The Discovery of the Titanic

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	910.453 Ba	4-week checkout	Due 04-25-2024

Includes index.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Must-Read About Deep-Sea Exploration submitted by Meginator on June 11, 2023, 6:11pm This first-hand account, written just after the event, chronicles Bob Ballard’s efforts to locate and explore the wreck of the Titanic from the mid-70s until his eventual success in 1985. Along the way, Ballard presents an intriguing history of underwater exploration during this period, which saw a transition from manned submersibles and sonar toward bottom-viewing cameras piloted from the surface, and explains some of what makes deep-ocean study so logistically difficult. This is the kind of book where you go in expecting to encounter a very narrowly tailored story and come out having learned about a range of auxiliary subjects; not only does Ballard share the (expected) history of the disaster, but he also discusses the limitations of late Edwardian dead reckoning techniques and adds a bit of intrigue by explaining competing efforts by a billionaire-funded team using slightly different technology. The book provides ample technical information while keeping a general audience in mind, and it strikes a good balance between explaining the complex tools without becoming too bogged down in the details; this is a story-driven narrative, even if it does elide the fact that a large part of the 1985 expedition was spent secretly searching for sunken U.S. Navy submarines, and at times it reads almost like a memoir. Ballard’s respect for the ship and its victims is evident throughout, and his editorializing adds a personal note to what could otherwise have been a dry and even boring account. Instead, full-color photographs document the search for and contemporary condition of the Titanic, making a strong argument for the importance of blending the liberal arts with the hard sciences along the way. Anyone interested in the Titanic’s history and in underwater exploration will benefit from joining Ballard on his now-famous expeditions; this is a robust first-hand account with a lot to offer just beyond the story on its surface.