The Persistent Signal of the Deep-Sea Diver

When marine biologist Sylvia Earle descended to the ocean floor off the coast of the Galápagos Islands in the 1970s, she didn't drift down passively and hope the sea would yield its secrets. She reached out, she moved toward, she touched. Every discovery — the bioluminescent creatures, the volcanic vents teeming with life — came because she actively pressed into the darkness rather than waiting for the darkness to come to her.…