Robert Ballard

Author of Finding the Titanic

60+ Works 6,750 Members 61 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Robert Ballard was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1942, and was educated at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Hawaii, the University of Southern California, and the University of Rhode Island, where he received his Ph.D. in 1974. Part explorer, part geologist, part show more oceanographer, and part marine engineer, Ballard has worked at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts, since 1969. He is currently director of the Center for Marine Exploration there. Ballard is perhaps best known to the general public in connection to the luxury liner Titanic. Ballard organized and participated in the expedition that discovered the ship in 1985. More important, however, is his work in designing underwater survey vehicles and in participating in dives to explore the ocean floor. His work in marine design and engineering, in particular, has led to a dramatic increase in the scope of deep-sea exploration. In the 1960s, Ballard helped develop the Alvin, a deep-sea, three-man submersible equipped with a remote controlled mechanical arm for collecting specimens from the ocean floor. The device played an important role in mid-ocean studies, including exploration of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and dives to the Cayman Trough, a 24,000-foot-deep gash in the ocean floor south of Cuba. Ballard was part of the Galapagos Hydrothermal Expedition in 1977, which discovered and investigated deep-sea thermal vents spouting mineral-rich water from volcanic cracks in the Earth's crust. In the 1980s, Ballard helped develop the Argo-Jason unmanned submersible system, the most advanced craft of its kind. Argo is a 16-foot submersible vehicle and Jason is a self-propelled robot tethered to Argo. The search for the Titanic was undertaken as a test of the Argo-Jason system; the success of the expedition demonstrated its capabilities and, according to Ballard, "ushered in a new era of undersea exploration." The author of several bestselling books on deep-sea exploration, Ballard also contributes regularly to National Geographic and other magazines and he has produced several videotapes of deep-sea expeditions. His reputation as a "science populizer" has prompted harsh criticism from some of his scientific colleagues. In 1985, Ballard was one of four scientists awarded a Secretary of the Navy Research Chair in Oceanography, an award that carries with it an $800,000 grant for oceanographic research. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Bob Ballard, Robert Ballard, Robert Ballard, Robert D. Balard, Robert D. Ballard, Robert D. Ballard, Dr Robert Ballard, Dr Robert D Ballard, Robert Duane Ballard, Dr. Robert D. Ballard

Image credit: wikimedia.org

Works by Robert Ballard

Popular Recent

Finding the Titanic (1993) 1,591 copies, 5 reviews

Exploring the Titanic: How the Greatest Ship Ever Lost was Found (1987) 1,034 copies, 4 reviews

The Discovery of the Titanic (1987) 890 copies, 9 reviews

Discovery of the Bismarck (1990) 277 copies, 3 reviews

Exploring the Lusitania: Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking That Changed History (1995) 266 copies, 7 reviews

Ghost Liners: Exploring the World's Greatest Lost Ships (1998) — Author — 258 copies, 5 reviews

Exploring the Bismarck (A Time Quest Book) (1991) 248 copies

The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific (1993) 241 copies, 4 reviews

The Lost Wreck of the Isis (1990) 217 copies, 1 review

Return to Midway (1999) 204 copies, 3 reviews

Lost Liners: From the Titanic to the Andrea Doria The Ocean Floor Reveals Its Greatest Ships (1997) 194 copies, 6 reviews

Exploring Our Living Planet (1983) 166 copies, 1 review

Explorations: A Life of Underwater Adventure (1995) 130 copies, 1 review

Adventures in Ocean Exploration : From the Discovery of the Titanic to the Search for Noah's Flood (2001) 116 copies, 2 reviews

Graveyards of the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Bikini Island (2001) 104 copies, 2 reviews

The Eternal Darkness (2000) 103 copies

Bright Shark (1992) 98 copies, 1 review

Mystery of the Ancient Seafarers: Ancient Maritime Civilzation (2004) 91 copies, 1 review

Return to Titanic (2004) 83 copies, 1 review

Into the Deep: A Memoir From the Man Who Found Titanic (2021) 68 copies, 1 review

Collision With History: The Search For John F. Kennedy's PT 109 (2002) 52 copies, 1 review

The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard (2005) 52 copies

Explorer: A Pop-Up Book (1992) 50 copies

Robert Ballard's Bismarck (2007) 45 copies

Titanic: The Last Great Images (2007) 37 copies, 1 review

Robert Ballard's Titanic: Exploring the Greatest of all Lost Ships (2007) 30 copies

Secrets of the Titanic [1986 TV episode] (1986) — Director — 29 copies, 1 review

Robert Ballard's Guadalcanal (2007) 16 copies

Archaeological Oceanography (2008) 8 copies

The Search for Kennedy’s PT 109 [2002 documentary] (2002) — Director — 7 copies

The Renaissance Album 4 copies, 1 review

El descubrimiento del Titanic (1999) 4 copies

The Solution of the Pyramid Problem or, Pyramide Discoveries with a New Theory as to their Ancient Use 3 copies

Titanic - de sista bilderna (2009) 2 copies

How we found TITANIC. 2 copies

L'esplorazione degli oceani: dalla scoperta del Titanic alla teoria del diluvio universale (2006) 2 copies

National Geographic : Lost Ships of the Mediterranean (2003) — Director — 2 copies

Photographic atlas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Rift Valley (1977) 2 copies

JASON Learning Operation: Tectonic Fury - Student Edition (2011) 2 copies

Op het spoor van de verdwenen schepen van Robert Ballard (2006) 2 copies

Window on Earth's Interior 1 copy

El Naufragio Del Isis (Misterios del Pasado) (1990) 1 copy

TITANIC NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY COLLECTOR, EDITION 1 copy

Riddle of the Lusitania 1 copy

The Bismarck Found 1 copy

NR-1: The Navy's Inner-Space Shuttle 1 copy

Return to Oases of the Deep 1 copy

Dive into the Great Rift: Project Famous II 1 copy

At the Water's Edge: Coastal Images of America 1 copy

Abenteuer Tiefe (2021) 1 copy

HIl Iritrovamento del Titanic 1 copy

Collision With History The Search For John F Kennedy's Pt109 1 copy

Premier livre de tablature de Luth 1 copy

Mysteriet Titanic (1989) 1 copy

2nd 3rd 4th Grade Readers Step into Reading Box Set of 4 History ; Titanic, True Life Treasure Hunts, To the Top… (2009) 1 copy

Secrets of the Titanic: 100 Year Anniversary Collection (2012) 1 copy

Sleep Medicine, An Issue of Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice (The Clinics: Internal Medicine) (2005) 1 copy

La grande aventure de l'Exploration des Océans : De la découverte du Titanic à la recherche… (2001) 1 copy

Slaget ved Midway (1999) 1 copy

Alexis Rockman: Oceanus (2023) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Titanic: An Illustrated History (1992) — Introduction, some editions — 731 copies, 5 reviews

The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them (2006) — Contributor — 397 copies, 18 reviews

National Geographic Readers: Titanic (2012) 359 copies, 5 reviews

The Ocean Realm (1978) 159 copies

Remember Pearl Harbor: American and Japanese Survivors Tell Their Stories (2001) — Foreword — 96 copies, 2 reviews

National Geographic Magazine 1986 v170 #6 December (1986) — Contributor — 39 copies, 1 review

National Geographic Magazine 1985 v168 #6 December (1985) — Contributor; Photographer — 35 copies

National Geographic Magazine 1989 v176 #5 November (1989) — Contributor — 31 copies

National Geographic, Vol. 167, No. 4, April 1985 (1985) — Contributor — 24 copies

National Geographic Magazine 1987 v172 #4 October (1987) — Contributor — 23 copies, 1 review

The Battle for Midway [1999 TV episode] (1998) — Contributor — 13 copies, 1 review

The Lost Fleet of Guadalcanal [1993 TV episode] (1993) — Narrator — 6 copies

Reader's Digest Today's Best Nonfiction 1991 A Thief in the Night | A Coward's Chronicles | The Discovery of the… (1991) 2 copies

Terra Marique: Studies in Art History and Marine Archaeology in Honor of Anna Marguerite McCann (2005) — Contributor — 2 copies

Hostage to Fortune (2002) — Foreword — 2 copies

Reading Rainbow: Sunken Treasure [1990 TV episode] — Narrator — 1 copy

Tagged

20th century (40) American history (27) archaeology (66) books (29) books about books (44) children's (32) disaster (41) disasters (57) exploration (78) geography (35) hardcover (28) history (669) maritime (63) maritime history (50) military history (44) National Geographic (51) naval (60) Naval History (36) non-fiction (537) ocean (56) Ocean Liners (53) oceanography (35) photography (27) read (30) reference (34) science (68) ships (137) shipwreck (71) shipwrecks (201) social studies (26) Titanic (514) Titanic (Steamship) (34) to-read (87) transportation (36) underwater archaeology (34) underwater exploration (42) war (33) world history (38) WWI (26) WWII (205)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Ballard, Robert
Legal name: Ballard, Robert Duane
Other names: Ballard, Robert D.
Birthdate: 1942-06-30
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Wichita, Kansas, USA
Education: University of California, Santa Barbara (BS|1965)
University of Hawaii (MS|1966)
University of Southern California
University of Rhode Island (Ph.D|1974)
Occupations: archaeologist
professor
writer
oceanographer
Organizations: United States Navy
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
University of Rhode Island
United States Army
Awards and honors: National Humanities Medal (2003)
Caird Medal (2002)
Explorers Club Medal (1995)
Lone Sailor Award (1996)
Kilby International Award (1994)
Golden Plate Award (1990)

Members

Discussions

Non-fiction (children's ?) about the discovery of the Titanic in Name that Book (February 2016)

Reviews

Exploring the Lusitania: Probing the Mysteries of… by Robert D. Ballard

Robert Ballard's underwater exploration of the Lusitania. Full story, great pictures, and good illustrations.

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BillPhillips1944 | 6 other reviews | Dec 13, 2024 |

Exploring the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

For the first time, the complete story of the sinking and discovery of the "Titanic" is available to young readers, written by the author of the bestseller "The Discovery of the Titanic". "Captures the drama of both the night of the sinking as well as . . . the discovery of the great ship. . . . Stunning".

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LynneQuan | 3 other reviews | Sep 5, 2024 |

The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost… by Robert D. Ballard

Reread, this is still an excellent way to review these important battles of early WW2. We had much to learn but those young men did well.

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jamespurcell | 3 other reviews | May 8, 2024 |

Into the Deep: A Memoir From the Man Who Found Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

An interesting look at the life of the man who took us under the seas of our world. His fascination and perseverance took us to the Titanic, Bismarck, PT109,
and many natural discoveries that had rarely or never been seen before. A driven man who became very apt at finding and sharing these sites with students, academics, and the general public

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jamespurcell | May 8, 2024 |

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