UNESCO Book Day

April 23, 2024
April 23, 2024

April 23rd is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Book Day. Dedicated to amazing past and present literature and authors across the globe, this day pays tribute to them and highlights the need for access to diverse literature and authors. 

As Project CETI conducts our research, one of our goals is increasing access to knowledge about the sperm whale population, interspecies communication, and the ocean through storytelling. In honor of this day and its mission, Project CETI is excited to share some of our favorite books and authors that inspire us and that you can add to your reading lists. 

As you read through this list, Project CETI hopes that you will become inspired too by the magnificent creature that is the sperm whale, their communication, and our oceans!

Book List:

Ahab’s Rolling Sea, Richard J. King 

Among Whales, Roger Payne 

Billions and Billions Thoughts on Life and Death at the brink of the Millenium, Carl Sagan 

Contact, Carl Sagan 

Deep, James Nestor 

Deep Voices The Wisdom of Whales and Dolphin Tales, Jason Cressey, PhD

Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, Eric Hoyt 

Extraterrestrial, Avi Loeb 

Fathoms, Rebecca Giggs 

Fellow Creatures: Our Obligations to the Other Animals, Christine Korsgaard

How to Speak Whale, Tom Mustill

In Defense of Dolphins, Thomas I. White

Justice for Animals, Martha Nussbaum

Ocean, Steve Mentz

Other Minds, Peter Godfrey Smith 

Silent Whale Letters: A Long Distance Correspondence, on All Frequencies, Ella Finer and Vibeke Mascini

Sperm Whales, Hal Whitehead 

Spying on Whales, Nick Pyenson

The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins, Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell 

The Great Sperm Whale, Richard Ellis 

The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka 

The Real Book about Whales and Whaling,  Fred Reinfeld 

The Rise of Marine Mammals, Annalisa Berta 

The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins, Stephen Leatherwood and Randall R. Reeves 

The Song of the Cell, Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Soul of the Octopus, Sy Montgomery 

The Sounds of Life, Karen Bakker 

The Storytelling Animal, Jonathan Gottschall

The Wake of the Whale, Russell Fielding

The Walking Whale, Hans Thewissen 

The Whale, Phillip Hoare 

Undrowned, Alexis Pauline Gumbs 

Ways of Being, James Bridle 

Whales, E.J.Slijper 

Whales: Touching the Mystery, Doug Thompson 

Whale Song, Margaret Grebowicz

Whole Earth Field Guide, edited by Caroline Maniaque-Benton and Meredith Gaglio