A gripping story of two remarkable men, a father and son. One searched for meaning in the stars above, the other in the sea below. Freeman Dyson, the world-renowned astrophysicist, dreams of exploring the heavens and has designed a spaceship to take him there. George Dyson, a brilliant high school dropout, lives in a tree house and is designing a giant canoe to explore the icy coastal wilderness of Northwest America.

“A canoe traveling silently through fog, darkness, or storm needs no radar or attention to navigational equipment to perceive and avoid danger, but only the alert human senses.”

Kenneth Brower “The Starship and the Canoe”. First published in 1978. This edition was published by Harper & Row in 1983. Bought by the Sea Library after a suggestion by a retired pirate 💙

Photos by Anna Iltnere / Sea Library