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The Ocean at Home

An Illustrated History of the Aquarium
Princeton Architectural Press By Bernd Brunner

5-1/8 x 9-1/4 in; 144 pp ; 14 color and 92 B/W images
Hardcover
Published in April, 2005
ISBN 1568985029
ISBN13 9781568985022
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$24.95  

The Ocean at Home -- The mysterious world beneath the ocean's surface has captivated man for centuries—the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and ancient Chinese all kept fish in their homes for purposes other than the culinary. But it was not until the nineteenth-century invention of the aquarium that the deep was truly domesticated, offering the curiously inclined a chance to invent their very own exotic sea world within their own walls.

In this fascinating history of the aquarium, Bernd Brunner traces the development of this most wonderful invention, giving insight into the cultural and social circumstances that accompanied its swift rise in popularity. Brunner tells a compelling story of obsession, beauty, discovery, and delight, from the aquarium's humble origins as a tool for scientific observation to the Victorian era's elaborately decorated containers of oceanic curiosity, to the great public aquaria of the twentieth century.

Bernd Brunner is a Berlin-based writer. A graduate of the Free University Berlin, he has written extensively for television and various print media.