Into the Deep

Into the Deep The Life of Naturalist and Explorer William Beebe Written and Illustrated by: David Sheldon “To be a naturalist is better than to be a king.”—William Beebe’s journal, December 31, 1893 Creeping silently through the forest day after day, young William Beebe became an expert tracker, studying birds, fish, insects, and mammals. By the time he was a young man, he was one of the most knowledgeable naturalists in the country, traveling to Mexico, South America, and Southeast Asia in search of rare species of birds and other animals. Yet it was not until his adventure to the Galápagos Islands, where Charles Darwin made his famous observations, that William became absorbed in the study of marine life, leading him to create a deep-sea diving vessel called the Bathysphere. David Sheldon uses his artistic magic to chart the life of this famous naturalist, from his childhood studying animals in New Jersey through his later years studying birds at the research station he started i