From one of the worldās most renowned cave divers, a firsthand account of exploring the earthās final frontier: the hidden depths of our oceans and the sunken caves inside our planet
More people have died exploring underwater caves than climbing Mount Everest, and we know more about deep space than we do about the depths of our oceans. From one of the top cave divers working todayāand one of the very few women in her fieldāInto the Planet blends science, adventure, and memoir to bring readers face-to-face with the terror and beauty of earthās remaining unknowns and the extremes of human capability.
Jill Heinerthāthe first person in history to dive deep into an Antarctic iceberg and leader of a team that discovered the ancient watery remains of Mayan civilizationsāhas descended farther into the inner depths of our planet than any other woman. She takes us into the harrowing split-second decisions that determine whether a diver makes it back to safety, the prejudices that prevent women from pursuing careers underwater, and her endeavor to recover a fallen friendās body from the confines of a cave. But thereās beauty beyond the danger of diving, and while Heinerth swims beneath our feet in the lifeblood of our planet, she works with biologists discovering new species, physicists tracking climate change, and hydrogeologists examining our finite freshwater reserves.
Written with hair-raising intensity, Into the Planet is the first book to deliver an intimate account of cave diving, transporting readers deep into inner space, where fear must be reconciled and a missionās success balances between knowing oneās limits and pushing the envelope of human endurance.