Soundings is more than a simple science history biography: it's a lovingly and beautifully crafted homage to its subject, Marie Tharp. Tharp, a geographer who was the first to map many parts of the ocean floor, contributing significantly to the development of plate tectonics, became known but not nearly as renowned as her male collaborators. Writer Hali Felt makes Marie come to life through one of the same techniques Tharp used in mapping: interpolating from the data that's there to fill in the gaps. She inserts her feelings and thoughts about Tharp and the uncertain areas in her biography in a way that grounds the reader but doesn't interrupt the story. In the end you grow to love the subject nearly as much as Felt herself does and it's a profound experience.