have-nots and how we spend our money and put our resources. Only the well-fed rich can worry about ocean currents while children are starving just onshore of the location of their ship.
If you like books about ships, the ocean, or oceanography, you'll probably enjoy this. I wish the author had decided what kind of book he wanted to write. It’s a little memoir, adventure, social criticism (of the defense industry) all mixed in together, but lacking a focus.
Disclaimer: I received this book free as an advanced reader copy.
October 21, 2015
I'm torn between two and three stars here. This is more of a collection of essays than a book; Fisichella tells individual incidents well, but leaps between them with little connective tissue or thematic linkage. And which incidents he chooses to focus on often puzzles me; he spends more time deriding a graduate student's unprofessional choice of presentation attire, waxing eloquent on her belly button piercing and similarity to a stripper, than he does on, say, his wedding. He's also the least introspective memoirist I've encountered. When he gets going about science and his outsider's view on academia, though, he has some interesting things to say I haven't heard elsewhere.
Read because I heard Fisichella's wife speak once and thought she seemed pretty interesting. Having read this, I conclude that she's more interesting than her husband--a point I don't think he'd argue. I hope she writes her own memoir some day.
Read because I heard Fisichella's wife speak once and thought she seemed pretty interesting. Having read this, I conclude that she's more interesting than her husband--a point I don't think he'd argue. I hope she writes her own memoir some day.
March 28, 2021
I bought this book by accident (I was looking for the other Seven Tenths - always check the author, people!), but decided to read it anyway since (a), I bought it, & (b), it still promised to be an interesting, quick read.
Congratulations, David Fisichella, for writing the book that finally prompted my first actual review on Good Reads. Wow. While the subject matter was interesting & I was pleased to learn a few things about ocean currents, Fisichella's condescending attitude toward anyone & everyone was unbearably distracting (seriously, no one was spared - his ex-wife, who he pointlessly & pettily took a jab at 150 pages after he last mentioned her & several years after their divorce; a graduate student giving a presentation at a conference, maybe her first one, so imagine her bravery & nervousness, yet all Fisichella could focus on was the fact that to him, she looked like a stripper; citizens of developing nations, when Fisichella remarked, a propos of nothing that there were more educated people at a bus stop on the way to a scientific conference than there were in some developing nations; & the people of Seychelles, who he inexplicably assumed served him racehorse meat at a restaurant where he dined). His attempt at bawdy humor, especially when objectifying several women in the story, fell totally flat & were more sad than annoying.
In the end, I got the idea that Fisichella isn't comfortable as an author & was attempting (mostly unsuccessfully) to write an "edgy" & "interesting" memoir peppered with "humor" that would appeal to readers who don't care so much about the science. But it was just lame & grating & only served to make him look bad. Two stars for the overall subject material & snappy pace. But I wish I'd ordered & read the book I intended to, instead.
Congratulations, David Fisichella, for writing the book that finally prompted my first actual review on Good Reads. Wow. While the subject matter was interesting & I was pleased to learn a few things about ocean currents, Fisichella's condescending attitude toward anyone & everyone was unbearably distracting (seriously, no one was spared - his ex-wife, who he pointlessly & pettily took a jab at 150 pages after he last mentioned her & several years after their divorce; a graduate student giving a presentation at a conference, maybe her first one, so imagine her bravery & nervousness, yet all Fisichella could focus on was the fact that to him, she looked like a stripper; citizens of developing nations, when Fisichella remarked, a propos of nothing that there were more educated people at a bus stop on the way to a scientific conference than there were in some developing nations; & the people of Seychelles, who he inexplicably assumed served him racehorse meat at a restaurant where he dined). His attempt at bawdy humor, especially when objectifying several women in the story, fell totally flat & were more sad than annoying.
In the end, I got the idea that Fisichella isn't comfortable as an author & was attempting (mostly unsuccessfully) to write an "edgy" & "interesting" memoir peppered with "humor" that would appeal to readers who don't care so much about the science. But it was just lame & grating & only served to make him look bad. Two stars for the overall subject material & snappy pace. But I wish I'd ordered & read the book I intended to, instead.
February 16, 2024
I'll start out with a disclaimer: I work at WHOI, the same employer as the author and his wife, so I have some second-hand knowledge of "Science at Sea." This knowledge helped to inform a nicely written memoir of love, partnership and adventure. David Fisichella avoids getting too technical, employing a casual narrative style that made for an enjoyable read.
January 10, 2022
Getting a lay person's first-hand account of oceanography is priceless. It was also enlightening to me to read about struggles with vision loss, as well as the threat of real-world piracy.
April 7, 2011
Seven-tenths, the percentage of the earth covers the earth, is also apparently David Fisichella's magic number. On the verge of divorce, frustrated with his job, and looking for something new, David Fisichella is confused by how to change his life and move forward. He answers an ad for sight guides for blind sailors and begins the second chapter of his life.
At a reception for the Carroll Center for the Blind and one of its Outward Bound programs, he meets Amy Bowers, an oceanographer. She has macular degeneration - a disease which is gradually taking her eyesight. They start a relationship and Amy invites him on a voyage. After their first voyage, the couple gets married. As Amy's vision worsens, David gains more knowledge and experience and essentially becomes her eyes.
The first voyage was pretty much by the book. Nothing eventful happened. During the second voyage, they cross the equator and are "hazed" into club for those who've crossed the equator. They also endure a pirate attack that gets pretty scary. Still reeling from the pirate attack, the entire ship is devastated to hear of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Overall, I loved the fact that David was willing to take his life in his hands. He disliked the way his life was going and took actions to alter all the things he disliked. He was willing to embrace new challenges and roll with the punches. For me, part of the charm of this book is the fact that he's not a professional writer, but rather a man who has had some extraordinary experiences and wants to share them.
Minor irritations – He expresses disappointment that Durban, South Africa is more like San Francicso, ie a major cosmopolitan city than a jungle or war zone, which fits his idea of Africa. The safari they take feels like the truer Africa to him. On the second ship, he characterizes the Jamaican mate's accent of the Raven as a “ganja-mon accent.” Really!!!! However, after coming ashore on September 12, 2011 and being confronted by a group of Djiboutian men, he seems to realize the amount of privilege he has as an American.
**This review was based on a reader copy provided by the publisher.**
At a reception for the Carroll Center for the Blind and one of its Outward Bound programs, he meets Amy Bowers, an oceanographer. She has macular degeneration - a disease which is gradually taking her eyesight. They start a relationship and Amy invites him on a voyage. After their first voyage, the couple gets married. As Amy's vision worsens, David gains more knowledge and experience and essentially becomes her eyes.
The first voyage was pretty much by the book. Nothing eventful happened. During the second voyage, they cross the equator and are "hazed" into club for those who've crossed the equator. They also endure a pirate attack that gets pretty scary. Still reeling from the pirate attack, the entire ship is devastated to hear of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Overall, I loved the fact that David was willing to take his life in his hands. He disliked the way his life was going and took actions to alter all the things he disliked. He was willing to embrace new challenges and roll with the punches. For me, part of the charm of this book is the fact that he's not a professional writer, but rather a man who has had some extraordinary experiences and wants to share them.
Minor irritations – He expresses disappointment that Durban, South Africa is more like San Francicso, ie a major cosmopolitan city than a jungle or war zone, which fits his idea of Africa. The safari they take feels like the truer Africa to him. On the second ship, he characterizes the Jamaican mate's accent of the Raven as a “ganja-mon accent.” Really!!!! However, after coming ashore on September 12, 2011 and being confronted by a group of Djiboutian men, he seems to realize the amount of privilege he has as an American.
**This review was based on a reader copy provided by the publisher.**
April 9, 2010
“Love, Piracy and Science at Sea.” That subtitle really caught my attention right off the bat. It sounds like it has something for all tastes. It delivers on it too. It's a touching memoir of an engineer who, when his marriage was falling apart and his job dissatisfied him, found out that helping others also helped himself. When his life was at a low ebb, a small magazine article asking for volunteer sighted guides for blind sailors changed the course of Fisichella's life. By helping blind people sail he was also making friends and connections and even started his own business to provide adaptive devices to the blind.
I loved all the details about living on a ship at sea and performing oceanographic research. I've always had an interest in oceanography and the world's oceans and I think that many people are fascinated by the seas. They are so large and still so unexplored beneath the surface. I think that appeals to our spirit of adventure and it was great to read about people that are going out there and exploring areas of the world most people will never see. It was also fascinating to read how a legally blind woman could be the scientist in charge of an oceanographic research trip. Fisichella does an excellent job of explaining things in nontechnical terms and his easy narrative style made this book a pleasure to read.
Besides the love, piracy and science mentioned in the title, the author's equator crossing ceremony and the occasion when his dog gets sprayed by a skunk right before a trip were quite memorable. There's a lot going on for a book this size. It was so absorbing that I read it straight through.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys memoirs or is fascinated by tales of adventure at sea. A superb memoir, it is a very human story about how one man's dissatisfaction with the state of his life led him to make the changes that turned his life around.
review based on eARC received thru NetGalley
I loved all the details about living on a ship at sea and performing oceanographic research. I've always had an interest in oceanography and the world's oceans and I think that many people are fascinated by the seas. They are so large and still so unexplored beneath the surface. I think that appeals to our spirit of adventure and it was great to read about people that are going out there and exploring areas of the world most people will never see. It was also fascinating to read how a legally blind woman could be the scientist in charge of an oceanographic research trip. Fisichella does an excellent job of explaining things in nontechnical terms and his easy narrative style made this book a pleasure to read.
Besides the love, piracy and science mentioned in the title, the author's equator crossing ceremony and the occasion when his dog gets sprayed by a skunk right before a trip were quite memorable. There's a lot going on for a book this size. It was so absorbing that I read it straight through.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys memoirs or is fascinated by tales of adventure at sea. A superb memoir, it is a very human story about how one man's dissatisfaction with the state of his life led him to make the changes that turned his life around.
review based on eARC received thru NetGalley
April 12, 2010
‘Seven-tenths of the globe is covered by water.’
In 1995, at the Carroll Center for the Blind, David Fisichella, a mechanical engineer meets Amy Bower, an oceanographer who is progressively losing her vision. David has previously sailed with blind sailors, and over time forms both a personal and a professional relationship with Amy. The professional part of the relationship involves David travelling with Amy on oceanographic research vessels to provide sighted assistance, and this is the main focus of this book.
I enjoyed learning about the intricacies of life and work on oceanographic research vessels: the very tight scheduling which requires detailed planning of scientific experiments as well as every other aspect of a trip. It’s hard work, even without Somali pirates to complicate it further! I learned, too, of some of the mysteries of deep ocean currents and some of the advantages (and disadvantages) of life at sea. It is easier to read about the traditions of equatorial crossing, and the sea-sickness, than it is to experience it.
I found David’s recounting of Amy’s experiences inspirational. Like many people with significant visual impairment, Amy has learned to adapt in a world where a lack of sightedness can be a severe disadvantage. It’s heartening to read how, with appropriate support, challenges can be met head on.
While I focussed a lot on Amy’s story, I suspect that it was David who learned most about himself during the period of this memoir. A very enjoyable read.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In 1995, at the Carroll Center for the Blind, David Fisichella, a mechanical engineer meets Amy Bower, an oceanographer who is progressively losing her vision. David has previously sailed with blind sailors, and over time forms both a personal and a professional relationship with Amy. The professional part of the relationship involves David travelling with Amy on oceanographic research vessels to provide sighted assistance, and this is the main focus of this book.
I enjoyed learning about the intricacies of life and work on oceanographic research vessels: the very tight scheduling which requires detailed planning of scientific experiments as well as every other aspect of a trip. It’s hard work, even without Somali pirates to complicate it further! I learned, too, of some of the mysteries of deep ocean currents and some of the advantages (and disadvantages) of life at sea. It is easier to read about the traditions of equatorial crossing, and the sea-sickness, than it is to experience it.
I found David’s recounting of Amy’s experiences inspirational. Like many people with significant visual impairment, Amy has learned to adapt in a world where a lack of sightedness can be a severe disadvantage. It’s heartening to read how, with appropriate support, challenges can be met head on.
While I focussed a lot on Amy’s story, I suspect that it was David who learned most about himself during the period of this memoir. A very enjoyable read.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
July 15, 2015
I enjoyed this book mostly because I know Amy and I'm always up for a good seagoing story, especially when science is the motivation behind the expedition. I'd definitely recommend the book to people interested in getting a glimpse of the life of an oceanographer (and a pretty amazing one at that) in all its excitement, challenge, and tedium. The writing had a homemade feel about it (e.g. it could've used some more editing), but the lack of professional polish gave you the feeling of sitting down with Fisichella with a beer as he tells you about that time he crossed the equator for the first time and underwent the traditional Shellback ceremony. He definitely has some crazy stories to tell.
July 8, 2010
It was nice to read the book after David and Amy spoke at the New England Aquarium.
December 17, 2014
Actually ... a memoir
September 21, 2016
Temporarily abandoned on grounds of boring.
March 30, 2011
A good book to introduce people to how oceanographic cruises are conducted.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews