Beneath the waves lies a hidden microcosm of life: the world of plankton. These microscopic algae and the tiny animals that eat them float freely in the sunlit surface of the sea, where they underpin the whole marine food chain, provide the world with oxygen, and play an essential role in the global carbon cycle. Richard Kirby's high-magnification photographs and informative text bring out the beauty and variety of forms in the plankton, and explain how global change and rising sea temperatures are affecting this complex world with ramifications for the ecology of our entire planet. AUTHOR: Dr. Richard Kirby is a molecular geneticist who has worked in the U.S. at the Hopkins Marine Station in California and the Belle W. Baruch Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences in South Carolina. He currently holds a Royal Society Research Fellowship at the University of Plymouth in the UK. ILLUSTRATIONS: 150 colour photographs