Monarchs of the Sea: The Extraordinary 500-Million-Year History of Cephalopods
Three hearts, eight arms, and a 400 million year rule of the oceans. Read Danna Staaf’s ode to octopuses (and squid) with SciFri this June.
Welcome to the SciFri Book Club page about Monarchs of the Sea. There’s lots of ways to participate: Read the book, join our community space, attend an event, sign up for our email newsletter, or send a message on the SciFri VoxPop app.
In June 2023, as a part of our Cephalopod Week celebrations, the SciFri Book Club read Danna Staaf’s guidebook of our favorite underwater invertebrates through time, Monarchs of the Sea: The Extraordinary 500-Million-Year History of Cephalopods. Published in 2020, Monarchs of the Sea tells the story of the first “truly substantial” animals on Earth—squid, octopuses, cuttlefish and their ancestors—and how they’ve adapted to the modern oceans. How did the creatures that basically invented swimming learn to protect their soft, squishy bodies from increasingly dangerous predators? Staaf glides through the reign of cephalopods and their many innovations in intelligence, camouflage, communication and more.
Monarchs of the Sea brings together a range of topics, including animal intelligence, morphology, evolution, marine biology, geologic time, and more—and we’ll touch on these ideas throughout this Book Club season. You can get your copy from your local bookstore or on Bookshop.org.
This Book Club season finished on June 30, 2023, but there are still so many ways to dive in and participate! You can grab a copy of the book (and support the author and SciFri), join the discussion in our online Book Club community, host your own group using our discussion questions, sign up for our email newsletter to discover new reads, or watch a recording from a previous Book Club event. There is even a young readers edition for aspiring marine biologists. Check out all the details below.
Grab Your Own Copy
If you’d like to purchase a physical copy, we encourage you to start local! Check out the SciFri Book Club partner bookstores and libraries—if you’re in the area, consider supporting your local bookseller or public library (plus, mention our Book Club for a percentage off your purchase at participating shops!).
If they don’t have the book in stock or you’d rather purchase online, you can support Science Friday by buying your copy on our Bookshop.org page.
Want more ways to read? This book is available in a few formats via online retailers, your local library, or elsewhere:
- As an ebook
Your local library may not currently have Monarchs of the Sea in its catalog, but many branches offer options for patrons like you to submit book suggestions to librarians. Look for ways to suggest new titles via the Libby or OverDrive app, a form on your library’s website, or a suggestion box at your local branch!
Discussion Questions
We’re publishing this discussion guide, so that you can host a SciFri Book Club locally—in your library, at your school, or in your home. We offer one discussion question a week over the course of the month, for a total of four questions for each book. This gives everyone time to read the book while offering regular opportunities to share their thoughts and ask questions, but your group may prefer a different cadence.
You are free to use these questions to foster discussion with your own book club or for educational programs. We ask that you attribute the work to Science Friday. If you would like to host a local SciFri Book Club, please partner with us to help spread the joy of science to your community.
Question 1: Chapters 1-2
Who knew cephalopods were so very ancient? (Well, Danna Staaf did!) These days, the only modern cephalopods with an external shell is the oft-forgotten nautilus, and while cuttlefish are named after their internal cuttlebone, it’s the shell-less octopuses and squid that dominate the seascape these days. Are you surprised to learn that modern cephalopods are descended from a bottom-dweller with a shell, known as Plectronoceras cambria?
Question 2: Chapters 3-4
We spend chapters 3 and 4 with cephalopods of the Permian and Mesozoic periods: odd little ammonites, nautiloids, and many other shelled creatures, trying to stay safe from predators—we learn about so many strategies for living through mass extinction events! What ancient cephalopod survival tactics do you think current-day cephalopods would do well to learn, in order to thrive in our modern and fast-changing oceans?
Question 3: Chapters 5-6
We learn a lot about how ancient ammonoids and belemnites differ from modern-day cephalopods in these chapters—but Staaf takes a few pages to tell us some ways that the discovery of cephalopod fossils has influenced human culture: as buffalo-calling stones, entire museum collections, pagoda stone, and saligrams, to name a few. Has learning about ancient and modern-day cephalopods changed the way you experience the world? Are cephalopods an artistic, spiritual, scientific, or other cultural influence on your life?
Question 4: Chapters 7-8
We’ve met so many different cephalopods along the way with Monarchs of the Sea: Argonaut. Vampire squid. Ammonoids. Colossal squid. Nautilus. Pygmy squid. The list could go on—so let’s make it go on! Is there a cephalopod, extinct to extant, that you’d most like to meet in the flesh? What about it intrigues you so much?
June 2023: SciFri Book Club Events
Monarchs of the Sea: Author Livestream and Q&A
If you’ve ever marveled at a squid as it used jet propulsion to swim by you in the sea, or ogled at an octopus living in your local aquarium, this livestream is for you! Join author Danna Staaf and squid biologist Sarah McAnulty for an evening among the cephalopods
Join us online for a conversation with the author on the squiddy science featured in the SciFri Book Club pick for June 2023. Come with your queries and wonderings—we’ll be taking your questions in the livestream comments!
SciFri Book Club June community meeting: Monarchs of the Sea
Want to meet other SciFri Book Club members, talk about the book selection, and find more resources for deeper learning—all without leaving your home? Our community meeting is the place for you!
This discussion meeting will focus on themes and topics featured in Monarchs of the Sea. You’re welcome to join us no matter your reading progress—come chat with other science-interested folks about animal intelligence, morphology, evolution, marine biology, geologic time, and more.
Join Our Community Space
And as you start reading, join us on our online community space: the SciFri Book Club is on Mighty Networks, a platform where we can gather, read and discuss science books together. We’ve built this community space to create a better way for readers to stay connected with other Book Clubbers, and we hope you’ll join us there!
Read An Excerpt
Not sure this is the book for you? Want to read an excerpt before you commit? We’ve got you covered.
The Experiment, the publisher of Monarchs of the Sea, has offered SciFri Book Clubbers an excerpt of the book! You can read this sample on our website.